Defining white Finnish privilege #24: Becoming a heartless accomplice in wars and people’s suffering

During the so-called “war on terror” launched by former President George W. Bush and his cronies like Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Chaney, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Pearle, Condoleezza Rice and many, many others,  made up new terms to justify their wars in Iraq and the death of hundreds of thousand of people. 

Do you remember the term enhanced interrogation, which meant torture? What about collateral damage for civilian deaths, and regime change that meant coup in the old CIA tradition?

Remember synonyms for torture techniques like waterboarding, walling and rectal feeding?

White privilege can lead to wars as was the case in the US-led invasion of Iraq. Source: Wikipdia. 

In the same way that the Bush administration used to justify its crimes by invading foreign countries, new terms are being used today by politicians and the media to justify our inaction to what is happening to refugees fleeing war-torn countries like Syria.

How many columnists and editorialists connect the present refugee crisis in Syria with the invasion of Iraq in 2003? If your answer is too few then we must investigate deeper to understand why.

While the right to rename a serious issue with a more acceptable term is possible thanks to white privilege,  it is used unshamedly today by parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* to justify their racist, xenophobic and inhumane views of refugees, migrants and minorities.

We got a taste of the latter on Friday, when PS party secretary Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo claimed that four out of five refugees that were crossing the Mediterranean weren’t fleeing war but “economic migrants” and “welfare shoppers.”

The interesting question is how we’re going to react to what Slunga-Poutsalo said. Will we react in the same way as when PS MP Olli Immonen declared war on “the nightmare of multiculturalism of just look the other way?”

Using this kind of reckless and hateful language by politicians is worrying considering that the PS is a partner in Center Party Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s government together with the National Coalition Party.

Would you trust a government that claims that it wants to slash billions of euros of spending but is totally incapable of telling its PS partner to stop and to shut its xenophobic and fear-mongering mouth?

Definition #24

White Finnish privilege, like USAmerican white privilege, permits you to change the reality of something that is against your better judgement and become an accomplice in wars, torture and feed refugees to the fires of strife.

All you need to do is allow apathy to set in and parrot the terms that such parties, politicians and the media uses.

It’s that easy. Presto! White Finnish privilege gives me such an opportunity.

See also:

• Defining white Finnish privilege #1: I have it and you don’t
• Defining white Finnish privilege #2: Third culture children versus “pupil with immigrant background” 
• Defining white Finnish privilege #3 No history, no doctrine, no heroes and no martyrs
• Defining white Finnish privilege #4 Holding the short end of the stick
• Defining white Finnish privilege #5 It’s ok to be a racist
• Defining white Finnish privilege #6 Not having a voice and the media
• Defining white Finnish privilege #7 A definitive guide
• Defining white Finnish privilege #8 Underrated and less intelligent
• Defining white Finnish privilege #9 Mohammad Ali’s insight
• Defining white Finnish privilege #10 I can victimize and make up any story I like about migrants because I’m white
• Defining white Finnish privilege #11: Case Teuvo Hakkarainen
• Defining white Finnish privilege #12: Case Tom Packalén
• Defining white Finnish privilege #13: Case Matti Putkonen
• Defining white Finnish privilege #14: Losing sight of the real issue
• Defining white Finnish privilege #15: Case Halla-aho on the PS
• Defining white Finnish privilege #16: Rosa Emilia Clay and my history versus yours
• Defining white Finnish privilege #17:The Perussuomalaiset and our civil rights
• Defining white Finnish privilege #18: Labeling others according to your prejudice
• Defining white Finnish privilege #19: My rape statistics about your group
• Defining white Finnish privilege #20: Labeling Others to strengthen “us” and “them”
• Defining white Finnish privilege #21: Who can be a Finn?
• Defining white Finnish privilege #22: From racist, fascist to politician without memory
• Defining white Finnish privilege #23: Greater police powers to monitor migrants and minorities

* The Finnish name of the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English names adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.