Jan Vapaavuori is the mayor of Helsinki who wrote the following on his Facebook wall below about Nazis marching in Helsinki on Independence Day:
“I strongly disagree with the ideologies and practices of the far right and far left. Even these groups have rights in a free country (fatherland). The rule of law is the most important foundation of our society. Tolerance means that you also tolerate those you strongly disagree with, even if you hoped that this types of movements didn’t exist.”
Visit Jan Vapaavuori’s Facebook wall here.
Fine. Helsinki Mayor Vapaavuori, who is a member of the conservative National Coalition Party, claims that even Nazis have in our “free” society the right to express themselves. Christian Thibault, a long-time anti-racism activist, responds to the mayor’s statement below:
Read Christian Thibault’s original post here.
Gavan Titley has a few words to say as well.
Visit Gavan Titley’s Facebook wall here.
White Finnish privilege #43
How is it possible that the mayor of Helsinki openly approves Nazis marching in Helsinki? His arguments are highly selective and expose his problematic views and lame leadership on the topic.
Even if Vapaavuori may claim that Nazis have civil rights in our society, the private and not-so-private fascination and giving the benefit of the doubt to such far-right groups is nothing new. As long as we agree that we have the same enemy, we can give Nazi marches the benefit of the doubt.
What we are seeing is white Finnish privilege and power, which permits politicians like Vapaavuori and too many in society to give growing space to far-right groups. Didn’t the anti-EU, anti-immigration and anti-Islam Perussuomalaiset* grow in the same way? Didn’t it become one of the largest parties in Finland in the 2011 parliamentary elections?
Disagree? What about if pro-Putin Finns marched on Independence Day and demanded that Finland “rejoin” Russia? What about if you had thousands of Muslims marching on December 6 to speed up the building of a grand mosque in Helsinki?
Would Vapaanvuori be so eager in defending the rights of such groups to march on Independence Day?
I doubt it.
Finland has a serious fascism problem and its roots are in our history and relations with Russia. Believing that neo-Nazis, who openly want to overthrow our form of government, will see the light and reform is naïve. It is the same wishful thinking that characterizes the two-extremes view on racism.
There will never be a Hollywood-happily-ever-after ending for fascism and racism in this country or elsewhere. Fascism and racism will always exist but what you can do is show leadership and openly challenge these types of social ills from growing and spreading.
Vapaavuori’s lame statements about Nazis marching in Helsinki on December 6 is unfortunate and reveals his denial and inaction of the growing problem.
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-ago 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
- Defining white Finnish privilege #24: Becoming a heartless accomplice in wars and people’s suffering
- Defining white Finnish privilege #25: This land is my land, this isn’t your land
- Defining white Finnish privilege #26: Are you an ethnic Finn?
- Defining white Finnish privilege #27: White versus Other media
- Defining white Finnish privilege #28: Are you an ethnic Finn (Part 2)?
- Defining white Finnish privilege #29: Your family is worth less than mine
- White Finnish privilege #30: Whitewashing and racializing the news
- White Finnish privilege #31: The Soldiers of Odin and the Finnish media
- White Finnish privilege #32: The white Finnish police and “them”
- White Finnish privilege #33: Appropriating our narrative to maintain the status quo, amass more power and privilege
- White Finnish privilege #34: Building a political career on privilege and nativist nationalism
- White Finnish privilege #35: Case Sampo Terho and the ministry of (dis)culture
- White Finnish privilege #36: Hate speech and censorship
- White Finnish privilege #37: The master of near-everything
- Defining white Finnish privilege #38: Cultural appropriation and racism are quaint discussion topics between white Finns
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #39: The Hollywood ending of racism that will never happen in Finland
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #40: To whitewash or to disenfranchise
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #41: An Islamophobic politician and gender equality
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #42: Labeling and shaming
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #43: White versus dark skin
* After the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13 into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. Despite the name changes, we believe that it is the same party in different clothing. Both factions are hostile to cultural diversity. One is more open about it while the other is more diplomatic.
A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.