Whenever a far right politician like Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Olli Immonen, Jussi Halla-aho or James Hirvisaari comment on what is or who has the right to be Finnish, they always get it wrong. Their views, that Finland is only white, is not only wrong but a hostile act towards the tens of thousands of Finns who have foreign parent(s).
Finns with multiethnic backgrounds are more than some would want to admit. Why are politicians, especially from the PS, denying these people the right to be accepted and treated as equals in this society? Why doesn’t anyone, like Migrant Tales, speak up courageously for them?
The extreme nationalistic view of these PS politicians is not only harmful to Finland but to the people they label and exclude as equal members of this society. Why? Because they aren’t white.
Politicians, the media and the general public should send a clear message to those who label others in such a pernicious way. This is important because the aim of these anti-immigration politicians is to divide Finland along ethnic lines. Not only do they aim to make life as hard as possible, but destroy their self-esteem as Finns.
Immonen, who is chairman of the extremist Suomen Sisu association that aims to keep Finland white, writes on an Uusi Suomi blog entry: “This national cohesion [of white Finland] shouldn’t be upset by a no boundary utopian ideological world that is based on mass immigration and a multicultural social policy.”
Has anyone ever told Immonen and his pundits that Finland never was, is or will a so-called monocultural country? No country can ever be monocultural. It is a ludicrous claim like stating that all members of Group X are criminals or that Group Y are lazy.
That social construct, which Immonen refers to, was built during the last century thanks to myths born from Finland’s extreme isolation and fear of the outside world.
Instead of trying to breathe life into an ethnic Frankenstein that never existed, Immonen and his cronies should look at ways to encourage social and national cohesion through a policy of inclusion, acceptance and respect for cultural diversity.
Finland is a rapidly becoming a culturally diverse society and we must learn to live with this fact. Hiding our diversity or brushing it under the rug, like Immonen aims to do, is harmful to Finland.
No matter how much anti-immigration politicians and political parties may want to opportunistically kick and bitch about the fact that cultural diversity is here to stay, there’s nothing they can do about it.
It’s time to get real and embrace diversity for the sake of Finland’s present and future social cohesion.
“Has anyone ever told Immonen and his pundits that Finland never was, is or will a so-called monocultural country? No country can ever be monocultural”
Yeah sure if handful of immigrants doesnt make country a monocultural then yes. But seriously, for most parts Finland has been a really monocultural place. Arent you the one who has been telling us how Finland had only so few immigrants not long ago.
“It’s time to get real and embrace diversity for the sake of Finland’s present and future social cohesion.”
So this is your plan? Bitching and moaning how every immigrant should get to Finland and how everyone wanting any kind of limitation to it, is a racist. Then you can start demanding finnish language and culture should get thrown to closet for social cohesion because of all the problems your unlimited mass immigration has caused?
Enrique isn’t saying that “every immigrant should get to Finland.” You are putting words in his mouth. And where exactly did he say that “finnish language and culture should get thrown to closet?” Did you put those words in his mouth too?
“Enrique isn’t saying that “every immigrant should get to Finland.” ”
He is labeling anyone wanting any kind of limitation to immigration as being “anti-immigration” or worst racists. He only leaves people option to support the unlimited immigration. That much obvious.
“And where exactly did he say that “finnish language and culture should get thrown to closet?””
He did say
“It’s time to get real and embrace diversity for the sake of Finland’s present and future social cohesion.”
That is his byword for wanting to kick finnish culture to a minority position in its own country!
Yossie
I haven’t heard a single rational argument yet from any of these ‘anti-immigrationists’ that didn’t have a very strong element of racism in it. And the suprising thing is that it’s perfectly possible to formulate a skeptical position on immigration that is not racist, but those anti-immigration yobs and thugs are so thick that they simply fail to see the full opportunities to whitewash their racist agenda so that it would be squeeky clean for Joe public.
Now tell me that you really are that smart that you can do what the vast majority of these yobs seem incapable of? On current evidence, the answer is – not by a long way!
Only the last two days, you have openly defended a convicted racist by making sly references to immigrants and crime and also some vague veiled racist comment that exploits political insecurity in Egypt to somehow smear the reputation of Egyptians and by association, I imagine, also other Muslims. In effect, “lock up your daughters, because there are Muslim men about!”
Yossie the Islamaphobic and racist Yob!
–“Enrique isn’t saying that “every immigrant should get to Finland.” He is labeling anyone wanting any kind of limitation to immigration as being “anti-immigration” or worst racists. He only leaves people option to support the unlimited immigration. That much obvious.
Yossie, about thirty years ago I wrote about this during a time when there were a few thousands of foreigners (many Finnish expats) living in Finland. Back then, the police would claim that the reason for Finland’s Draconian immigration policy (systematically limit immigration) was based on limiting crime. Your thing is race and ethnicity. That’s where you and many other anti-immigration pundits are wrong. Immigrants should be accepted to a country based of the skills they bring.
Labor immigrants are a different from refugees. The world, as you know, is a pretty ugly place. Too many people are persecuted because of their beliefs, hunger and other factors like environmental disaster. Those people should always be able to seek refuge in other countries.
Mark
“vague veiled racist comment that exploits political insecurity in Egypt to somehow smear the reputation of Egyptians and by association, I imagine, also other Muslims”
I dont need to smear anything when they are doing it quite fine themselves. Political insecurity automaticly means mass rapes? Hell fucking no. That is their fucking problem.They are doing quite well smearing themselves. Maybe you want to close your ears and eyes for it but that doesnt change the fact they have a huge problem. No, it doesnt mean every egyptian is a rapist, but it doesnt mean there isnt a problem either.
“Yossie the Islamaphobic”
Yes, I am. I dont want to live in muslim country. I dont want any of that culture here. But somehow in your multicult pipedream, you insist I have to.
You insist that all the western (white majority) countries need to turn into “culturally diverse”. However you and your cronies never demand muslims or other non white countries to turn into these multicult paradises.
Yossie
Yes, those that rape do smear their reputation, as individuals. They are scum. And yes, sexual violence is a very significant problem in Egypt, as it is has been and still is in Finland, though in Finland it takes place usually behind closed doors and is also likewise largely unreported!!!!
So yes, when you start to bring these matters into an ‘immigration’ debate, then yes, that does mark you as the worst form of racist, one who seeks the ugliest and nastiest manifestations of behaviour in other countries/cultures and uses that to smear entire groups of people!
Does it really have to be pointed out that during Finland’s own transition into democracy, Finland saw a bitter civil war that led to the deaths of over 30,000 people, with widespread execution, imprisonment, maltreatment and brutality?
In only a couple of months, Finland managed to wipe out 1% of its population (compare this to 2% over 4 years in the US Civil War). Not only that, but a larger proportion of women were execucted in reprisal acts than men (Juha Siltala – Sisällissodan psykohistoria).
Their? You mean criminals who happen to be Egyptian or who happen to be Muslim, as if this alone is the reason for these crimes and this alone is sufficient reason to blindly accuse and smear other Muslims and Africans? No, Yossie, that is your prejudice. That is how racists think, just like this – these stupid, ignorant justifications that are designed to deflect criticism away from your prejudice because in the very next breath you will claim that people who oppose this racism are defending ‘rapists’. The very topics chosen to attack immigrants reveal exactly the kind of people racists are – manipulative and nasty, with absolutely no concern for the innocent victims of their hate mongering.
A problem of sexual violence should be dealt with as a problem of sexual violence, not as a product of national identity or religion. To consider it as such is to take a machete to a job that needs a scalpel.
I insist that you respect the legal freedoms given to all citizens of Finland, to live without threat of hostility simply because of their religious beliefs. You are more dangerous than the majority of religious people, because you simply do not respect that basic freedom.
I don’t insist on diversity, I insist on people not turning diversity into an excuse to hate on people. I ask you and others to acknowledge and accept diversity as the right of individuals, and not as a political weapon used to undermine the rights and status of individuals to serve your own insecure and ignorant prejudices.
I see, so Finns in Finland should now get involved in telling other countries what to do? We are not allowed to comment on what is going on in Finland because we don’t spend our time telling the citizens of other countries how to deal with multiculturalism.
Enrique
“The world, as you know, is a pretty ugly place. Too many people are persecuted because of their beliefs, hunger and other factors like environmental disaster. Those people should always be able to seek refuge in other countries.”
Yeah, seek refuge, but does that mean they should have right to ignore a lot of safe countries to arrive where they get the biggest benefits? That does not make them refuges anymore but welfare shoppers.
Also, no matter how refuges they are, there is a limit how many uneducated, illiterate people we can take to Finland.
Yossie, the language you use to describe refugees is lowly and despicable. Refugees rock. My great grandfather was a refugee. I am so proud of him that I gave my third child his name. Even if I never was one officially, I’ve felt like a refugee sometimes.
Immigration and refugees rock. They make the world go around.
Imagine if people didn’t move and stayed in one place. We’d still be arboreal primates. We must thank our forefathers for being restless and migrating be it for opportunity or because their lives were in danger.
Enrique
“Yossie, the language you use to describe refugees is lowly and despicable.”
But am I wrong? If the refugees arrive to a safe place, then after that what they look for isnt a safe place but a richer place.
Also am I wrong with the Finland only being able to take a limited amount of illiterate and uneducated people? After all, the trend in west is that jobs that dont need high skills are going away.
“Immigration and refugees rock. They make the world go around. ”
Also dont make it sound like immigration has always guaranteed good outcomes. Without european immigration to americas we might have a rich real american culture there.
How do you know that is what he really means? Do you know that’s what he really means, or were you told to “know” that’s what he really means?
I probably should remind you, because you go off claiming how you’re not a racist for wanting to limit immigration, that that whole “multiculturalism-leads-to-white-genocide” gambit you’re implicitly playing at was formulated by…well…racists: http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2013/07/02/white-rabbit-radio-font-of-racist-genocide-claims-run-by-michigan-man/. So in your case, Enrique’s call of racism would not be inaccurate.