“Dog whistles win votes but destroy nations.”
Sayeeda Wars, former Conservative Party cochairperson.
To understand the thuggery that happened in the United Kindom, we should set the record straight: They were race riots instigated by mobs of white men. It is not the first time that the United Kingdom has experienced race riots. The first one were the deadly disturbances of 1919 in Liverpool, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Salford, Newport, Barry, Hull, and South Shields, according to David Olusoga.
In Finland, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party has made its political mark by attacking and denigrating migrants and minorities. The National Coalition Party, with MPs like Tere Sammallahti, Martin Paasi, Heikki Vestman, Atte Kaleva, and others, has found common ground with the PS’s xenophobic message.
One of the most toxic of the race riots has been Matias Turkkila, editor of Suomen Uutiset, a PS newspaper.
Considering the shameful and simplistic views by politicians who argued conspiracy thories to expalin the violence in the United Kingdom, shows me that we are also setting the groundwork for white men to take to the streets. The government is taking away services right now, not migrants.

Some Finnish politicians justified the race riots in the UK. From left to right: Finance Minister and Chairperson of the Perussuomalaiset, Riikka Purra, with her infamous statement made in 2008, “If you gave me a weapon, [youth with migrant background] corpses would appear on a commuter train, you see.” PS MP Onni Rostila, National Coalition Party MPs Tere Sammallahti and Matin Paasi.
Why haven’t we seen one editorial denouncing these politicians’ distorted views? Where are the OP-ED pieces? Where is the condemnation by other politicians? How long will the lies and bashing go on?
A quote by Argentinean writer and social activist Rodolfo Walsh (1928-77) sheds light on our predicament.
“Our dominant classes have made sure that the worker has no history, doesn’t have a doctrine, any heroes or any martyrs. Every struggle has to start from scratch, separated from previous struggles; the collective history is lost, their lessons are forgotten. History appears as if it were private property, whose owners are the owners of everything.”
We must change the situation no matter what it takes or how long.
