Comment: One of the most incredible claims made by the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party is that Finland should be thankful to them for opening up the debate on immigrants and immigration to Finland. The immigration topic has been debated in Finland for decades but if there is something we can be thankful to the PS is for making racism public.
The opinion-piece below by Susanna Niinivaara shows how the debate began in the early 1990s when the first Somalians arrived from the former Soviet Union.
Even Niinivaara arrives at almost the same conclusion as I: “The Perussuomalaiset (party) has brought to the debate (on immigrants and immigration) an angry tone that does not tolerate contrary opinions.”
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Susanna Niinivaara
Ensin perussuomalaiset onnistuivat brändäämään itsensä maahanmuuttokriittisenä puolueena, ja sitten puolue onnistui sumentamaan meidän toimittajien muistia. Perussuomalaiset toistavat sitkeästi, että Suomessa maahanmuuttoon liittyvistä ongelmista on vaiettu ja varsinkin näitä ongelmia on hyssytellyt media. Viestimissä on väitteelle annettu tilaa ja perussuomalaiset ovat saaneet kiitosta siitä, että he ovat nostaneet vaietun aiheen keskusteluun.
A good review by one of Finland’s most distinguished journalists.
Hyvä Suski!
If someone missed, there was “Vihailta” (discussion about the hate speech in Finland) yesterday on TV. You can watch it online (only in Finnish): http://areena.yle.fi/video/1316546864904
Thank you for the link, Niko. What were your impressions of the debate?
It was actually very interesting. Showed both sides of the story (excluding radical views) and it made me think more about the subject. It probably doesn’t have same kind of media publicity as “homoilta” (=discussion about homosexuals and gay rights) had or effect to people, but it was still worth to watch.