THIS STORY WAS UPDATED
The ministry of education and culture decided to cut 115,000 of funding for the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Youth for violating the Youth Act 2017, according to
One of the important aims of the Youth Act 2017 is to promote social equality and inclusion.
PS Youth chair Asseri Kinnunen said he could appeal the decision.
The latest racist tweet that got the Youth chapter in trouble came in March. A black couple is smiling happily at their newborn child with a tweet by the youth chapter: “Vote for the Perussuomalaiset so that Finland won’t look like this.”
The racist outbursts by the PS Youth are a part of their DNA and political addiction. Below are a few recent examples:
- Twitter: Perussuomalaiset Youth leader condones terrorist attack in New Zealand (March 16)
- White Finnish nationalism and racism reveal themselves on Father’s Day (November 11)
While it is a positive matter that institutions like the ministry of education and culture are taking steps to address growing racism in our society, a lot more has to be done to address this social ill that is mocking and attacking our institutions and values.
Here is a good column (in Finnish) by Yrjö Rautio about how hate speech and racism have undermined the rule of law in Finland.
As the PS and its youth chapter cry us a river about how the decision to cut their funding this year is an infringement on their free speech and their right to be racists, we should not give them any further funding until we see a change in their ways.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. 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.