Here’s a simple question: Why does the police, like President Sauli Niinistö, see the present debate on immigration, asylum seekers and our ever-growing culturally and ethnically diverse society as being conducted by two extremes?
President Niinistö, who hasn’t shone as a defender of our culturally diverse society, spoke of the tolkun ihmiset, the silent majority that doesn’t identify with neither of these extremes.
Ville Rantanen offers in a cartoon below his view of the tolkun ihmiset.
There is one very noticeable flaw in Niinistö’s and online police Jarno Saarinen’s points of views of the “two extremes:” They are the views of white Finns with power who are the least affected by the ongoing hate speech and hostility against migrants and minorities.
Acknowledging this flaw in the debate is crucial to understand the issue.
People who say and do racist things, or politicians that want to relegate migrants and minorities to second- or third-class members of society, are the real threat to migrants and minorities – not to white people like Niinistö and Saarinen.
Add to the latter that we have an openly anti-immigration party like the Perussuomalaiset* in government with mainstream parties like the National Coalition Party and Center Party and the issue takes an ever-worrying dimension.
