A good example of Finland’s xenophobic climate is a citizens’ initiative that would hasten the deportation of sentenced foreigners, according to YLE in English. The minimum number of signatures required for such initiatives to be debated and voted on in parliament is 50,000.
Continue reading “Finland’s scapegoating culture and climate”
Don’t let anyone, no one, ever define who you are. That’s your right and never give it away.
Why do some public services like the police even some migrants believe they have the right to define who are? The police do it constantly. Every time they label a person or group as a person with “foreign” or “migrant” background they are effectively relegating that person publicly to second- or third-class status in society.
Like in neighboring Sweden, where “a person with migrant background” is code for non-European or non-white, in Finland, it is used to remind you that white Finns run this country politically, culturally, economically and socially.
Continue reading “My identity is mine, not yours, so stop labeling me according to your prejudices”
Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity please go to this link.
Muutos 2011 racist ad (Vantaan Sanomat)
What’s wrong with this ad? Coded racism in the media is common but being outright racist, like the what is written on Jari Leino’s Muutos 2011 ad is less common. Even if Vantaan Sanomat is a community paper, certainly it must abide to some standards. The ad states: Finland is for the Finns; Somalia is for the Somalis; advance vote Somalis back to their country. The editor of Vantaan Sanomat, A-P Pietilä, apologized for the ad but was his apology crocodile tears? Pietilä has a long track record stretching back to the 1990s of having strong anti-immigration opinions. Was publishing Leino’s ad a “mistake” or a lowly stunt to get public attention for the paper and of Pietilä’s anti-immigration views through a far-right Muutos 2011 candidate? All of these are valid questions that the media hasn’t even bothered to ask.
In the last four years since the 2011 parliamentary elections, Nasima Razmyar, 30, has developed tremendously as a politician to become a strong voice of hope of Finland’s ever-growing culturally diverse society.
Razmyar, a candidatae for the Social Democratic Party (SDP) who lost getting elected by about 100 votes in the last election, vows to work tirelessly to change the present anti-cultural diversity climate presently gripping Finland.
A Finn is anyone with Finnish citizenship, right? Citizenship can be obtained through birth (jus sanguinis) or naturalization. Even if this should be clear as day, certain public services like the police continue to group Finns according to their so-called “foreign” or “immigrant” backgrounds.
I don’t have any problems with my foreign background even if I am a Finn. However, labeling me in such a way in such an anti-Other environment puts matters in a different context.
Is the label person with foreign or immigrant background an inclusive word that promotes social equality with white Finns? If it doesn’t what is it’s role then? Is it to rank non-white Finns as second- or third-class Finns?
Continue reading “Defining white Finnish privilege #21: Who can be a Finn?”
A group of 60 experts and others interested in the field of sports and social issues agreed with Minister of Sports Carl Haglund, who stated Friday in Helsinki that sports is an underused tool for social participation and action.
“It’s a shame [that sports is so underused],” said Haglund, “since it would be a very powerful tool that’s fun as well [to help migrants become a part of society].”
The minister stressed as well the importance of organizations representing migrants participating in government sports programs.
There’s an interesting story on Saturday’s Helsingin Sanomat where editor Kaius Niemi apologizes (again) for a story published on Estonians earlier this month after it become clear that a complaint had been made to the Council of Mass Media in Finland (JSN).
The story that was removed asked readers to vote for the best nickname for Estonians. Some offensive names for Estonians that readers could vote on included virukset (virus = a person who is half Estonian and half Russian), kroonit (they’re so much after money) and retiisit (during Soviet occupation Estonians were red from the outside but white inside).
While the JSN aims at ensuring good professional standards in Finland by journalists and the national media, should JSN head Risto Uimonen take a look at the mirror for statements he made in January after the Charlie hebdo attack in Paris?
Uimonen was quoted as saying on Yle in English that what happened in Paris was an example of a clash of civilizations between the West and the Islamic world.
“This is a strong attack on democracy and freedom of speech,” he was quoted as saying on Helsingin Uutiset. “It pits two understandings of democracy, western and Islamic, against each other–and they can’t be reconciled.”
Kadar Gelle
Kantasuomalainen kaverini kirjoitti eilen Facebookiin tummaihoisen teinipoikansa kokemuksesta.
Ruskea Poika on menossa omalle yläasteelle pelaamaan kavereiden kanssa korista. Matkalla juna pysähtyy asemalla hänen viereen ja laituri täyttyy ihmisistä. Ihmisjoukon keskeltä ilmestyy Elämää Nähnyt Mies, joka riuhtaisee kädellään Ruskean Pojan kuulokkeet irti korvista ja heittää ne puoliksi junan ja laiturin alle. Ruskea Poika sanoo Elämää Nähneelle Miehelle, “poimi ne ylös”. “En poimi. Ne ei oo mun”, ilkkuu Elämää Nähnyt Mies.
Mikä on YLE:n vaalikoneen mukaan kaikista maahanmuuttajavastaisin puolue Kaakkois-Suomen vaalipiirissä? Siinä löytyy kirkkaasti yksi puolue yli muiden: Perussuomalaiset.
Vaikka maahanmuutto kysymys ei suoraan noussut YLE:n vaalikoneissa, oli siellä yksi joka antoi osviittaan ehdokkaan näkemyksen maahanmuutosta. Kysymys kolme turvallisuuden alla lukee: Maahanmuuttoa Suomeen on rajoitettava terrorismin uhan vuoksi.
Continue reading “Perussuomalaiset ovat kaikista maahanmuuttovastaisin puolue Kaakkois-Suomessa”
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Maria Tolppanen is a good example of how anti-immigration politicians speak in code to their voters and have an escape plan after making a racist comment. Tolppanen’s getaway plan is the period mark in her statement.
These types of statements are double-edged swords because they give public exposure to a politician. Politicians like Tolppanen say racist things because they seek public attention.
What did she say?
