Migrant tales
Menu
  • #MakeRacismHistory “In Your Eyes”
  • About Migrant Tales
  • It’s all about Human Rights
  • Literary
  • Migrant Tales Media Monitoring
  • NoHateFinland.org
  • Tales from Europe
Menu

The ‘positive’ side of racism and sexism on social media

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Migrant Tales

What do social media sites say about how we socialize and interact with others? What does it say about racism and sexism, which have mushroomed  on social media sites? Associate professor of digital journalism and social media at the University of British Columbia, Alfred Hermida, said that the problem of social media is the ‘undetermined’ nature and immediacy that technology creates.  

“Instant information encourages action rather than contemplation,” Hermida was quoted as saying on The Globe and Mail. “It fosters ardor rather than nuance.

Social media has become a forum and a platform for people’s ideas and social interaction. Racism and sexism are one of its big topics.

“In some ways I think that’s a good thing because it says this [racism and sexism] is an issue: there is something rotten in the state of society,” he said. “More troubling is that once people see this type of behavior, others may think it’s acceptable.”

Näyttökuva 2014-10-13 kello 11.22.45

Read full interview here.

 

Hermida states that social media is all about social capital.

“We want to have shared identity: ‘I’m sending you this video because we can find it funny together.’ That strengthens our social bonds. You’re confirming that yes, you’re like me.”

To add to what Hermida said, it’s not how some people interpret racist and sexist behavior but how politicians react to them. Is more racism and Islamophobia on social media a cue for them to be xenophobic?

Another interesting question to ask is what narratives are coming out of social media. Who has the authority and power to determine which of them will become the standard?

If guerrilla warfare showed that a small well-organized group can defeat vastly outnumbered armies like we saw in Czarist Russia, Cuba, Nicaragua and elsewhere, can the same happen on social media? Is social media a good platform to spark a revolution as we saw in the Arab Spring with Tweeter? Are global surveillance groups like the NSA and GCHQ invincible? What has Edward Snowden showed showed by unmasking them?

Is the anti-immigration movement in Finland, spearheaded by groups like the Perussuomalaiset,* Suomen Sisu, an extremist association, and others, good examples that a minority can hold hostage the silence of politicians and society at large?

Was the PS election victory of 2011 caused by and large by social media and our reaction to it?

All questions and something to think about.

 

* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English names of the party adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.Thank you Pia Grochowski for the heads up! 

How to tell a Finnish politician that he or she sounds racist

Posted on October 11, 2014 by Migrant Tales

The atmosphere for migrants and minorities in Finland is going to get worse as parliamentary elections near in April 2015. Two recent cases, Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Tom Packalén and National Coalition Party MP Pia Kauma, reinforce that matters are going to get worse before they improve. A good way to uncover these opportunistic politicians’ motives and statements that sound and look racist is their pattern. 

Sensible people condemn violence but what about if politicians spread suspicion and lies about migrants and minorities that are not true. As a result of their statements, which raise passions,  society and some people become hostile, even violent, towards migrants and minorities?

The only service that Packalén and Kauma have done for Finland by their lowly comments is to show us that there is a racism problem in this country and that we must find ways to deal with it. Finland has the means to put prejudice and discrimination on the defensive but does it have the will?

Politicians like Packalén and Kauma and the silence of the political parties suggest that there is very little will at present.

Näyttökuva 2014-10-11 kello 19.13.13

PS MP Tom Packalén on A-studio Friday with a poker smile and no facts to backup his claims. See program here.

 

When debating about intolerance with a person who sounds racist, the last thing you want to do is accept an invitation to discuss such a topic on his or her terms. In order to avoid such a mistake, one has to separate two matters: the person and what was said.

We don’t know if Packalén and Kauma are racists but that’s not the point. The point is what they said and wrote.

Here’s a good video by Jay Smooth on how to tell someone they sound racist below.

Is what Packalén wrote racist? Certainly it sounded pretty racist. Is he a racist? Not interested in discussing that point because that’s not the issue. It’s what he wrote.

What did he write?

He claimed that only migrant gangs are terrorizing and beating white Finns in Helsinki.  One of these victims was 10 years old child. The PS MP claimed that he had information from the police that some gang members were racist because they wanted to hurt white Finns.

Police Superintendent Tuomo Lotta flatly denies Packalén’s claims about the gang members’ racist motives.

Just like Kauma pictured Finnish mothers as responsible victims because they bought used baby carriages, Pakalén is doing the same thing by pitting migrants against white Finns.

We have found out now that these so-called migrant gangs comprise of white Finns that Packalén forgot to mention.

Kauma is another sad example. She used the same strategy as Pakclén. She made an incredible claim that migrant women buy new baby carriages with social aid while Finnish mothers buy used baby carriages.

She was never able to back up her claim and even shown by social workers that what she said just isn’t true.

Here is the pattern of how statements that sound racist are made:

  • Make an outrageous statement no matter if it is a lie;
  • Your aim is to get media attention;
  • Even if experts and the media prove what you say is wrong, stay calm and deny it;
  • Those who believe what you said because there is some conspiracy theory will love you and probably vote for you in the next elections;
  • Nothing will happen to you because everyone will eventually forget the incident.

This same method that Pakclén and Kauma used to get attention was used in England by the xenophobic National Front in the 1980s.

Enoch Powell’s “Rivers of Blood” speech is a case in point. The politician claimed in 1968, when more Commonwealth migrants were moving to the United Kingdom, that it would be a question of time when England’s rivers will end up ‘foaming with much blood.’

Those ‘rivers of blood’ he warned us of never happened but the media sure loved it.

Even if many will forget what Packalén and Kauma said, Migrant Tales won’t.

* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English names of the party adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.

Reija Härkönen: Perussuomalainen kansanedustaja kiihottaa kansanryhmää vastaan

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Migrant Tales

Reija Härkönen

Perussuomalainen kansanedustaja, poliisi Tom Packalen, on populistisesti yhtynyt huutokuoroon, joka saa sytykettä mistä tahansa maahanmuuttajiin liittyvästä ikävästä uutisesta. Helsingin nuorten jengitappelusta nautiskellaan tälläkin blogialustalla jo varmasti kymmenessä kirjoituksessa yhden päivän aikana. Packalenin purkaus on kuitenkin vertaansa vailla – onhan hän työssä maamme korkeimmassa lakia säätävässä elimessä.

Näyttökuva 2014-10-8 kello 23.00.26

Kansanedustaja aloittaa kirjoituksensa kertomalla, että maahanmuuttajat ovat ”pahoinpidelleet kymmeniä kantasuomalaisia lapsia, nuoria ja aikuisia”. Packalen jättää kertomatta, että ”maahanmuuttajajengi” koostuu joukosta lapsia ja nuoria, joista osa on kantasuomalaisia.

Seuraavassa lauseessa Packalen muistaa mainita, että Suomessa on meneillään oikeudenkäynti henkilöitä vastaan, joiden epäillään rahoittaneen terroristijärjestön toimintaa. Sehän liittyy tietysti olennaisella tavalla nuorisojengin toimintaan – vai olisiko Packalenilla sittenkin jokin omaa etua tavoitteleva taka-ajatus tällaisessa yhdistämisessä?

Tämän jälkeen Packalen vajoaa suorastaa hysteeriseen halla-aholaiseen uikutukseen siitä, että meillä tapahtuu jotain hirrrmuista, kun on se maahanmuutto, ja siitä ei ole saanut puhua. Lopuksi hän heittää vielä väitteen, joka poikkeaa täysin poliisin antamasta tiedotteesta asiassa: Packalen on sitä mieltä, että nämä jengissä toimivat lapset ja nuoret ovat liikkeellä rasistisin motiivein. Emmekä säästy myöskään liioittelulta, suurentelulta ja paisuttelulta: pahoinpideltyjen joukko on ihan varmasti moninkertainen, uhrit pelkäävät kostoa eikä kukaan uskalla kertoa kotona mitään. Tähän tyyliinhän se on näillä halla-aholaisilla mennyt: ”ne tulee, ne tulee, ne tulee ja…”

On ilman muuta selvää, että poliisikansanedustajan tarkoituksena on luoda epäilyksen varjo muslimitaustaisia maahanmuuttajia kohtaan. Kaikkia muslimitaustaisia, kaikkia mustaihoisia ja kaikkia vähänkin ulkomaalaisen näköisiä ihmisiä kohtaan. Se on rasismia. Kun tätä tekee kansanedustaja, se on järjestäytynyttä, poliittista rasismia. Pitäisi tutkia, onko kysymys  lainvastaisesta kiihottamisesta kansanryhmää vastaan.

Kun poliisi tiedottaa väkivaltaisista jengitappeluista, ei ole mitään syytä korostaa tappelijoiden etnistä alkuperää. Tappelu on tappelu ja sitä on tutkittava sellaisena. Ihmisten välisenä, ei ”ihmisten” ja ”muukalaisten” välisenä väkivaltana.  Poliisi ei, jos noudattaa lakia, voi korostaa etnisyyttä muussa kuin silloin, kun etsintäkuulutetaan vankikarkuria tai vaarallista henkilöä ja etnisyyden tietäminen on henkilön löytämiseksi oleellista. Voisi olettaa, että Packalen tuntee tämän perussäännön.

Olisi myös äärimmäisen tärkeää, ettei kansanedustaja käyttäisi tällaista nuorten ihmisten hölmöilyä oman vaalikampanjansa välineenä. Nyt hän jopa kertoo tulleensa väärin kohdelluksi, kun ei ole päässyt tiedottamaan herkullisista yksityiskohdista, joita liittyy maahanmuuttajataustaisten tekemään väkivaltaan. Vielä vähän lisää pelkoa kansan sydämiin, kansamme edustaja Packalen?

Kaikkein häpeämättömintä tämän entisen poliisin nykyisissä toimissa on kuitenkin se, että hän heittää epäilyksen varjon myös poliisiveljiensä ylle ja haittaa asian tutkintaa. Tällaisesta toiminnasta puuttuu lojaalisuus omaa entistä työnantajaa kohtaan, siitä puuttuu halu yhteiskuntarauhan säilymiseen ja – kansanedustajalta – halu rauhanomaiseen yhteisten asioiden hoitamiseen. Sitähän politiikan pitäisi rauhanajan demokratiassa olla.

Packalen kysyy kirjoituksensa lopuksi:

”On mielenkiintoista nähdä, mitä maahanmuuton ongelmat kieltäneet ja maton alle lakaisseet poliitikot nyt sanovat. Miten he korjaavat yhteiskunnallemme aiheuttamansa vahingon? Tähän kysymykseen kaipaisin vastausta vaikkapa pääministeriltämme.”

Minä kysyn Packalenilta ja perussuomalaisilta: millä tavoin kansanedustaja ja hänen puolueensa korjaavat yhteiskunnallemme aiheuttamansa suunnattoman vahingon: vihan ja epäluulojen levittämisen, yhteiskunnallisen ilmapiirin myrkyttämisen ja kansalaisten pelottelun?

Toinen kysymykseni Packalenille on: Millä tavalla perussuomalaiset aikovat pitää huolen siitä, että nuoriso Suomessa ei syrjäydy, että kaikki nuoret ja lapset saavat elää rauhassa ilman solvausta ja syrjintää? Jengiongelma meillä on aina ollut, jokaisella vuosikymmenellä omansa. Tähän saakka asiat on osattu hoitaa asioina ilman, että joukko rasistisetiä alkaa vaatia joidenkin jengiläisten lynkkausta sen perusteella, että heidän isänsä ja äitinsä ovat syntyneet muissa maissa.

Kaikki me tiedämme, että Suomi on ollut vuosikymmeniä Euroopan tilastoykkönen henkirikoksissa. Näitä rikoksia tekevät syntyperäiset suomalaiset. Myös perheväkivalta on tilastojen kärjessä. Millä tavalla politiikka on ennen ollut parempaa, kun tässä valkoisten suomalaisten hvvin voivassa maassa ei ole vältytty moiselta aikuisten ihmisten väkivallalta, vaikka ei ollut sitä maahanmuuttoa?

Perussuomalaiset toimivat tässä asiassa jälleen yhteistyössä muiden maahanmuuttajavastaisten puolueiden ja ryhmittymien kanssa. Perussuomalaisista näytösluontoisesti poispotkittu edustaja Hirvisaari on nyt tehnyt asiasta kirjallisen kysymyksen. Valitettavasti on myös todettava, että Kokoomuksen äänenkannattaja netissä on uutisoinut asian ikään kuin tämän räyhäporukan tekemä kysymys olisi jollain lailla validi poliittinen toimi. Toivottavasti tämä oli vain toimittajien lapsus.

Huomaan myös, että halla-aholaisten toiminta kantaa hedelmää Puheenvuorossa. Tälläkin hetkellä julkaistujen blogien joukossa on useita, jotka sisältävät rasistisia väitteitä ja kommentteja. Tämä tapahtuu palstalla, joka on ilmoittanut pitävänsä nollatoleranssia suhteessa rasismiin.

Alkuperäisen blogikirjoituksen voi lukea tästä.

Tämä blogikirjoitus julkaistiin Migrant Talesissä luvalla.

The PS has found its political role model in the Sweden Democrats

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Tom Packalén is an example of how the good election result of the Sweden Democrats has invigorated him and the PS to start scapegoating migrants in Finland. Taking into account the poor result of the PS in the last presidential, municipal and EU elections, it’s clear that some PS MPs will do anything to get attention and hopefully votes.  

Even if the PS claim to not have any official contacts with the Sweden Democrats, they are perfect political soul mates. Both parties loathe migrants, especially those that aren’t white like them.

Näyttökuva 2014-10-8 kello 15.52.36

Read full blog entry (in Finnish) here.

 

Packalén’s blog entry on Uusi Suomi is quite revealing not for its well-balanced points of view but because it scapegoats, generalizes and victimizes all migrants.

Packalén admits on the blog that his anti-immigration views were the reason why he went into politics.

Here are a few questions Migrant Tales would like to ask the PS MP:

  • You label the members of the youth gang on your blog entry as migrants but how many of these are Finns? Do you even know?
  • Finland has one of the lowest number of migrants in the European Union. From your anti-immigration perspective, doesn’t this mean that immigration policy has been “successful?”
  • You call these so-called migrant youth gangs “racist.” Do you have any what white racism is?
  • Instead of whining about “failed immigration policy,” what solutions do you want to bring to the table? In your blog entry you offer none.

Migrant Tales does not condone any type of violence but we don’t go around – like you – stressing and pinning the blame on all Finns when a crime is committed.

That, MP Packalén, is the difference between your opportunistic and populist claims and what we are saying.

 

* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English names of the party adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.

Time warp Fazer of Finland: Stereotyping Mediterranean “gigolos” to sell salt licorice

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Migrant Tales

I was surprised to see Fazer, a Finnish foodservice company, advertising salt licorice on television with the help of a 1980s stereotype of a Southern European gigolo  who speaks Finnish with a me-Tarzan-you-Jane accent. 

Migrant Tales sent an email to Fazer Monday morning about the ad but never got a reply. I did, however, get in touch with the the Mainonnan eettinen neuvosto, an advertising ethics board, which recommended that we sent a complaint to them, which we will.

It’s clear that one of the biggest challenges that migrants face in Finland is tackling stereotypes about them. The most recent television ad by Fazer reinforces stereotypes about one group of migrants.

Fazer has a questionable record on stereotyping different ethnic groups in its products.

Pressure from the Finnish Consumer Agency, EU and Ombudsman for Minorities forced the company to stop using a Golliwog on its licorice brand in 2007. In 2011 it was forced to change the image  on one of its produces that used a stereotyped image of a Chinese man (see below).

images

Before…
Näyttökuva 2014-10-6 kello 12.38.32
…after.

 

golliwog

Golliwogs on Finnish licorice brands has been a common site since the 1920s…

IMG_4651

…and another company continues to flirt with them to this date. This licorice was sold at the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.

If you feel that this TV commercial by Fazer is offensive, send an email to the company, the Mainonnan eettinen neuvosto or Ombudsman for Minorities.

Another effective way would be to boycott Fazer products.

A present for National Coalition Party MP Pia Kauma

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Migrant Tales

Remember National Coalition Party MP Pia Kauma? Yes, the MP from Espoo, who pointed an accusing finger at migrant mothers claiming that they bought with social aid new baby carriages while Finnish mothers bought used ones. Kauma never backed her statements but at the end her claims were proven false and based on hearsay. 

Na?ytto?kuva 2014-9-14 kello 17.51.08
Migrant Tales’ tweet above never got a response from Prime Minister Alexander Stubb.

 

I noticed today on Facebook a picture of a new and shining baby carriage mocking MP Kauma, who still hasn’t backed what she claimed never mind offered a public apology for victimizing especially poor migrant mothers.

How can a politician like Kauma make false statements based on rumors that label migrants and minorities and get away with it? Kauma has with her hearsay shown the ugly face of prejudice in this country and how much politicians will twist facts and even lie to get votes.

White Finnish privilege is one reason why Kauma can make up stories about migrants and get away with it.

Näyttökuva 2014-10-4 kello 23.12.06

 

Thank you Abdirahim Husu Hussein for the heads-up.

Sorry folks, but the Garden of Eden never existed in Finland

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Migrant Tales

I was recently interviewed by two students of the Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences (MAMK), who asked me why I’m so passionate about anti-racism. “Finland is a good country to live in with good laws that should protect everyone,” I said. “I don’t want our country to be fed to the dogs by racists, nationalists and populist parties. Our country deserves better.”

Certainly I am not waging such an effort for myself, but for my grandchildren and great grandchildren so that they may live in a society where there is social justice and equality for everyone irrespective of their ethnic and cultural background.

gardenofeden

The biggest shock to ethnic purists  is the discovery that the Garden of Eden never existed in their country. How come Adam & Eve are “white?”

 

It saddens but does not surprise me that we are not heading towards such an ideal society. On the one side, you have Finns who are trying to do everything possible to discredit and undermine your presence in this country or are indifferent, while on the other side there is a courageous group of people who are challenging intolerance.

Gathering from much of the near-unchallenged prejudices and discrimination roaming freely in our society and spread by parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, those very dangers that such parties and anti-immigration politicians warn us of is being inflicted by them. The greatest threat to our peace and social cohesion in this century are these types of parties and politicians, not the migrants and minorities they commonly target.

Some good recent examples of the hate campaign against migrants and refugees are PS MP Maria Louhela, who makes outrageous claims about so-called “humanitarian migration,” a term used by anti-immigration politician to mean asylum seeker who didn’t get asylum but for humanitarian reasons cannot be sent back to his or her war-ravaged country.

The use of a term such as “humanitarian migrants” speaks volumes about Louhela and her red herrings. If refugees are “migrants allowed to stay in the country because of humanitarian reasons,” it suggests that they aren’t real refugees and only seeking to come here to live off our social welfare, a common argument used by anti-immigration groups.

Another PS politician from the city of Salo, Heikki Tamminen, claims that migration is bad because one of the consequences is that people from different ethnicities mix genetically.

What answer would Tamminen give if you asked him if the Garden of Eden was in Finland? Since modern Finns never migrated anywhere, as Tamminen suggests, they must have then magically appeared from nowhere in a Garden of Eden in Finland.

Ludicrous!

Tamminen and other anti-immigration politicians could take a look at what DNA exposed about European hunter-gatherers that lived in this part of Europe around 7,000 years ago, who had blue eyes, black or brown hair and dark skin, according to the Guardian.

 

* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English names of the party adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.

What will the April 2015 elections of Finland reveal about ourselves as a country?

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Migrant Tales

It’s clear that the parliamentary elections of April 2015 in Finland will reveal a lot of matters about this country. In many respects it’s like strip tease joint where women or men, disguised as political parties, take off their clothes. Sexuality isn’t being shown in bare flesh but in political ideologies such as racism, whiteness, anti-cultural diversity, anti-EU and nostalgia of a Finland that only existed in our imagination. 

The anti-immigration, far-right and populist winds blowing over Europe should concern us. But it is a good sign as well that there is a lot of opposition, thanks to social media, against such social ills. Pulling a 1933 political stunt on a country could be more difficult today than over eighty years ago, when Nazi Germany came into being.

As April 19 nears in Finland, it’s clear that anti-immigration voices are getting louder and more hostile. Should it surprise us then that the Perussuomalaiset (PS),* which claims to have sacked all of its racists and fascists, is leading the charge on this front?

Finland’s darkest political period in this century (2011-15) could be seen in the same light as the half-a-century old rants made by USAmerican racists of the South. What these Finnish politicians say today will make their great grandchildren’s faces turn red with shame. Racists always look ugly as time unmasks their lies.

Näyttökuva 2014-10-3 kello 13.37.31

There’s a very good column on City by Taneli Hämäläinen that summarizes, in my opinion, the way PS politicians switch the argument around. We’ve seen this on Migrant Tales on a number of occasions used by far-right anti-immigration voices. It’s like claiming that the Jews unleashed the Holocaust and the Nazis were their victims.

The issue is not asking how racist a country like Finland is, even though this is an important question, but what is our response as a society to such a social ill.  Is there a response? If so, is it effective? If not, why?

You don’t have to be black or a member of an ethnic minority to understand how insulting and lowly some politicians will act to get votes and feed their narcism in the process.

But let’s go back to the main question of this posting: What will the April 2015 elections of Finland reveal about ourselves as a country?

It will reveal two things: If racism and fascism (1) are are growing or on the defensive.

* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English names of the party adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.

(1) Tiina Rosenberg gives a good definition of fascism as a political ideology that want to exclude other groups. The aim of fascism in Nazi Germany was based on an argument that they had to kick out and/or exterminate other minorities like the Jews, Roma and their political enemies in order to become a super race.  Nazi war criminal Alfred Rosenberg, who was sentenced and hanged for war crimes, is a good example of this type of ideology. He writes about it in The myth of the twentieth century.

 

Apparently few migrants and minorities attended the National Sports Forum

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Migrant Tales

Some claim that one of the problems that migrants and minorities face in Finland is that they are underrepresented in different associations.  Last Sunday, the National Sports Forum held a meeting in Helsinki to talk about the future of sports in Finland. Gathering from the picture below, it’s clear that few migrants and minorities were invited to the event. 

This is odd considering that Helsinki is an every-growing culturally and ethnically diverse city. In 2013, around 45% of all the migrants in Finland live in Helsinki (50,661), Espoo (20,612) ad Vantaa (16,024), according to the Population Register Center.

The total amount of migrants that lived in Finland last year was 195,511, or 3.6% of the population.

So what happened?

Näyttökuva 2014-10-1 kello 18.19.10

The National Sports Forum was held in Helsinki on Sunday. Visit the site here.

As everyone knows, sports plays a key role in promoting adaption and inclusion of people of all ethnicities into Finnish society.

The National Sports Forum should do a much better job next time to invite Others that are not seen in the picture above.

 

Zuzeeko’s blog: 1960-style racial abuse in a store in Finland, and silent onlookers

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Migrant Tales

Zuzeeko Tegha Abeng*

Things happen in modern-day Finland that look like scenes out of the U.S. in the 1960s when black people, such as 6-year-old Ruby Bridges, were taunted by angry members of the white community who opposed racial integration of public schools.

Ihmisoikeusliitto, a human rights organisation that monitors the human rights situation in Finland, revealed on its Facebook page on 4 September 2014 that one of its workers was followed and verbally attacked in a shop by another customer. According to the Facebook post, the customer followed the human rights workers in a shop and shouted insults as the latter walked away. No one in the shop said anything to the abuser or the abused. Everyone stared as the perpetrator continued the racially motivated abuse — until a security guard took the perpetrator away.

 

Näyttökuva 2014-10-1 kello 17.31.11

According to Ihmisoikeusliitto, the reason for the taunting was the color of the victim’s skin.

Keep in mind that the reported racist taunting happened is 2014, not 1960. It’s unconscionable that such a thing happens in modern-day Finland, and not a single onlooker lifts a finger.

When I read the Facebook post, the story of Ruby Bridges came to mind.

Ruby Bridges was the first black student to attend a formerly all-white elementary school in New Orleans in 1960. When public schools were required by federal law to desegregate, she was the first African American to go to William Frantz Elementary School. For security reasons, Ruby was escorted to and from school by U.S. Marshals dispatched by president Eisenhower. White parents and students shouted insults and pointed fingers at Ruby as she went to school under the protection of U.S. Marshals. And white parents rushed their children out of the school in protest. Even teachers refused to teach.

In my view, shouting insults at someone in a public place in Finland because of the color of his or her skin is as shameful as the racially motivated taunting of Ruby Bridges in New Orleans in 1960. The verbal abuse reported by Ihmisoikeusliitto is, to an extent, similar to abuse faced by Ruby Bridges in the 1960s. The only difference lies in the scale of the abuse.

Unlike Ruby, the victim in the shop in Finland was taunted by a single abuser. Although the perpetrator acted alone, the silent onlookers in the shop, I believe, took the side of the perpetrator. My belief that the “spectators” were complicit is hinged on the words of archbishop Desmond Tutu: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor”.

I have argued before in previous blog posts, such as in the piece about the plight of Finland’s black taxi drivers, and I’ll argue again, that blatant racism persists in modern-day Finland because members of the public and people with the power to change things let it persist. Perpetrators are emboldened by the silence of onlookers. People of good conscience and people in positions of authority in Finland should stand up and speak up forcefully against racism. Until then, racists will continue to drag Finland’s international image in the mud by repeatedly perpetrating 1960-style racial abuse in modern-day Finland.Read original blog entry here.

*Zuzeeko Tegha Abeng is an associate editor of Migrant Tales. 

  • Previous
  • 1
  • …
  • 324
  • 325
  • 326
  • 327
  • 328
  • 329
  • 330
  • …
  • 535
  • Next
Read more about documentary film
Read more

Recent Posts

  • Finland’s tabloids Iltalehti and Ilta-Sanomat are the pits
  • Riikka Purra’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde mask
  • Double standards
  • Perussuomalaiset: Uusi logo, sama vanha juttu
  • Taco Trump

Recent Comments

  1. Absolutely Socking: Racist Finnish Facebook group against human rights gets flooded with socks on Musta Barbaari’s mother and sister charged by the police in “ethnic profiling” case
  2. Ilkka Nuotio on Pekka Myrskylä: “Tilastot kertovat toista kuin poliittinen keskustelu”
  3. Genrih Soinkara on The war in Ukraine and the Russian-Finnish border crisis are showing Finland’s ugly side
  4. Ahti Tolvanen on Comment by Ahti Tolvanen on the Helsinki +50 conference
  5. Angel Barrientos on Angel Barrientos is one of the kind beacons of Finland’s Chilean community

Archives

  • June 2026
  • May 2026
  • April 2026
  • March 2026
  • February 2026
  • January 2026
  • December 2025
  • November 2025
  • October 2025
  • September 2025
  • August 2025
  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007

Categories

  • ?? Gia L?c
  • ????? ?????? ????? ???????? ?? ??????
  • ???????
  • @HerraAhmed
  • @mondepasrond
  • @nohatefinland
  • @oula_silver
  • @Varathas
  • A Pakistani family
  • äärioikeisto
  • Abbas Bahmanpour
  • Abdi Muhis
  • Abdirahim Hussein Mohamed
  • Abdirahim Husu Hussein
  • Abdirisak Mahamed
  • About Migrant Tales
  • activism
  • Adam Al-Sawad
  • Adel Abidin
  • Afrofinland
  • Ahmed IJ
  • Ahti Tolvanen
  • Aino Pennanen
  • Aisha Maniar
  • Alan Ali
  • Alan Anstead
  • Alejandro Díaz Ortiz
  • Alekey Bulavsev
  • Aleksander Hemon
  • Aleksanterinliitto
  • Aleksanterinliitto ry
  • Aleksanterinliitto ry:n hallitus
  • Alex Alex
  • Alex Mckie
  • Alexander Nix
  • Alexandra Ayse Albayrak
  • Alexis Neuberg
  • Ali Asaad Hasan Alzuhairi
  • Ali Hossein Mir Ali
  • Ali Rashid
  • Ali Sagal Abdikarim
  • Alina Tsui
  • Aline Müller
  • All categories
  • Aman Heidari
  • Amiirah Salleh-Hoddin & Jana Turk
  • Amin A. Alem
  • Amir Zuhairi
  • Amkelwa Mbekeni
  • Ana María Gutiérrez Sorainen
  • Anachoma
  • Anders Adlecreutz
  • Angeliina Koskinen
  • Anna De Mutiis
  • Anna María Gutiérrez Sorainen
  • Anna-Kaisa Kuusisto ja Jaakko Tuominen
  • Annastiina Kallius
  • Anneli Juise Friman Lindeman
  • Announcement
  • Anonymous
  • Antero Leitzinger
  • anti-black racism
  • Anti-Hate Crime Organisation Finland
  • Anudari Boldbaatar
  • Arshiya Nasser
  • Aspergers Syndrome
  • Asylum Corner
  • Asylum seeker 406
  • Athena Griffin and Joe Feagin
  • Autism
  • Avaaz.org
  • Awale Olad
  • Ayan Said Mohamed
  • AYY
  • Barachiel
  • Bashy Quraishy
  • Beatrice Kabutakapua
  • Beri Jamal
  • Beri Jamal and Enrique Tessieri
  • Bertolt Brecht
  • Boiata
  • Boodi Kabbani
  • Bruno Gronow
  • Carmen Pekkarinen
  • Çelen Oben and Sheila Riikonen
  • Chiara Costa-Virtanen
  • Chiara Costa-Virtanen
  • Chiara Sorbello
  • Christian Thibault
  • Christopher Wylie
  • Clara Dublanc
  • Dana
  • Daniel Malpica
  • Danilo Canguçu
  • David Papineau
  • David Schneider
  • Dexter He
  • Don Flynn
  • Dr Masoud Kamali
  • Dr. Faith Mkwesha
  • Dr. Theodoros Fouskas
  • Edna Chun
  • Eeva Kilpi
  • Emanuela Susheela
  • En castellano
  • ENAR
  • Enrique
  • Enrique Tessieri
  • Enrique Tessieri & Raghad Mchawh
  • Enrique Tessieri & Yahya Rouissi
  • Enrique Tessieri and Muhammed Shire
  • Enrique Tessieri and Sira Moksi
  • Enrique Tessieri and Tom Vandenbosch
  • Enrique Tessieri and Wael Che
  • Enrique Tessieri and Yahya Rouissi
  • Enrique Tessieri and Zimema Mhone
  • Epäluottamusmies
  • EU
  • Europe
  • European Islamophobia Report
  • European Islamophobia Report 2019,
  • European Union
  • Eve Kyntäjä
  • Ezequiel Caldeiro
  • Facebook
  • Fadumo Dayib
  • Faisa Kahiye
  • Farhad Manjoo
  • Fasismi
  • Finland
  • Fizza Qureshi
  • Flyktingar och asyl
  • Foreign Student
  • Fozia Mir-Ali
  • Frances Webber
  • Frida Selim
  • Gareth Rice
  • Ghyslain Vedeaux
  • Global Art Point
  • Great Replacement
  • Habiba Ali
  • Hami Bahadori
  • Hami Bahdori
  • Hamid
  • Hamid Alsaameere
  • Hamid Bahdori
  • Handshake
  • Harmit Athwal
  • Hassan Abdi Ali
  • Hassan Muhumud
  • Heikki Huttunen
  • Heikki Wilenius
  • Helsingin Sanomat
  • Henning van der Hoeven
  • Henrika Mälmsröm
  • Hser Hser
  • Hser Hser ja Mustafa Isman
  • Husein Muhammed
  • Hussain Kazemian
  • Hussain Kazmenian
  • Ibrahim Khan
  • Ida
  • Ignacio Pérez Pérez
  • Iise Ali Hassan
  • Ilari Kaila & Tuomas Kaila
  • Imam Ka
  • inside-an-airport
  • Institute of Race Relations
  • Iraqi asylum seeker
  • IRR European News Team
  • IRR News Team
  • Islamic Society of Norhern FInland
  • Islamic Society of Northern Finland
  • Islamophobia
  • Jacobinmag.com
  • Jallow Momodou
  • Jan Holmberg
  • Jane Elliott
  • Jani Mäkelä
  • Jari Luoto
  • Jari Taponen
  • Jegor Nazarov
  • Jenni Stammeier
  • Jenny Bourne
  • Jessie Daniels
  • Joe Davidow
  • Johannes Koski
  • John D. Foster
  • John Grayson
  • John Marriott
  • Jon Burnett
  • Jorma Härkönen
  • Jos Schuurmans
  • José León Toro Mejías
  • Josue Tumayine
  • Jouni Karnasaari
  • Juan Camilo
  • Jukka Eräkare
  • Julian Abagond
  • Julie Pascoet
  • Jussi Halla-aho
  • Jussi Hallla-aho
  • Jussi Jalonen
  • JusticeDemon
  • Kadar Gelle
  • Kaksoiskansalaisuus
  • Kansainvälinen Mikkeli
  • Kansainvälinen Mikkeli ry
  • Katherine Tonkiss
  • Kati Lepistö
  • Kati van der Hoeven-Lepistö
  • Katie Bell
  • Kättely
  • Kerstin Ögård
  • Keshia Fredua-Mensah & Jamie Schearer
  • Khadidiatou Sylla
  • Khadra Abdirazak Sugulle
  • Kiihotus kansanryhmää vastaan
  • Kirsi Crowley
  • Koko Hubara
  • Kristiina Toivikko
  • Kubra Amini
  • KuRI
  • La Colectiva
  • La incitación al odio
  • Laura Huhtasaari
  • Lauri Finér
  • Leif Hagert
  • Léo Custódio
  • Leo Honka
  • Leontios Christodoulou
  • Lessie Branch
  • Lex Gaudius
  • Leyes de Finlandia
  • Liikkukaa!
  • Linda Hyökki
  • Liz Fekete
  • M. Blanc
  • Maarit Snellman
  • Mahad Sheikh Musse
  • Maija Vilkkumaa
  • Malmin Kebab Pizzeria Port Arthur
  • Marcell Lorincz
  • Mari Aaltola
  • María Paz López
  • Maria Rittis Ikola
  • Maria Tjader
  • Marja-Liisa Tolvanen
  • Mark
  • Markku Heikkinen
  • Marshall Niles
  • Martin Al-Laji
  • Maryan Siyad
  • Matt Carr
  • Mauricio Farah Gebara
  • Media Monitoring Group of Finland
  • Micah J. Christian
  • Michael McEachrane
  • Michele Levoy
  • Michelle Kaila
  • Migrant Tales
  • Migrant Tales Literary
  • Migrantes News
  • Migrants' Rights Network
  • MigriLeaks
  • Mikko Kapanen
  • Miriam Attias and Camila Haavisto
  • Mohamed Adan
  • Mohammad Javid
  • Mohammad M.
  • Monikulttuurisuus
  • Monisha Bhatia and Victoria Canning
  • Mor Ndiaye
  • Muh'ed
  • Muhamed Abdimajed Murshid
  • Muhammed Shire
  • Muhammed Shire and Enrique Tessieri
  • Muhis Azizi
  • Musimenta Dansila
  • Muslimiviha
  • Musulmanes
  • Namir al-Azzawi
  • Natsismi
  • Neurodiversity
  • New Women Connectors
  • Nils Muižnieks
  • No Labels No Walls
  • Noel Dandes
  • Nuor Dawood
  • Omar Khan
  • Otavanmedia
  • Oula Silvennoinen
  • Paco Diop
  • Pakistani family
  • Pentti Stranius
  • Perussuomalaiset
  • perustuslaki
  • Petra Laiti
  • Petri Cederlöf
  • Pia Grochowski
  • Podcast-lukija Bea Bergholm
  • Pohjois – Suomen Islamilainen Yhdyskunta
  • Pohjois Suomen Islamilainen Yhyskunta
  • Polina Kopylova
  • Race Files
  • racism
  • Racism Review
  • Raghad Mchawh
  • Ranska
  • Rashid H. and Migrant Tales
  • Rasismi
  • Raul Perez
  • Rebecka Holm
  • Reem Abu-Hayyeh
  • Refugees
  • Reija Härkönen
  • Remiel
  • Reza Nasri
  • Richard Gresswell
  • Riikka Purra
  • Risto Laakkonen
  • Rita Chahda
  • Ritva Kondi
  • Robito Ibrahim
  • Roble Bashir
  • Rockhaya Sylla
  • Rodolfo Walsh
  • Roger Casale
  • Rostam Atai
  • Roxana Crisólogo Correa
  • Ruth Grove-White
  • Ruth Waweru-Folabit
  • S-worldview
  • Sadio Ali Nuur
  • Sami Rusanen
  • Sandhu Bhamra
  • Sara de Jong
  • Sarah Crowther
  • Sari Alhariri
  • Sarkawt Khalil
  • Sasu
  • Scot Nakagawa
  • Shabana Ahmadzai
  • Shada Islam
  • Sharon Chang blogs
  • Shenita Ann McLean
  • Shirlene Green Newball
  • Sini Savolainen
  • Sira Moksi
  • Sonia K.
  • Sonia Maria Koo
  • Steverp
  • Stop Deportations
  • Suldaan Said Ahmed
  • Suomen mediaseurantakollektiivi
  • Suomen Muslimifoorumi ry
  • Suomen viharikosvastainen yhdistys
  • Suomen viharikosvastainen yhdistys ry
  • Suomi
  • Supermen
  • Susannah
  • Suva
  • Syrjintä
  • Talous
  • Tapio Tuomala
  • Taw Reh
  • Teivo Teivainen
  • The Daily Show
  • The Heino
  • The Supermen
  • Thomas Elfgren
  • Thulfiqar Abdulkarim
  • Tim McGettigan
  • Tino Singh
  • Tito Moustafa Sliem
  • Tobias Hübinette and L. Janelle Dance
  • Transport
  • Trica Danielle Keaton
  • Trilce Garcia
  • Trish Pääkkönen
  • Trish Pääkkönen and Enrique Tessieri
  • Tuulia Reponen
  • Uncategorized
  • UNITED
  • University of Eastern Finland
  • Uyi Osazee
  • Väkivalta
  • Vapaa Liikkuvuus
  • Venla-Sofia Saariaho
  • Vieraskynä
  • W. Che
  • W. Che an Enrique Tessieri
  • Wael Ch.
  • Wan Wei
  • Women for Refugee Women
  • Xaan Kaafi Maxamed Xalane
  • Xassan Kaafi Maxamed Xalane
  • Xassan-Kaafi Mohamed Halane & Enrique Tessieri
  • Yahya Rouissi
  • Yasmin Yusuf
  • Yassen Ghaleb
  • Yle Puhe
  • Yuliet Tresa
  • Yve Shepherd
  • Zahra Khavari
  • Zaker
  • Zalina Ametova
  • Zamzam Ahmed Ali
  • Zeinab Amini ja Soheila Khavari
  • Zimema Mahone and Enrique Tessieri
  • Zimema Mhone
  • Zoila Forss Crespo Moreyra
  • ZT
  • Zulma Sierra
  • Zuzeeko Tegha Abeng
© 2026 Migrant tales | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme