Time has shown us that our anti-racism efforts in Finland haven’t been in vain

Posted on by Migrant Tales

It was only a few years ago when Migrant Tales was openly challenged by some for speaking out against racism in Finland. According to the more hostile commentators that posted on our site back then, racism didn’t exist in this country. If it existed, it was minor and exceptional.

Even after the anti-immigration and anti-EU Perussuomalaiset (PS) party scored their historic election victory in 2011, some Finns continued to live in denial about this social ill.  As intolerance was played down, Finland become an ever-hostile place for immigrants and visible minorities.

Here’s one comment Allan in May 2011 that sums it up:

That is exactly what Enrique is trying to achieve with his hate speech, or has already along with your kind of sycophants. Always there is a foreigner anything happens it is “racism” be it from having to pay a bus ticket and someone not sitting next to him, its “racism”. So that is why there is no racism in Finland, as it is all imagined. Boy called wolf one time too many.

Allan’s comment about racism in Finland is highly revealing because it shows how intolerance is able to see another day thanks to denial.

The question is no longer whether there is racism in Finland or not, but to what extent this social illness has found roots in this country. Those roots of intolerance are very deep and cover a wide area.

Still in denial?

Why then do some Finns still refuse to recognize that there are “other” Finns, who have the same rights as they to live here?

Why don’t you ask immigrants and visible minorities if they feel secure in Finland? How can they be if they are underemployed or unemployed? Why not ask third-culture children who, despite having lived all their lives here, are still labelled as pupils “with immigrant backgrounds” by teachers?

Why not ask why such youths have a greater chance of becoming marginalized than white Finns?

Why are we asking this question over and over again, if there is racism in Finland, if we have the answer and proof? Ever thought about asking the Romany minority of Finland, which have lived here for five centuries?

Tim Wise puts the whole issue in the following manner when he speaks of white privilege in the United States:

To be a person of color in this country, is to always have to know what the other guy thinks. It is to always have to know what the other person thinks about you. I you don’t, if you for one minute, you forget what other people think, your life is in danger.

The intolerance that Wise speaks of is already here in Finland and will reach the same intensity as in the United States if we do not take concrete steps to challenge such a social ill.

But why should a white Finn challenge intolerance? He’s the top dog, a member of the dominant group.

Sensible people understand that if racism isn’t challenged in our society, the biggest loser we’ll be the whole of society. White Finns will be able to keep their privilege but at a huge social cost.

To find a good answer whether intolerance is an issue in this country, it’s important to listen to those that are at the receiving end like Laura Eklund Nhaga.

I hope that more Finns, especially those with non-white backgrounds, stand up for their rights like this young woman.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGts9CSbz1Y&list=PLUE9_qAC5gmHAME78ahFkFtCP5o1uG9T2

 

Lieksa, Finland, councilperson who wanted a “Somali-free” meeting room gets sacked as the PS’ town council leader

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Esko Saastamoinen, the Perussuomalaiset (PS) councilperson from Lieksa who demanded that a ”Somali-free” meeting room for his delegation, has been sacked as the PS’ town council leader, according to Karjalainen, a Joensuu-based daily. 

Saastamoinen was, however,  able to retain his post as the party’s Lieksa town board first vice president.

The PS councilperson faces as well charges for ethnic agitation and discrimination.

Kuvankaappaus 2013-11-13 kello 20.00.35

The former PS town council leader “demanded” at a public meeting on Monday that his delegation be given a new meeting room because it was being used by a Somali working group, according to YLE in English. 

The demand made by Saastamoinen for a new meeting room, which had been supported by another PS councilperson, was made in the presence of Lieksa Lehti editor Marja Mölsä, who published the news.

In an earlier story published by Iltalehti, in which the town secretary gave in to the Lieksa PS’ demands for a new meeting room, was flatly denied Wednesday by the town’s Mayor Esko Lehto.

He said that ”under no circumstances” will the PS councilpersons be given a new meeting room as the town secretary had confirmed in an earlier Iltalehti story.

The question we should ask after this latest scandal by the PS is why Saastamoinen and another PS councilperson, who supported the idea of a new meeting room, are still members of the party.

Certainly there would be outrage if a politician made a similar demand in a country like the United Kingdom or the United States.

This affair shows once again that the PS still treat nicely their racists.

It reveals as well why racism is still considered “normal” and encouraged in some parts of Finland.

 

Lieksa town secretary caves in to PS demands for “Somali-free” meeting room

Posted on by Migrant Tales

An earlier story, which claimed that a Perussuomalaiset (PS) Lieksa town council leader doesn’t want to be in the same room where a Somali group meets once a month, has been corrected by Karjalainen, a Joensuu-based daily. It is not the PS town council leader, Esko Saastamoninen, making such a demand but the PS councilpersons of Lieksa. 

Lieksa’s town secretary confirmed to tabloid Iltalehti Tuesday that the PS councilpersons will get a new meeting room.

What did I just read?! Yes, right, Lieksa’s town secretary caved in to PS’ demands for a ”clean room” where Somalis don’t meet once a month.

It’s difficult to weigh what is more offensive: The PS town councilmen’s demand or the town secretary’s compliance.

Saastamoinen wanted a clean room because he said that Somalis are carriers of different types of diseases and therefore the PS town councilmen didn’t want to meet in the same room as they.

Abdirahim Hussein, a Center Party politician who was born in Somalia, demanded that Saastamoinen should resign from his post as the PS’ town council head, according to Suomenmaa.

Kuvankaappaus 2013-11-12 kello 23.42.15

 Read full story (in Finnish) here.

“He shouldn’t be in politics,” he said. “Does he mean that Somalis aren’t clean? It is a defamation against us. These types of statements shouldn’t be acceptable.”

They are unacceptable and they should have no place in our society. Racists use a number of arguments to drive home their arguments. One of these is that immigrants carry different types of diseases.

The PS are the third-largest party in the Lieksa town council with eight councilpersons after the Social Democrats and Center Party. The anti-immigration and anti-EU party gained in Lieksa 22.5% of the votes in the 2012 municipal election, which is a 16.1% rise from 2008.

 

 

 

 

Reija Härkönen: Miksi perussuomalaiset levittävät muukalaispelkoa ja rasismia?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Reija Härkönen

Näin kirjoitti tutkija Toivo Itkonen, Muinaistieteellisen toimikunnan amanuenssi, saamelaisista:

”Ruumiillisilta ominaisuuksiltaan lappalaiset kuuluvat n.s. mongoloidisiin kansoihin, vaikka heidän antropologiansa on vielä melkoiselta osalta tutkimatta.”

”Lappalaiset ovat lyhytkalloisia l. brakykefaleja, jota osoittaa heidän pääkalloindeksinsä 82,7 – 87,6.”

”Lahjakkuus on suurempi kuin odottaisikaan, sillä kaikkialla missä lappalaislapsia käy koulua, on huomattu heidän muistinsa ja käsityskykynsä jokseenkin samanlaisiksi kuin muiden kansallisuuksien.”

”Lappalaisten luonteen varjopuolista voi mainita usein esiintyvän laiskuuden ja saamattomuuden; tämä tulee näkyviin etenkin uutistalokkaissa, jotka eivät ole vielä tottuneet kiinteän elämäntavan vaatimaan täsmällisyyteen. Järjestys ja puhtaus taloudenhoidossa antaa myös paljon toivomisen varaa.”

Kuvankaappaus 2013-11-12 kello 23.23.50

Itkosen tutkimus suomensukuisista kansoista julkaistiin vuonna 1922. Tuolloin perussuomalaisten syvästi vihaama ”rotuoppien kannattaja” Axel Freudenthal oli ollut jo 11 vuotta vainajana. Mutta rotuoppeja siis sovellettiin yhä. Nyt vain asialla suomenkieliset ja kohteena muut suomensukuiset kansat.

Tänä päivänähän tuota ei enää luulisi tapahtuvan. Olemme jo sen verran eläneet ja maailmaa nähneet, että tiedämme, että erilainen ihonväri ja ulkonäkö, erilaiset elämäntavat, harrastukset ja kulttuuri eivät merkitse sitä, että ihmiset olisivat aivokapasiteetiltaan heikompia, jälkeenjääneitä tai laiskoja. Tai näin ainakin luulisi nykyään olevan.

Jostain kummasta vain on Suomessakin pongahtanut esille joukko miehiä ja naisia, jotka ovat alkaneet puhella kummia: ”sopeutumiskyvyttömät kamelikuskit”, ”taatelintallaajat”, ”niillä on rikollisuus geeneissä”, ”elintasopakolaiset”.

Eivätkä nämä ole vain perämetsissä elelevien erakkojen juttuja. Näitä levittävät aktiivisesti, poliittisessa hyötymistarkoituksessa, perussuomalaiset.

Perussuomalaiset myös nostivat äläkän siitä, että vihreä poliitikko käytti seksuaalista vähemmistöä tukevaa solmiota eduskunnassa. On kuulemma etiketin vastaista. Yksi jos toinen perussuomalainen kansanedustaja on kuitenkin julkisesti hihkunut vastenmielisyyttään homoseksuaaleja kohtaan ja joku on boikotoinut jopa isänmaan suurinta vuotuista juhlaa, itsenäisyyspäivän vastaanottoa, samaisesta syystä. Samassa tilassa kun tanssivat homot.

Samaisen perussuomalaisen puolueen puheenjohtaja on kuluvana vuonna jopa marssinut Ranskan maalla homoseksuaalien yhtäläisiä oikeuksia vastaan.

Nämä toimet eivät ole ainoastaan etiketin, vaan yhtäläisen ihmisarvon vastaisia, syrjiviä toimia.

Yksi perussuomalainen kansanedustaja erotettiin vastikään puolueesta hänen tuotuaan liian näkyvästi esille perussuomalaisessa puolueessa syvällä jäytävää aatetta: rotupuhtauden vaatimusta, ovien sulkemista muukalaisilta. Puhumattakaan lukuisista muista tapauksista, kun puolueessa on esimerkiksi ehdoteltu mitalia mustan miehen tappajalle, järjestetty eduskuntatalon portailla vähemmistövastainen mielenosoitus tai toivottu somalien ja homoseksuaalien pakkosiirtoja. Jopa Punaisen Ristin lakkauttamista on vaadittu, jotta päästäisiin pakolaisten auttajista.

Taukoamatta myös rasistinen Hommaforum tahkoaa samaa sanomaa: Muukalaiset tulevat, vievät uskontomme, lakimme ja oikeutemme.

Tuon foorumin tuote, rasistisia kirjoituksia tehtaillut kansanedustaja on, huolimatta eurooppalaisesta ja kotimaisesta vastustuksesta, nimitetty Euroopan neuvoston Suomen valtuuskunnan varajäseneksi. Jälleen yksi osoitus siitä, että perussuomalainen puolue haluaa soluttaa ihmisvastaisen agendansa jokaiseen mahdolliseen paikkaan, mihin sillä poliittisen järjestelmämme niin salliessa on mahdollisuus. Nyt meillä siis on rasistinen varajäsen, joka saattaa jonakin päivänä olla edustamassa maatamme neuvostossa, jonka tehtävänä on suojella ihmisoikeuksia ja moniarvoista demokratiaa ja edistää inhimillisiä arvoja. Ilmeisesti perussuomalaisilla ei näitä arvoja kunnioittavaa henkilöä ollut tuohon tehtävään nimetä.

Tänään sitten kuulimme lisää todisteita perussuomalaisista arvoista: kokonainen perussuomalainen kunnanvaltuutettujen ryhmä kieltäytyy istumasta samassa kokoustilassa, jossa kerran kuukaudessa ovat istuneet muukalaiset. Väärän väriset, väärän näköiset muukalaiset.

Mikä ihme siinä on, että ajat muuttuvat, mutta perussuomalaiset eivät vain sopeudu ja opi kunnioittamaan yhteisen, demokraattisen valtiomme lakia ja arvostamaan toisia ihmisiä?

Alkuperäisen blogikirjoituksen voi lukea tästä.

Tämä blogikirjoitus julkaistiin Migrant Talesissä luvalla.

PS leader of Lieksa, Finland, refuses to be in the same room where Somalis meet

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Taking into account all the problems and positive solutions that have been found in the town of Lieksa in the region of South Karelia concerning its over 200-strong Somali community, it is disturbing that a city councilmen like Esko Saastamoinen, Perussuomalaiset (PS) town council leader, states he doesn’t want to be in the same room where Somalis meet once a month.

Saastamoinen, who is the town councilman leader of the PS, made his comment on Joensuu-based Karjalainen, which cites the local Lieksan Lehti.

Kuvankaappaus 2013-11-12 kello 13.39.51

Read full story (in Finnish) here.

Here’s a good indication why matters got off the wrong foot in Lieksa, which has been in the national spotlight due to the ethnic tension there.

Matters have improved a lot since then.

According to Saastamoinen, the PS want a ”clean meeting room” to meet.

What are we to think about this?

For one, Saastamoinen puts into question the good work that many are doing to integrate refugees into Finnish society.  It reveals as well the intolerance and xenophobia that has afflicted Finland through a party like the PS.

In many respects, Saastamoinen sounds like the racist white Southerners of the 1950s or how leaders of the National Front in the UK reacted to immigrants in the 1970s.

In plain English it’s called racism with a capital ”R.”

Suomen Sisu tests Finland’s tolerance for hate

Posted on by Migrant Tales

If you want a good view of the type of Finland a far right association like Suomen Sisu wants to build, check out the invitation to their 15th anniversary celebration at the Santahamina Military Base near Helsinki. The invitation states at the end:  “Santahamina is a military zone where only Finnish citizens have access to [the base].”

Fortunately, Finland’s defense forces have prohibited such an event taking place at the base, according to Monday’s Helsingin Sanomat.

The Santahamina Military Base is the home of the Jaeger Regiment, which played a key role in helping the Whites defeat the Reds in the Civil War of 1918.

The invitation, signed by Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Olli Immonen, who hasn’t hid before his loathing for Muslims and other minorities like the Roma, is another example of how far-right groups test how much Finns tolerate hate.

Kuvankaappaus 2013-11-11 kello 20.11.09Finland’s Security Intelligence Service (Supo) sees Suomen Sisu as an extremist ogranization.

One of the aims of Suomen Sisu is to keep Finland white. It discourages white ethnic Finns from marrying foreigners, especially blacks.

If you believe that Suomen Sisu is a “nationalist association that promotes Finnish values and self-esteem,” then you believe that the English Defense League fights for human rights. Such claims are red herrings that aim to hide their  hatred for certain minorities.

Suomelaisuuden liitto, which has been overtaken by PS members, has waged a hostile campaign against the the role of  theSwedish language in Finland.

The association is closely related to Suomen Sisu.

Thank you Niko Tamminen for the heads-up.

Can Peru shed light on how to identify and tackle intolerance in Finland?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In order to understand how racism works in countries like Finland, it is important to see how it occurs in multi-ethnic countries like Peru. While the documentary below clearly shows the many ugly faces of intolerance in Peru, it gives us some good answers to address the social ill in Finland.

One of the interesting questions that we should be asking as our society becomes ever-culturally diverse is if we will commit the same mistakes that other countries have and are committing today.

Do we believe in Finland that there are superior and inferior ethnic groups? Do we stereotype and generalize about these superior and inferior groups and that their characteristics (intelligence, laziness etc) are linked to ethnicity? Do we believe that these so-called cultural characteristics are passed from one generation to the next infinitely?

If you answered yes to all the three questions, it may be that intolerance is a serious issue in this country. It grows and gathers strength because it is denied and because too many of us don’t show leadership and prefer to remain quiet in the face of this social ill.

Walter Twanama, a social analyst, says in the documentary that factors like ethnic appearance, socioeconomic and educational level as well as origin play a key role in whether you belong or not to the underprivileged classes. Language is another factor that classifies you.

Since ethnic group is associated with power, it’s clear that people want to be part of the group that controls power and wealth. In Peru they have a verb for this, which is blanquear,  or to become white.

The system works in a pretty straightforward fashion: the whiter you are, the higher the socioeconomic level. Those with the least amount of power are Peru’s indigenous groups, which are the most excluded and poorest.

Rolando Arellano, a market researcher, said that even if discrimination occurs in Peru, it is a question of time when those that are today socially excluded will be one day accepted. “It’s not [the] more numerous [this socially excluded group become as it become more accepted], but [becomes] stronger,” he said.

Martín Tanaca, a political scientist, said that laws that severely punish discrimination are crucial. He said that tolls must be given to people to defend themselves from racism and discrimination.

Finally the documentary raises a very important point after it uncovered that racism and discrimination exist in Peru. It poses two important questions:

  • Do you want to live in a country with so much inequality and discrimination or not?
  • Are we going to do something or not to change the situation?

The final two questions are not only key to Peru but vital in any society that wants to tackle a social ill like intolerance.

Thank you William Rivera for the heads-up. 

Is silence an effective response to racism?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

One of the questions we should ask ourselves is what should our response be to those that are hostile to migrants, visible minorities and our ever-growing cultural diversity. Should silence be the answer? 

One of the matters that I have learned through my many years of studying and writing about cultural diversity, is that silence should never be the answer to intolerance. What, then, should our reaction be?

Here’s a good answer: Our reaction to intolerance of any kind should be first and foremost a reaction.

There are many ways to react to racism and intolerance. On Migrant Tales we do it by writing.

Here are some things to take into account when you formulate a response:

  • Intolerance enjoys silence and intimidates people to be quiet. Silence is the water that feeds intolerance. Cut off its nourishment by cutting off its supply of silence.
  • React to intolerance in a firm but civil manner. Start of the discussion by stating, I disagree with you…
  • You’d be surprised how people change their views (at least publicly) when you make it known to them that racism is shameful and unacceptable.
  • Be informed by reading as much as you can about cultural diversity and intolerance.
  • Learn the language and arguments of those who promote intolerance. It’s not very difficult to figure out their arguments, which are simplistic and appeal to the racism of the listener.
  • One common argument used by racists is pointing out and grossly exaggerating “migrant problems” without offering any solutions.
  • An absolute favorite argument of the racists to justify their racism is: “They are so different from us that they will never adapt to our society.”
  • Racists like to generalize. It permits them to exaggerate and fear-monger.
  • No matter how much of an anti-racist you consider yourself to be, ask yourself “dumb questions” over and over again like why is racism bad.

It’s clear that some Finns are having a not only having a hard time accepting the fact that we are becoming a more culturally diverse society, but believe naively that newcomers who move to Finland are supposed to somehow become white like them.

Some denigrating terms and sayings used by the majority to impose their rule on minorities include maassa maan tavalla, or in Rome do as the Romans do. Other ones are maahanmuuttajataustainen, or person or pupil with immigrant background, and mamu, the nickname for maahanmuuttaja, or immigrant. 

There are two good ways to figure out if a label for a certain group or minority is ok:

  • Is the label to identify a group or minority made up by majority to single out the minority or by the minority to identify itself?
  • Does the label promote social equality or inequality?

What we are seeing in Finland and elsewhere are microaggressions on a much wider scale against migrants and visible minorities. These microaggressions are nothing more than the unwritten rules imposed by the majority on different minorities.

Derald Wing Sue’s defines microaggressions as occurring unconsciously and underline inclusion-exclusion and superiority-inferiority. They are the everyday putdowns, insults that aim to undermine the dignity of those who are marginalized.

So what should our response to racism be?

It should be first and foremost a response.

What kind of a response?

We live in a democratic country. Use all the means open to you to create change.

Be brave.

 

 

 

Reija Härkönen: Suomenruotsalaiset ovat ihania!

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Reija Härkönen

Kyllä on hienoa, että Suomi on suomalainen ja ruotsalainen! Maamme kaksikielisyys on mielestäni sellainen hienous ja etuoikeus, että sitä saavat monet muut maat kadehtia.

Kuvankaappaus 2013-11-6 kello 22.33.13

Suomenkielisillä ja ruotsinkielisillä on selvästi toisistaan poikkeava kulttuuri. Pikku hiljaa me suomenkieliset olemme päässeet iloisten juomalaulujen makuun ja siten hiukan hidastaneet tahtia vodkasnapsien juomisessa, kun taas ruotsinkieliset ovat melko pitkälle omaksuneet kunnon suomenkielistapoja, kuten saunomisen, vihtomisen ja kiroilun, ja saaneet siten vähän suomalaista särmää olemukseensa. Skål på den saken!

Kaksikielisyys luo maastamme suvaitsevan ja sivistyneen vaikutelman. Eikä pelkästään vaikutelmaa, vaan se nimenomaan on sitä. On hienoa, että suomenkielinen väestö, vaikka on niin paljon suurempi, ei ole täysin tukahduttanut ruotsin kieltä, vaan sillä kielellä luodaan kulttuuria joka päivä. On hienoa käydä joskus hieromassa aivonystyröitä ruotsinkielisessä teatteriesityksessä ja katsoa siinä sivussa, kuinka ruotsinkielinen kansanosa nauttii siitä, että heidän omaa kieltään ja kulttuuriaan ylläpidetään niin laadukkaalla tavalla, kuin Svenska Teatern, Lilla Teatern ja Viirus tekevät. Jag älskar teatern Viirus!

Ruotsinkieliset katukyltit ja paikannimet suomenkielisten rinnalla ovat todella eksoottisia ja mielenkiintoisia – varsinainen turistiattraktio. On hienoa, että kunnissa, joissa ruotsinkielisiä on suomenkielisiä enemmän, ruotsi nostetaankin ensimmäiseksi kieleksi kaikissa kylteissä ja opasteissa. Enemmistö määrätköön.

Ruotsinkielisten musiikkimaku on vähän omituinen – semmoista lällyä pehmopoppia tuntuvat kuuntelevan – mutta se tietysti johtuu Ruotsin läheisyydestä ja siitä, että isompi markkina tuottaa heille enemmän kuunneltavaa. Ruotsinkieliset ovat toisaalta aina erittäin hyvin ymmärtäneet sellaisia suomalaisia ikoneita, kuin esim. M.A. Numminen. Toisaalta Mauri Antero on myös aina ymmärtänyt ruotsinkielisen vähemmistömme arvon ja arvostanut paljon myös ruotsin kieltä. Molemmat voittavat. M.A. Numminen verkligen ser den gula stjärnan i det blå!

Trevlig Svenska dagen, våra kära finlandssvenska vänner och alla finnar!

Hyvää Ruotsalaisuuden päivää, rakkaat suomenruotsalaiset ystävämme ja kaikki suomalaiset!

Alkuperäisen blogikirjoituksen voi lukea tästä.

Tämä blogikirjoitus julkaistiin Migrant Talesissä luvalla.

Man who attacked a Lutheran Church Tuesday “is sorry for what he did and understands his mistake”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

What happened on Tuesday, when a white ethnic Finn dressed like a Muslim that vandalized a Lutheran church in Helsinki, is one of the strangest stories I have written but with a good ending. All of this happened when YLE was airing the A2 Islam debate on television.

Vicar Timo Pekka Kaskinen of the Rouhivuoren Congregation spoke to Migrant Tales about the affair. He said that all of the information he has about the attacker is on the Helsingin Muslimit Facebook wall, which states the following:

“The Helsinki Muslim Congregation is in no way linked to the vandalism that was perpetrated. In question was an individual who acted on his own and whose motive is still unclear. The person [who carried out this act] is sorry for what he did and understands his mistake.”

Kaskinen said that the Rouivuoren Church and the mosque, which is located right across road from it, has held talks in good faith about what happened.

The Rouhivuoren Church’s address is Tulisuontie 2 and the mosque’s, Tulisuontie 1.

“It’s a good matter that we have been able to speak about what hapened,” he said, adding that the incident has brought both congregations closer.  

What happened on Tuesday night was unacceptable but most importantly showed that people of different faiths can come together and solve their differences without giving in to hate.

Kuvankaappaus 2013-11-4 kello 14.22.25

 

Another important lesson to be learned from the incident is the meaning of the term “white ethnic Finn,” or kantasuomalainen, which can presumably include a person who has converted to the Muslim faith.

One of the difficult matters about writing this story was that the suspect was pictured as a “white ethnic white Finn.” Nobody confirmed if he was a Muslim or not.

The Helsingin Muslimit Facebook page doesn’t confirm it either but suggests that the suspect may be a Muslim.

One final point is the fact that why didn’t wake up strong passions among some far-right ant-Muslim Finnish circles? Is it because the alleged perpetrator is white?

The story and the use of the term “white ethnic Finn” reveals as well how cultural diversity has grown in Finland especially in the past twenty years.