Migrant tales - Page 363 of 535

Cultural diversity is unstoppable – it exposes Finland’s white privilege and intolerance

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Migrant Tales

A Silminnäkijä television program exposed Thursday something we all knew: how you are treated in Finland depends on the color of your skin and ethnic-national background. Should this surprise us?

What is more incredible? Is it the indifference of the police, bouncers and near-silence of society as people are openly discriminated right before our very eyes? Answer: all of the above.

How we got to become a society that condones intolerance and open discrimination isn’t difficult to understand. Look at the Romany minority, which has lived here for five centuries, the Saami and study closely our history. When you read our history, read it critically and don’t allow yourself to be spoonfed by the codewords that hide our intolerance.

Outright denial is the oxygen that intolerance, prejudice and Finnish white privilege use survive. No matter how qualified and how big the scoop you have on this issue, it will rarely receive the needed public attention and, most importantly, a long-overdue public response. Why? Because we’re still in denial mode.

Because too few really care enough about your rights in this society if you are an immigrant or visible minority, it means that you will be relegated to second- and third-class status. No matter how much you try or how qualified you are, you will never be able to compete, be treated equally and feel at home.

In the process you may become a mamu, a modern Finnish Uncle Tom, and rise a notch or two in status but never ever be equal and enjoy the privileges of white Finns.

Is it your fault that Finland is becoming a culturally diverse society? Is it your fault that white Finnish society has defense mechanisms to show its hostility and loathing for you in the form of politicians like Jussi Halla-aho, James Hirvisaari, Susanna Koski, Wille Rydman and many others including the media and the whole establishment?

Certainly it isn’t your fault. The cards are stacked against you in this society because that’s how they are meant to be.

And why wouldn’t they be? The police service is white, political parties are white, the media is white, universities are white, our history is painted with strong brushes of white paint that constantly remind “us” against “them.” Add to this mix the element of denial and self-righteousness at the cost of others, which drown out the New Finland, and we begin to understand the severity of the problem.

Do you have to be a social scientist to grasp that Finland is having a hard time accepting cultural diversity? Check out the Restricting Act of 1939, which made Finland a closed country to foreign investment, and the fact that immigrants got their firs Aliens Act in 1983, or 65 years after independence.

A Helsingin Sanomat article on Finland’s largest-ever march for immigrant rights in 1981 wrote the following: “Moreover, foreigners should be given the right, among other things, to join a political party, to be a member of a union, and the right to own a home.”

Folks! This article was written 32 years ago!

The Restricting Act of 1939 prohibited foreigners from owning real estate and acquiring a majority stake in Finnish companies – limiting this to 20% normally and 40% under special permission. The Act stipulated that foreigners could not own shares in sectors such as forestry, securities trading, transportation, mining, real estate and shipping.

Imagine how a society must educate its children and how it must maintain and feed certain prejudices in order to justify such a closed model of society?

Like it or not, Finland is a growing culturally diverse society. No matter how extreme and hostile the arguments become against the acceptance of other groups as equal members of society during this century, our culturally diversity will continue to grow. Nothing will stop it. Those who attempt to, will look like modern Finnish Don Quixotes charging against windmills.

As our cultural diversity grows and as our voices become louder and put intolerance on the defensive, the closer we’ll be to making this country a just place for everyone.

Zuzeeko’s blog: Skin color matters in Finland, Yle hidden camera shows

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Dark-skinned people in Finland struggle with discrimination on a daily basis. On week days many struggle in vain to find work related to their studies — or even unpaid internships. Some of those who have given up seeking skilled jobs are sometimes mistreated, disrespected and exploited in odd jobs for which they are overqualified. On weekends many who go out to nightclubs and bars suffer indignities and rejection in the hands of doormen and security guards.

A Yle TV programme scheduled to air on 17 October 2013 at 8 PM (GMT+2) on Yle TV2 uncovers discrimination in everyday life in Finland. According to the programme, skin color makes a difference in Finland when looking for accommodation, in the job market and in nightclub queues.

Read full blog entry here.

Yle sent out three men – a native-born Finn, an immigrant from Russia and one Somali – to find out how discrimination targets immigrants in everyday life in Finland. According to Yle, all three young men have lived in the country for a long time and speak the local language well, all three had the same cover story related to work experience, income and education. All three applied for a job, applied for accommodation and tried to get into a nightclub under the same conditions.

The programme reveals that at a nightclub, the Somali was denied access by the doorman, while one of the white test team members was let in. At another nightclub the Somali and the Russian immigrant were denied access on grounds that their Finnish driving licences presented as identification were insufficient. The Finnish team member was let in with only a driving licence. The three young men sought the same ten jobs. The native-born Finn was invited to two interviews, the Russian was invited to two and the Somalian was invited to none. A search for rental accommodation also left the Somalian discriminated.

According to the journalist behind the programme, the experiment recorded “clear evidence of discrimination”. The journalist – described by Yle as a “white-skinned Englishman” – was shocked by the results of the experiment.

Personally, I am not shocked by the findings. As a person of African descent who has lived in Finland for over four years, I have faced my share of discrimination. For instance, a couple of years ago, a group of friends and I were denied entry into a nightclub in Helsinki. Of course we thought it was discriminatory and refused to leave the queue. The doorman said he would call the police if don’t leave. Believing that the police won’t allow discrimination, we implored the doorman to call. The police came and told us – to our surprise and disappointment – that doormen have the right to deny us entry. They suggested that we should find another club. I’ve also been denied access to a nightclub on grounds that I didn’t have a [winter] jacket.

In another shocking incident which I experienced first-hand, a young man of Somali origin came out of a nightclub for a smoke. The doormen denied him access when he tried to return. When he insisted they restrained him on the ground and called the police. One of the guards had a knee on the Somali’s head against concrete. When the police came, the Somali was handcuffed and taken into the police van.

In my view, the TV programme by Yle uncovers the plight of the average dark-skinned person in Finland. While it may shock some viewers, I am convinced that dark-skinned people who have lived in the country long enough will relate to the experience of the Somali in the programme and will not be surprised by the abysmal discrimination.

Read original blog entry here.

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

The ogre of racism in Finland is learning how to wear a three-piece suit and tie

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Matters appear to have changed after the April 2011 election, when the Perussuomalaiset (PS) rose from relative obscurity to become the third-largest party in parliament. The well-known scandals and publicized vicious attacks by the racists of the PS against immigrants and visible minorities appear to have changed their tune.

Apart from the row that former PS MP James Hirvisaari caused when he took a picture of a man making a Nazi salute in parliament, we haven’t heard or read recently about any racist outbursts in Teuvo Hakkarainen’s crude style.

Muutos 2011 MP Hirvisaari believes that the PS is becoming a more mainstream party by abandoning its openly racist and hostile views of immigrants and visible minorities.

In his fourth blog entry as a Muutos 2011 MP, Hirvisaari writes that “the party is shaping into an odorles, tastless and colorless mass.” He warns that “the collapse of the party is imminent” and support will “fall to under 10%” if the PS’ anti-immigration stance is brushed under the rug for fear of being labelled racist.

While the next parliamentary elections will take place two years from now, a lot can happen during that time on the political front. PS chairman Timo Soini’s gamble to apparently weed out loose canons like Hirvisaari from the party and keep other ones like Hakkarainen quiet, it’s pretty clear that the PS is putting its convoluted house in order so it can form part of the country’s next government after the 2015 elections.

Even if the PS wants to look more mainstream, can MPs like Jussi Halla-aho, Juho Eerola, Olli Immonen and others take on a new image? Certainly they can but can a leopard change its spots? What will the voters think? Didn’t they vote for 39 MPs in 2011 because they weren’t mainstream and because they were openly hostile to immigrants, Muslims and the EU?

There’s an important question that Soini dreads the answer: Would the PS commit political hara-kiri if it forced its racists and hardline nationalists to chill out?

An story in The Guardian shows how far-right parties are constantly changing and reinventing their image to appeal to mainstream voters:

This is exactly the modus operandi of such factions. From the British Union of Fascists to the British People’s party, the Action party, the National Front, the Flag Group, the New National Front, the BNP and the EDL, the far-right throbs and expands, blooms, then folds into itself and subdivides like an amorphous but sentient blob from a 1950s B movie.

A good example of the new image that the PS wants to sell to voters is PS Helsinki substitute councilwoman, Belle Selene Xian. She is the exact creation that the PS wants to sell to voters: she’s Chinese but white and who says all the right sweet things that win over some but makes her obnoxious to others.

The PS is like an ogre that is trying to learn how to speak and learn new ways, wearing a three-piece suit and tie tie trying to say all the right things without saying anything.

Jussi Halla-aho gets cold feet – another lie exposed

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho announced that he will not take part in a live A2 televised debate on Islam, reports YLE. The MP, who has been convicted for ethnic agitation, said that the debate doesn’t serve the issue. He would, however, be ready to take part in a debate with fewer people.

Read full story (in Finnish) here.

Just like Helsingin Sanomat helped senior lecturer Kyösti Tarvainen to spread fear about Muslim birth rates, another important fabricated story of the far right and anti-immigration groups is that they are not allowed to speak openly about Islam.

See Facebook wall here.

The A2 program gave Halla-aho an opportunity to speak his heart out if he wished about Islam but he turned it down.

Why?

Because the arguments used by anti-immigration groups and personalities like Halla-aho hinge on prejudice and gross exaggerations. There’s very little truth in them.

Politicians like Halla-aho and anti-immigration groups live in bubbles. Their biggest fear is that their constantly changing arguments, which say the same thing, hate group x and y, will be exposed.

National Coalition Party city councilman, Mohammad Azizi, wasn’t surprised by Halla-aho’s decision.

”It’s easy to speak behind [the vail] of a blog and screen about anything, but he doesn’t dare to take part in a face-to-face debate,” he said. ”I am ready to talk about everything related to Islam, including the most difficult issues like circumcision.”

Even if it will take some time for Finland and Europe to wake up from its present far-right anti-immigration menace, it’s unlikely that Halla-aho’s arguments will be revered 20-30 years from now.

These code words of hate used to attack immigrants and visible minorities will be remembered with shame. They will look just like the arguments used by white racists in Southern United States to justify Jim Crow Laws during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Red Sociology: ASSIMILATION AS ASSASSINATION

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Migrant Tales

MT comment: Even if the blog entry below speaks of assimilation, or one-way integration of blacks in the United States, it’s pretty certain that these types of discussions will pick up in Finland as we become a more culturally diverse society. Who is being assimilated into Finnish society? Are blacks and visible minorities expected to assimilate while for white Europeans it’s a two-way process (integration)?

__________________

Much of what I have studied & come to understand through history is that the true definition of an American is to be a White male who owns a home. This definition is crucial because it is based on how assimilation has ACTUALLY worked throughout history instead of how the larger society has told people how it works. As a Black African woman, I fit no where in that definition & my chances of being a “true” American are completely shot because those who define what it means to be “American” never intended for me to be able to access such a status. Many people discuss how the process of assimilating into a specific culture requires the shedding of one’s own culture & history & then embracing the prickly culture of the target/dominant society. The truth is assimilation in American society means that one must lose everything for the hopes of gaining a specific status, gaining approval from the dominant society; but for most Africans, this hope is never fulfilled, never met.

What is assimilation for Black Africans in America?

For the African in America, in many ways assimilation tells us to be something that we can never become without first assassinating our true selves. Assimilation is a process where a people of a minority group has shed their own culture & adapt to that of a dominant society. This assimilation requires that you shed your culture, forget your history, & embrace the mindset of an entirely different people. When African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement asked for integration, they most likely were NOT asking for White/Euro-Washing. But, truth be told, that is exactly what we have today among Black Africans in America. Many of the goals & definitions of Black Americans today are defined by how well Blacks adjust to the backwards American society. Black Africans are told to forget their history, forget slavery happened; & when they do remember slavery, remember that it wasn’t that bad anyway & White people don’t like for people to talk about it. This supposed assimilation & in many cases maladjustment is really a means of pacification. It ensures that an individual is not dangerous or a threat to dominant White supremacy. We all see what happens to Black Africans when they don’t know their history right? They further the White supremist, imperialist, & capitalist agenda better than any White/Euro-American ever could. Assimilation into American society & culture is marketed as “standards of success” to all peoples of color, all oppressed peoples. Everyone is told that the bar is set at chronic individualism, social sociopathy, selfishness, White supremacy, capitalism, sexism, patriarchy, & ignorance. People are strangling each other to try to meet these standards. You may have heard many Black Africans claim that many of us are “just crabs in a bucket”. It is true in a number of ways, many of us kill each other as we strive to achieve assimilation & adjustment to a society maladjusted to sociopathy. Measuring the success of the oppressed peoples by how many of us have adjusted & assimilated to this sick American society is NOT success at all. It is time for Black Africans to create their own means/measurements of success instead of accepting the White washed criteria that was handed to us.

Colorism & the Lily Complex as Part of the Assimilation Curriculum.

One of the leading mindsets among the assimilation initiative is “Colorism”. Colorism is a mindset/belief that lighter-skinned sisters & brothers are better in EVERY way possible than their darker-skinned brothers & sisters. Colorism is the result of racism. Colorism is a symptom of racism that plagues the Black African community. I mention colorism because through colorism & the lily complex, one can see how assimilation may be more of an “achievable” goal for those of the lighter complexion within the Black African community. Now with that in mind, we can see how colorism works with racism to deem the lily complex as the only means for proper assimilation for those of the darker complexion. The lily complex is when Black African women “whiten” their appearance in an aim to cover up their physical selves to assimilate & be accepted as attractive. Colorism & the Lily complex are two versions of internalized oppression within the Black community, the end result when Black Africans buy into the negative perceptions & stereotypes of the dominant society. The use/employment of the lily complex goes hand in hand with self-rejection. It is part of the belief that one’s natural self is not good enough & not attractive enough. Embracing colorism is the first step in embracing the inferiority complex then the lily complex is employed as a means of assimilation, a means of conforming. As Shorter-Gooden & Jones state, “…African American women across the country feel pressure to alter their appearance as best they can, and many are wracked with feelings of inferiority. … It is possible to dye your brown tresses platinum and still love your Blackness. For many women, such changes may simply be another means of self-expression. And for others, shifting their appearance is just one of many conscious compromises they make to ensure that their White coworkers and peers feel comfortable with them and don’t make presumptions about their attitude or politics based on the way they dress, the way they style their hair, or other superficialities. These women are aware that others may find Eurocentric characteristics more appealing and that being seen as attractive can help them integrate certain circles and access certain opportunities. So they conform to survive, to get along, to achieve” (2008, p.178-9). These maladjustments to the dominant society result in Black African women & men using bleaching products on their skin, dying their hair blonde, rejecting their history, rejecting their people, & Black African women being 5 times more likely to use beauty products than White/Euro-American women.

Assimilation As Assassination

Much of what is required for Black Africans to assimilate requires that they embrace dangerously poisonous mindsets. They have to reject the self, reject their heritage, reject their people, & run towards the cold embrace of their oppressor. Embracing America’s rigid standards & hatred for everything Black & Brown have resulted in self-hate among the Black African communities in America. America is not a melting pot, America is a bleaching pot. The encouragement of Black Africans to forget their history, heritage, hate themselves & fade to Whiteness is in no way safe. It does not result in a healthy society filled with people who do not see race, it results in a world dictated by White supremist standards & structuralism.

If you must hate & reject your natural self in order to assimilate (& keep in mind that the hopes for success & approval from White America is not guaranteed & its success rate is less than 0.0000009%), then it is NOT worth it. Assimilation requires the assassination of the truth, the assassination of who YOU are. Too many Black Africans are walking around thinking that the norm is a White standard & that it has always been that way. NO, White supremacy & racism do not need to have a monopoly on your hair, your body, your history, your community, your mindset, your people, your perceptions, YOU. Assimilation is defeat. Assimilation is assassination.

Read original story here.

This piece was reprinted by Migrant Tales with permission.

Zuzeeko’s blog: Finland’s population registry website excludes visible minorities

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Zuzeeko Tegha Abeng*

Finland is still very much a racially homogeneous country — predominantly made up of white Finnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking people. The homogeneous nature of the population is reflected in most walks of life in the country where people of African descent or visible minorities are not represented or are relegated to the background. A look at the homepage of the population registry’s website supports this assertion.

The website of the Population Register Centre (in Finnish: Väestörekisterikeskus) portrays a complete lack of racial and ethnic diversity in Finland. The last time I checked, photos displayed on the home page (see screenshot) of the website showed diversity in terms on gender, sex and age — which is good. But ethnic or racial diversity was completely out of the picture despite the fact that Finland has visible minorities registered in the population register.

Finland has a total population of over 5 million people and it is estimated that the population will hit 5.5 million in 2015. As a member of Finnish society, I can attest to the fact that the country’s population is racially diverse — although a first look at the website of the population registry suggests otherwise. Even the website of Kela, the social insurance institute, shows a racially homogeneous Finland.

The population of Finland increased by 13,050 persons between January and July 2013 and the main reason for population growth was immigration. According to Statistics Finland’s statistics on population structure, every tenth person aged 25 to 34 living permanently in Finland in 2012 was of foreign origin — approximately 12 per cent of all persons with foreign origin were of African descent and about one-quarter were of Asian origin.

In my view, Finland’s non-whites or so-called people of color have been relegated to the background and are not portrayed as part of the society. Many do not occupy prominent positions in public life as journalists, police officers, lawmakers, ministers or teachers. Visible minorities are not even portrayed as part of the society on national and governmental websites like that of Kela and Väestorekisterikeskus. It might take some time for visible minorities to occupy elevated positions in public life — but I am convinced that simple changes in graphics and photographs on national and governmental websites will go a long way to show visible minorities that they are welcomed and accepted as part of the society.

In this age of information technology websites send resounding messages. The last time I checked, the website of Finland’s population registry sent a disturbing message, in my interpretation, that visible minorities are not part of Finland’s population structure. The population registry’s home page should be updated to include racial and ethnic diversity that is representative of Finland’s population structure.

Read original blog entry here.

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

Suspected hate crimes in Finland fall by 20.6% in 2012

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Suspected hate crimes in 2012 totaled 732, which is a 20.6% fall from 918 cases in the previous year, according to YLE in English. Of the total hate crimes reported to the police last year, 641 cases were classified as racist.

Read full story here.

According to YLE in English, the most common offense investigated by the police was “inciting ethnic hatred.”

The majority of the suspects were white Finns, but there were three cases where the suspect belonged to a minority.

While it is welcome news that hate crimes are on the retreat in Finland, how credible are these figures? Should we accept them at face value or treat them with tweezers?

Last month, Tarja Mankkinen, internal security secretariat head, said that many racist crimes in Finland go unreported.

As long as Finland gives political space to intolerance in any shape or form, which encourages hate crimes to happen, these types of statistics should be taken with a grain of salt. At the best, the police should encourage immigrants and visible minorities to report hate crimes.

As Migrant Tales has written previously, reporting racist harassment to the police is easier said than done.

The first line reads “racist crimes” (rasistiset rikokset) and the second one “other hate crimes” (muut viharikokset). This table has two discrepancies with earlier figures published by the Police College of Finland. In 2008 the corresponding figure was 859 and in 2011 918. Source: Police College of Finland.

Like in other parts of Europe, a Race Council Cymru study of Wales revealed how racism goes “underreported,” according to a story published by the BBC,

Factors like language barriers, fear of reprisals and lack of trust in the police are some reasons why racist crimes continue to be underreported in Wales.

The same factors must play a role in Finland as well.

Do “mamu” an “maahanmuuttajataustainen” downgrade people in Finland into “us” and “them?”

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Migrant Tales

There are two words I’d be very careful with in Finland: mamu and maahanmuuttajataustainen especially at schools to single out third-culture children. The first label is the shortened word for maahanmuuttaja, or immigrant, while the second one means person with immigrant background.

Migrant Tales has written previously about the use of mamu like this blog entry above.

Both of these labels were devised by the majority population to single out immigrants and minorities from the rest of the population.

If we are serious about inclusion and promoting mutual acceptance and respect in this country, labels such as mamu and maahanmuuttajataustainen encourage the opposite.

In order to call somebody an ethnic name you have to know the person pretty well and then proceed with caution. If Finns call immigrants mamu is it then ok in the media for men to call women gimma and women call men, äijä? In certain special cases it may be ok but rarely.

Since ethnic and group labels have a strong impact on how we perceive other groups, we should be careful how we use them. One good question we could ask is if the label promotes social equality or inequality? Does it encourage inclusion or exclusion?

In my opinion, labels like mamu and especially maahanmuuttajataustainen at schools don’t promote social equality and exclusion but exactly the opposite.

These terms exist and are used because their aim is to divide others into “us” and “them.”

Pressiklubi exposes MP James Hirvisaari’s fabricated lies and ignorance of immigrants and minorities

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Migrant Tales

MP James Hirvisaari, who got expelled from the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party last week, appeared on Ruben Stiller’s Pressiklubi Friday. Compared with his appearance on Enbuske & Linnanahde Crew’s talk show the previous day, the new Muutos 2011 MP’s fabricated lies and ignorance were exposed in the raw.

See full program (in Finnish) here.

Just like the many urban tales spread by anti-immigration politicians like Hirvisaari, one of their favorite deceptions is to portray themselves as champions of free speech. In the case of Hirvisaari, it’s the state prosecutor and hazy ethnic agitation laws that attempt to limit his freedom of expression.

If we look at what Hirvisaari has written before about immigrants and Muslims, we’d notice that the MP has had a lot of freedom to insult and victimize other minorities in order to further his political career.

The fact that racist Islamophobic diatribe has found a home in Finland through the writings of people like Hirvisaari, reveals that this country has serious intolerance issues to deal with.

Before the historic 2011 elections, in which the PS won 39 seats versus 5 in the previous election, far-right voices like Hirvisaari were elected to parliament thanks to their fear-mongering and lynch-mob style writings, which spread like wildfire thanks to the social media and national media.

Pressiklubi did a good job at exposing Hirvisaari’s exaggerations and outright lies. Johanna Korhonen asked the MP if he could give one concrete example how his right to express himself about Islam was limited.

Hirvisaari didn’t answer the question because it would have exposed the secret of his fabricated lies and exaggerations.

Another fast one pulled by Hirvisaari on the show was claiming that criticizing multiculturalism was forbidden in this country. If this is true, why is their so much intolerance and criticism of cultural diversity on many social media websites and forums in Finland?

When the media and the general public understand that intolerance, racism and victimization of immigrants and minorities have nothing to do with our national interests but are harmful to our society, it will be easier to nip characters like Hirvisaari in the bud before they sprout into political Frankensteins.

How the Finnish media flirts with disgraced former PS MP James Hirvisaari

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Why would a Finnish talk show like Enbuske & Linnanahde Crew want to interview a disgraced MP like James Hirvisaari, who got kicked out of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party last week for taking a picture of a person making a Nazi salute in parliament? One of the guests of the show, actress Krista Kosonen, wrapped up Hirvisaari’s thoughts and writings in one word: Crap!

Even if Tuomas Enbuske tries to make smart questions to understand the mind of Hirvisaari, it is another sad example of the how the media continues to flirt with far-right politicians whose only merits are spreading hatred.

Is the interview with Hirvisaari another sad example of how the Finnish media gives racists inflated respectability and importance?

Read full story here.

What’s the point of interviewing a convicted MP for ethnic agitation? What value does he bring the debate? Does his presence in the program reveal something about Tuomas Enbuske’s and Aki Linnanahde? Thanks to Kosonen, however, and contrary to Enbuske, who tried to understand Hirvisaari’s worldview, the Muutos2011 MP got a taste of her medicine.

“Hirvisaari says that he doesn’t fear anything,” Kosonen said on the show and was quoted on Ilta-Snomat. “But that is what it actually is: fear. Living in a small bubble…We have to think how immigrants should adapt to society not fear, how clitorises are slashed fifteen years from now.”

This is the second time Tuomas Enbuske has invited Hirvisaari to his show.

Read full blog entry here.

Read full story (in Finnish) here.

See Facebook wall here.

Because the arguments used by anti-immigration groups and personalities like Halla-aho hinge on prejudice and gross exaggerations. There’s very little truth in them.

What is assimilation for Black Africans in America?

Colorism & the Lily Complex as Part of the Assimilation Curriculum.

Read full story here.

As long as Finland gives political space to intolerance in any shape or form, which encourages hate crimes to happen, these types of statistics should be taken with a grain of salt. At the best, the police should encourage immigrants and visible minorities to report hate crimes.

Migrant Tales has written previously about the use of mamu like this blog entry above.

Since ethnic and group labels have a strong impact on how we perceive other groups, we should be careful how we use them. One good question we could ask is if the label promotes social equality or inequality? Does it encourage inclusion or exclusion?

See full program (in Finnish) here.

The fact that racist Islamophobic diatribe has found a home in Finland through the writings of people like Hirvisaari, reveals that this country has serious intolerance issues to deal with.

Read full story here.

“Hirvisaari says that he doesn’t fear anything,” Kosonen said on the show and was quoted on Ilta-Snomat. “But that is what it actually is: fear. Living in a small bubble…We have to think how immigrants should adapt to society not fear, how clitorises are slashed fifteen years from now.”