Migrant Tales Literary: Poetic essay for tomatoes and cucumbers

Posted on by Dana

By Dana

?? ??? ??????????  ??? ???         ?????? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???

If u fall in a trap, don’t fight back              Vanity and envy won’t help you to be free

??? ?? ?? ??? ???? ??? ?? ????          ?? ?? ?? ??? ???? ???? ??? ???

The porridge u cook , first u’ll eat                    So don’t be so hard on yourself.

Adam’s brain was moved by the fuel of prejudice, fed by a tomato and cucumber, ha ha HA!

What is the difference between a homegrown tomato and one brought from other lands?

When at the social welfare office, Mr. Law starts to beat me, everyone stands and watches idly, and the tomato and cucumber, the racist and intolerant people, believe that the tomato and cucumber are more important than a human being!

Possibly the homegrown tomato and cucumber are gold and the most expensive vegetables in the world for some racists. Thank GOD that they don’t have any taste buds and can’t either smell or think so they’d know what normal is.

Tomatoes…                             Source: Flickr.

But wait a moment! Maybe they have high values. They claim that only a white hand can touch the seed that is planted. LOL!

It’s good that in this country there aren’t any fruit, arbor, and flower gardens, otherwise our destiny would be worse and sicker than now. If this land had the four seasons of more benign climates together with mountains, plains and valleys, perhaps they’d build a wall around it, an ironic wall like the one in China where no-one could come in.

What is all this pride and honor bestowed to the tomato and cucumber?!

What is ur traditional food?

…and cucumbers.                              Source: Flickr.

What about technology, do you have any? Has it grown?

Tell me what percentage of immigrants and refugees have worked in your land and how many do u hire.

Tell me about your philosophers, your authors and poets – what about a good movie? Have you ever seen any in this country…only copied TV programs, copied, copied…

Have u ever heard of a good movie??? A great singer?? An actress, actor, maybe?

Houses are very simple here, apartments are so simple, only one room, dark, small windows…what do they say about the architects…I don’t believe your compliments, claim, claim, claim what you will! Can u prove ur claims? Can U?

What about art, its technique and the profession? Do u have any idea what life is? What does life mean to u? Have you ever had an open-minded journalist, intellectuals, even a genus among your ranks?

You don’t even have one magazine or newspaper that speaks up for immigrants, refugees, drunkards, the poor, old people; ur alone, no family, children with two mothers and fathers, high rate of divorce, lazy people in parliament, racist, racism, nationals who work in foreign companies and organizations, in hotels, at the Hilton Hotel, export, import and now they are so important for economic growth. How many real stories are sleeping in chests, in courts, in the ombudsman’s office?

Cucumber, tomato, and 4 different types of brown bread, and being blonde and white at the end of the line, the line of the world, is nothing to be proud of.

Yes dear bother, living in the Land of Intolerance is sheer hell!

 

Migrant Tales Literary: Summer blooms in Finland*

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Growing up and being a Finn in the last century was especially tough. If wars and conflicts didn’t do you in, it was the option of being an immigrant and living with that near-constant yearning and separation in faraway lands. Between 1860 and1999, over 1.2 million Finns emigrated mainly to North America and Sweden.

I was more fortunate than my grandparents, Harald and Aino, who were born in Finland in the early 1890s. Before they turned twenty they had already witnessed enough strife and bloodshed to last them a lifetime: Russification and the struggle that led to Finland’s independence in 1917, the assassination of Governor General Nikolai Bobrikov in 1904, and the terrible Civil War of 1918 between the Whites and Reds, which tore the country in two.

The Finland I knew before I turned twenty was very different from the one my grandparents witnessed. The Cold War and the Vietnam War raged on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. Every day I’d on the news about how the U.S. was bombing North Vietnam back to the stone age, when, in fact, the war was severely weakening us as a nation.

Even my grandparents’ early adulthood was characterized by extremes: the New York Stock Market Crash of October 1929 that ushered in the Great Depression, which in turn ignited a new Great War that would end up claiming an estimated 60 million lives.

So many rivers of blood flowed by them during their lifetime that it is quite remarkable that they survived to tell about those days. However, Harald and Aino never spoke about them, and their anguish. They chose silence to reviving with their tales those phantoms that once brought so much terror and death to Europe.

I have read a lot about World War 2. I think it is important to know about that period in order not to go down that slippery slope ever again. Understanding what happened back then isn’t easy, however, and may take more than one lifetime to understand. How are you supposed to grasp the systematic murder of six million Jews or that of 20 million people that died in Russia?

I have so many questions I’d ask my grandparents. Do they remember the day when Finland became an independent nation? What about when the Winter War broke out on a Thursday? What was a typical day of their lives like? No matter how much I try and wish, it’s too late to ask them any questions. Only silence answers back.

***

Contrary to my grandparents, I will share some of my anecdotes with the dear reader like when I spent the most beautiful moment of my life. I was eleven years at the time and it happened at our summerhouse near Mikkeli. Like magic, I was awoken by the sound of my grandfather sawing wood while the warm sunlight entered my room and mixed with the cool semi-darkness.

How beautiful the forest is in summer with its towering spruces, clean-white birches and sparkling lakes. These images raced through my mind and heart during that special morning pleading with the day and moment to never end.

Finnish summer blooms between June and August. 

What was it that made that morning so memorable? Was it summer that was blooming inside of me as sheer beauty? Or was it because I had by chance learned to capture the full moment without the past and future pulling me in opposite directions?

After so much war and suffering during the first twenty-five years of Finland’s independence, our country needed a similar magic moment to rebuild and heal itself from the devastation of war.

Many times I wonder what would be needed for people to turn their backs on war and their destructive social behavior. Would the answer be in more social equality, or tasa-arvo as they call it in Finnish?

Another important characteristic about our successful society today in Finland is that we enjoy a strong sense of community and belonging. Not everyone, however, is part of such an important family. Some of these are visible minorities like the Roma, Saami, non-white Finns, gays as well as other groups.

As we race deeper into the depths of the new century, we need more than ever those very models that turned us after 1945 into a successful nation at peace with itself and its neighbors. Inclusion is one of those very important values.

A lot more work is still needed on this front but we are getting there little by little. I am confident that social equality for all based on mutual acceptance, respect and equal opportunities will take us to a bright future in Finland.

*This column was originally published in the summer 2012 issue of New World Finn.

 

 

How to challenge a social ill like racism in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The rise of an anti-immigration party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) in last year’s elections is not the most incriminating proof that racism is an issue in this country, but official denials that such a problem exists at all in Finland. What must we do as a society to effectively challenge such a social ill?

Denials by groups like the police that ethnic profiling ever takes place in Finland are highly revealing. The icing on the cake of ethnic profiling was given in April by Christian Democrat (KD)  Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen, who approved spot checks of foreigners by the police since they are an effective way to clamp down on undocumented immigrants.

Finnish children were taught at schools that “n”stands for the n-word and that such people like to eat bananas. Schools have been an important breeding ground for racism in Finland. Source: Ydinjate.org.

No matter how much we want to deny that racism isn’t an issue in our society and  sweep the problem under the rug, knowing who is denying it reveals a lot about the extent of the issue. Why would a white Finn see racism as an immediate threat? Why would a black person differ in opinion?

While justifying spot checks of foreigners, Räsänen gives us a glimpse of  her colorblind racism:  “The vast majority of foreigners look just like the natives, so it’s not even a very sensible way to supervise aliens.”

The question we should ask her after such a statement is what about those that don’t look like white Finns.

The views of an important public figure like Räsänen reveal how seriously the authorities treat, or how their prejudices fuel, an issue like racism. True, they may see it as a problem but they won’t invest a lot of resources to tackle it.

In many respects, anti-racism legislation should be seen in the same light as the role that anti-trust regulation plays in the business community. The lack of competition in Finland is one factor that fuels inefficiency and abuse by certain businesses.  It explains, in part, why Finland is the most expensive country in the eurozone.

In the same way, racism is abuse by a stronger group over weaker ones.

What should we do about tackling racism in Finland?

The best thing we can do is acknowledge the problem and challenge it. The first crucial step must come from the immigrant and visible minority community, which will not accept living in a society where racism and abuse are the rule. Their motive for raising their voices will be to make Finland a better place to live for their children and future generations.

Taking into account that we need skilled labor in this country to replace our ever-growing army of pensioners, accepting the status quo and being hostile to certain immigrant groups is like shooting ourselves in the leg.

The most important matter to keep in mind is that our reaction to racism must be first and foremost a reaction.

 

 

 

Far-right violence spreads across Europe – what about Finland?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

As the euro financial crisis deepens so does the rise of far-right violence across Europe, according to a report by the Institute of Race Relations. Finland stands out as one of the 100 cases documented by the report. It states that academics studying immigration in this country are forced to withdraw from public discussion rather than face intimidation and threats to their families.

Migrant Tales has been as well the focus of attacks, death threats and intimidation.

The report, Pedlars of Hate: the violent impact of the European far Right, documents the cold-blooded shooting of a Moroccan during Black February as a clear warning sign for Finland.

The far right has found a good platform in the PS. 

The report states on page 8: “The Satakunta Police Department is investigating  whether Facebook comments made by a [former] True Finns [Perussuomalaiset] elected councillor in Köyliö constitute incitement to racial hatred. After a 21-year-old Moroccan man was  shot dead in Oulu in March [see page 15], Tommi Rautio posted that the murderer should be given a medal because there is ‘a war going on and in every war decorations are handed out.'”

While there are some encouraging signs that politicians and the media see PS politicians like Jussi Halla-aho and his Suomen Sisu followers as extremists, it’s still not too late to defeat the far-right menace that has attacked Finland.

How much of a threat is the far right in Finland? Are matters going to get far worse before they improve?

Migrant Tales March 15, 2012: Finland’s darkest period 2011-15

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In the future, when Finnish historians of different ethnic backgrounds look at the present parliamentary term 2011-15,  they will most likely conclude that it was the darkest period for Finland and immigrants in the new century.  A prelude to this sombre period were  the municipal election of 2008 and how it reflected a shift in the national mood. 

It would be naive, even an exercise in self-deceit, to claim that the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party isn’t one  obvious culprit. The municipal elections of 2008 and 2003, when PS MP Tony Halme was elected to parliament,  speak volumes about how racism and xenophobia started to lift their heads in this country.

Despite being one of the worst periods in our recent history, where some groups and politicians aim to make racism and xenophobia as normal and acceptable as karjalanpiirakka, it has brought out the best in some of us. For some, like Migrant Tales, it has been a clarion call.

If this period has brought out the best in some of us, it has brought out the worst as well.

Finland’s anti-immigration groups like to feed the public red herrings.

Some regretful examples come form of silence and lack of leadership by the Finnish media and some politicians. The success of the PS in the April elections is proof of the inarticulateness, complacency and even the flirting of these two groups with anti-immigration parties and groups.

The PS has provided us with monthly scandals beginning with MP Teuvo Hakkarainen’s first day in parliament to the recent suggestion by councilman Tommi Rautio  to give a medal to a cold-blooded killer.

A word of advice to anti-immigration extremists: Everything you write will come under scrutiny by future generations. Those future generations, which will be made up of Finnish researchers from different ethnic backgrounds, will highlight the racism and xenophobia that inflicted part of our society today.

When they give their lectures at our universities on ethnic studies or history, they will show to their students the shameful evidence left in the writings of numerous anti-immigration politicians like PS MP Jussi Halla-aho and his Suomen Sisu crowd, for example.

Time will increase the shamefulness of these racist writings. What is written today by some of these racists will look eerily similar to what some groups wrote about blacks during the U.S. Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Recognizing this will be the first important step in liberating our society from the illness that has afflicted it.

 

 

 

Have the PS and MP Tossavainen of Finland ever heard of the Non-Discrimination Act?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

If the future of Finland were ever left to the populist Perussuomalaiset (PS) party, it’s quite certain that this country would be doomed. The ones that would suffer the most would be immigrants and visible minorities. Outright discrimination would be  the rule.

The PS, who should know better, sent a formal request to the council of state last week asking whether it was possible to only hire Finnish workers to refurbish its recently acquired party headquarters in Helsinki.

In a blog entry on Uusi Suomi, Migrant Tales answered a question that the PS asked the council of state in a blog entry: Is it discrimination only to hire Finnish workers?

We answered PS MP Anssi Joutsenlahti’s question with a flat yes. Thanks to JusticeDemon’s help, we were able to show to the PS MP which part of the Non-Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination on the grounds of nationality.

Paragraph 1 of subsection 1 of section 2: “This Act applies to both public and private activities in the following contexts: 1) conditions for access to self-employment or means of livelihood, and support for business activities.”

For some reason the PS, the country’s third-largest party in parliament with 39 seats, does not – or does not want to – get it.

Instead of engaging in a meaningful debate about discrimination in Finland, PS MP Reijo Tossavainen writes the following comment in a Migrant Tales’ posting on Uusi Suomi: “This blog entry’s headline [Is it discrimination to only hire Finnish workers? Certainly!]  is  frankly shocking.Are Finnish labor, Finnish entrepreneurship, and Finnish identity in general something marginal in Finland?”

PS MP Reijo Tossavainen appears to have never heard of the Non-Discrimination Act.

Tossavainen even takes a below-the-belt hit at Migrant Tales in another comment. My mother is Finnish, I am a Finnish citizen and have lived in this country for 33 years.

“In a blog entry on Uusi Suomi two foreigners [Farzad Moghaddam pour and I] who live in Finland write about hiring only Finnish workers [to refurbish] the party’s headquarters. Their writings and comments make for uncomfortable reading because they respect too little Finland and Finnish identity. But what is even more shocking is to see that there are a lot of native Finns who think like them.”

Just because a populist politician has probably never read the Non-Discrimination Act in his life, doesn’t give him the right to erroneously claim that I don’t respect Finland or Finnish identity. It is an insult like many others that have come to characterize the PS after last year’s elections.

The PS are a threat to Finland, but especially to immigrants, visible minorities and expat Finns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Migrant Tales Literary: ???? ??? Don’t leave me

Posted on by Dana

?

?? ?????? ????? ???? ???? ?? ???? ??? ???? ???? ?? ????? ???? ?? ?? ?????? ? ????
??? ????? ????? ??? ?????? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ????? ???. ?? ??????? ?? ???? ?? ???? ????? ???? ?? ???? ?? ?? ????? ?? ???? ? ?? ????? ?? ????
??????? ?? ???????? ????? ?? ???? ????? ??? ? ??? ???? ??.
??????? ???? ????? ? ?? ?????. ???? ??? ?  ???? ????? ?? ?? ???? ?? ????? ?? ???
? ???? ?? ??????? ?? ???.
????? ???? ??? ????? ????? ??? ? ???? ?????? ????? ??? ??? ???? ??? ? ????? ???.
????? ????? ?? ?????? ??? ?? ???? ??????? ??? ???? ???? ??? ???.
????? ????? ??? ???? ???? ??? ?? ???? ????? ?? ?? ???.
???????? ??????? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ? ???? ?? ????? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? ???? ???? ??
??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ? ????? ?? ???? ?? ?? ????? ???.
???? ?? ?????? ???? ?? ?? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ? ?? ??? ?? ???? ?????????? ???
?? ???  ?? ??? ???? ????? ???????? ?? ???? ??? ??? ???? ???.
??? ?? ?? ?? ???? ????? ??? ?? ?? ???? ????? ?? ???.
??? ?? ?? ?? ??? ? ?? ???? ?? ??????? ? ???? ? ??? ???? ?? ???? ????? ????????? ??? .
?? ?????? ??? ???? ???? ?????.
??? ?????? ????? ?????? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ?? ??? ????? ??? ? ????? ?? ????? ???
????? ??? ??? ??????????
?? ????? ?? ?? ?? ??????? ???????.
?? ??? ???.
?? ??????.

Painting by Albrto Hedman (1980).

Oh life’s mysteries, oh green hope don’t leave me, oh eternal faith stay with me, hey my sweet voice flight-flight, take me with u to distant places that they call Iran, to the soil where my roots grew and remain, to the house of my mother, to the room where my father is waiting for her (daughter) Dana, in the presence of my brother and their eyes waiting for me.

My eyes r cloudy, pulverous, my heart heard a bird’s song, a twitter that called and alerted me.
Today a tall green tree said hi to me, and the greeting of its younger leaves were sweet like honey and made me feel at peace.
Kallio’s roses held me today and their scent transported me back home.
Today, the tiny red radish at  Lidl  told me to buy them.
Today the wind wanted to carry my scent with itself to my land and home, to the woman that carried me inside for 9 month and gave birth to me, and caress her face with my scent, maybe she can hide my perfume in a small glass and rub it on her face every day, maybe my scent will stay with her for eternity, yes, forever.
I wish i could fly wherever i wished, without a body that doesn’t need a passport, visa and immigration service, that giant evil.
Ah Finland hit me with a cancel-permission stamp, i wish Finland to love me, i wish Finland would see me,  i wish someone would call out for me and say that I exist, whether no-one knows my name.
i am, although in Finland, but i am.
iam , I exist, in the name of GOD.

 

???? ??? ???? ??? ?? ?? ???? ?? ??? ??
???? ??? ?? ?? ??????? ?? ??? ?? ??? ??
Don’t leave me my song, stay with me oh my musical instrument
Don’t leave me ah oh my gem, stay with me, the only secret I own
???? ??? ????? ???????? ???????? ??
?? ???????? ?? ????????? ?? ??.
Don’t leave me my world, my Iran, my meaning
Ox tongue, oh saffron, rose water
???? ??? ???? ??? ????? ????? ???? ????? ????? ?????
?? ?? ????? ???????????? ??? ??????
Don’t leave me, warm arms of my mother, stay with me sweet leader Baba
Oh star, sky, red resembling a petal
?? ?? ???? ??? ??? ????? ??? ?? ??? ? ??
???? ????? ???? ???  ????? ??? ????? ???
Stay with me green grass, don’t leave me, oh myself and i
Nightingale don’t stop singing for a moment, not even seconds, don’t leave me sweet talk
???? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ? ???
????? ???? ?????? ?????? ??? ?

Don’t leave me carpet home, oh Gebbeh, with plain and field
Ruby pomegranate palate’s friend, Persian all my poetry

                                I will stay???? ??.

 

Suomalaisia ei saa syrjiä (mutta toisia ryhmiä saa?)

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Kansanedustaja Reijo Tossavaisen viimeisin blogi kirjoitus, Suomalaisia ei saa syrjiä, on hyvä esimerkki siitä mitä on pahasti vialla perussuomalaisissa ja kuinka suppea ja syrjivä on heidän käsitys suomalaisuudesta. 

Tossavaisen tieto Suomen historiasta on hyvin valikoiva. Hän puhuu kuinka karjalaiset sijoitettiin Suomeen jatkosodan jälkeen toista kertaa. Ruusuisesta kuvasta huolimatta, karjalaisten vastanotto oli monesti vihamielinen. Samaa suhtautuminen nähdään tänään maahanmuuttajia ja heidän lapsiansa kohtaan.

On valitettava, että kansanedustaja Tossavainen unohtaa, että Suomesta lähti 1860-1999  yli 1,2 miljoona suomalaista siirtolaisia etupäässä Pohjois-Amerikkaan ja Ruotsiin. Suomessa asuu yhä pieni mutta kasvava maahanmuuttaja yhteisö. Tämä tarkoittaa, että meillä on jo kymmeniä tuhansia suomalaisia joilla on kansainvälisiä taustoja.

Mitä perussuomalaiset oikeasti tarkoittavat kun he puhuvat ”suomalaisuuden, suomalaisen työn ja suomalaisten yrittämisen arvostaminen?” Minulle suomalaisuus on paljon laajempi, kansainvälisempi ja monipuolisempi käsite ottaen huomioon historiamme. Pääasiassa yhteiskuntamme on hyväksyvä toisia kohtaan, eikä torjuva.

Tossavainan puhuu kuitenkin totta: Suomalaisia ei saa syrjiä – muttei toisia ryhmiä myöskään.

Onko suomalaisen työn suosiminen syrjintää: kyllä!

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Onko perussuomalaiset koskaan kuulleet yhdenvertaisuuslaista? Todennäköisesti ette ole.

Säästän teille kallista aikaa:

Yhdenvertaisuuslaki
2 §
Soveltamisala
Tätä lakia sovelletaan sekä julkisessa että yksityisessä toiminnassa, kun kysymys on:

2) työhönottoperusteista, työoloista tai työehdoista, henkilöstökoulutuksesta taikka uralla etenemisestä;

Tässä on linkki.

Kysymys kansanedustaja Anssi Joutsenlahdelle: Miksi perussuomalaiset haluavat erityskohtelua ja miksi ette kunnioita lakeija vaikka vaaditte samaa maahanmuuttajilta?

Eli vastaus kysymyksenne: Onko suomalaisen työn suosiminen syrjintää: kyllä!

Abagond: Kumbaya anti-racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

I dedicate Abagond’s most recent blog entry to the Finnish media.

Comment:  I met a journalist from a local paper and we spoke about racism in Finland. He said that the daily had a policy of not reporting too many racism cases in the city because it would be acknowledging the problem. 

The reasoning behind the journalist’s words are pretty far-fetched:  If we don’t hear about racism cases in our society it means that it isn’t a problem. By not reporting too many racism cases we ensure that we won’t become racists.

If there is a threat that is impoverishing our society today, that danger is racism. 

Taking into account our aging workforce and our ever-growing army of pensioners, Finland needs racism like a hole in the head.  

It’s crucial that we debate this social ill openly.  

____

Julian Abagond

Kumbaya anti-racism (c. 1970- ) is where racism is fought by not talking about race, by not seeing people’s skin colour, by not saying certain words or expressing certain thoughts out loud that are politically incorrect.

People often quote Martin Luther King, Jr in support:

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

And sometimes they even quote Morgan Freeman, who informed Mike Wallace in 2005 that the way to get rid of racism is to – “Stop talking about it.”

To talk about race, like this blog does, is therefore “divisive”, it keeps racism alive, it is unenlightened, it spreads hatred.

So now most White Americans keep their children from becoming racist by not talking about racism!

It might sound good – except it does not work.

Instead of wiping out racism it has replaced one sort of racism – the open hatred of Jim Crow racism – with another – the silent, subtle contempt of colour-blind racism.

Martin Luther King said something else:

When we view the negative experiences of life, the Negro has a double share. There are twice as many unemployed. The rate of infant mortality among Negroes is double that of whites…

After 40 years Kumbaya anti-racist thinking in America:

  • the black unemployment rate stood at 2.1 times the white rate;
  • black babies are 2.6 times more likely to die than white babies.

It also goes against common sense:

What if we applied the same philosophy to other forms of marginalization:

Sexism: I do not see you as a woman, I see you as a person.

Classism: Once we stop seeing people as rich or poor everyone will have the same amount of money.

Anti-Semitism: Talking about the Holocaust spreads hatred and keeps anti-Semitism alive.

In practice the Kumbaya approach is used to silence talk about white racism. So instead of questioning white racism and helping to tear it down, it keeps that racism in place, untouched.

For whites that means they get to keep all the advantages of being white in a white racist society while at the same time sounding anti-racist. At least to themselves. It is yet another morally broken piece of white racist thinking. It is anti-racist in form not function.

For people of colour, the Kumbaya approach leaves them wide open to internalized racism – to self-hatred and self-doubt. It leads them into trying to “transcend” race, to be “American” or “Christian” or “universal” or “just me” – or even an honorary white. But trying to “transcend” race in America means, in effect, trying to be white. As if there is something wrong with being black or Asian or Chicano.

Martin Luther King:

We must stand up and say, “I’m black and I’m beautiful,” and this self-affirmation is the black man’s need, made compelling by the white man’s crimes against him.

Read original story her.

This piece was reprinted by Migrant Tales with permission.