Rosa Parks and Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Rosa Parks (1913-2005) is not only a symbol of the US civil rights movement but of countries like Finland as well. In order for history to change you don’t need a lot of firepower but people who lead by example. Rosa Parks is one of these we should not forget as Multicultural Finns and other minorities struggle for greater acceptance recognition in Finland.

                                                                                                             US civil rights activist  Rosa Parks.

One cannot change the world but one can with his or her example impact those that live around them. That is in a sense the story of Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat to a white person on a bus in December 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama.  Contrary to other brave blacks who had refused to give up their seat to a white person, Parks’ arrest sparked a bus boycott in Montgomery.

What is even more important was that Parks’ civil disobedience turned into an important symbol of the civil rights movement and against racial segregation.

Blacks were forced to sit in the back of buses in Montgomery and if the bus was full they were required to give up their seat to a white.

Even if this type of racial segregation does not exist in countries like Finland, there are more ingenious ways of forcing people to sit in back of the bus of society.  Just like blacks were forced to give up their seats to whites on buses, immigrants and minorities in Finland are the last ones to get employed and the first ones to be laid off.

The ways racism is practiced may have changed but it is still the same ogre that segregated blacks in the United States but created one of its greatest symbols.

The magic word is acceptance, acceptance and mutual acceptance!

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

A crucial term like acceptance is still very little used in Finland when debating about our culturally diverse society. Another key term is equal opportunity.Politicians, public officials, the general public, including immigrants, should use these terms in everyday speech when speaking about our society.

Former President Martti Ahtisaari suggested on Thursday that those Finns should invite immigrants to a cup of coffee. This is a very nice gesture. Culturally it would be the Finnish way to accept another person.

The coffee-drinking ritual in Finland rarely if ever is done between people who dislike each other. When we drink coffee together we strengthen our friendship and knowledge of each other through casual talk.

Since integration and acceptance are a two-way process, all of us have to tame our prejudices and do our part in being more acceptant of others. This is important because it helps create a better-functioning society.

When we are acceptant of others we cease to be the problem arising from our own racism and prejudice.

Three important key words are needed to be heard more in Finnish society: mutual acceptance, respect and equal opportunities.


Finland’s long-overdue issue with the cold war

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Every country has its silent minority or majority and Finland is no different in this respect. The victory of the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS) party in April raises a lot of questions: Have the ghosts of Finlandization and the Continuation War (1941-44) been resurrected? 

When future historians write about the post-April era in Finland, when the PS gained a historic victory in the election, they will uncover many things that have their roots in our history.

Seeing a country like Finland jump into the arms of populism and xenophobia is a tragedy indeed.  Seeing the country slide into social and economic poverty as a result is even sadder.

While some analysts may be scratching their heads why a significant part of Finland’s population wants to turn its back to the outside world, it should not come to any surprise because it was already written in the sand a long time ago. The isolation we suffered during the cold war for decades still dictates how we see ourselves in relation to the outside world.

One of the biggest casualties of the Winter War (1939-40), Continuation War and cold war era was the blow to our cultural diversity. We encouraged ethnic purity at the cost of cultural diversity.  By 1970, for example, there were only 7,000 foreigners living in the country. The biggest national group back then were Finns who were naturalized Swedes.

When diversity is almost blown off the face of the map and replaced by cultural myths like ethnic “purity,” it is clear that we lack the resources today to tackle many problems facing the country, especially those that address our cultural diversity. We speak and look so much alike that we all agree with each other. The immigration debate is a classic example. Debate is one-sided and poor because mostly Finns, not immigrants or Multicultural Finns, are taking part in the debate.

Our lack of cultural diversity has impoverished us as a nation in many ways. The rise of the PS in April is one of many examples of what our past geopolitical isolation has brought on our doorstep today.

Moreover, we never  even debated in earnest our geopolitical isolation from the world and how relations with the former Soviet Union changed our mindset.

We chose, instead, to live off myths about ourselves and put off and leave our future to chance.

YLE: Rasismin lisääntyminen huolestuttaa Iisalmessa

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: The racism that has raised its head in Iisalmi, a city located 480km north of Helsinki with 200 immigrants, is a case in point what is wrong with some parts of this country.

According to YLE, the problem in Iisalmi appears as racist “graffiti on walls, social media, yelling and even physical violence.”  In August, two local inhabitants attacked with a steel rod a foreign woman.

Some may continue to deny that racism is a problem in Finland. Apart from being a serious social ill, it will impoverish Finland economically and socially.

Helsingin Sanomat recently reported about the rise of racism in Savo and Karelia.

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Rasismi on nostanut päätään Iisalmessa. Maahanmuuttajia on Iisalmessa alle 200 ja heistä suurin osa Virosta ja Venäjältä. Kohteeksi joutuvat lähinnä ihonväriltään kantasuomalaisista poikkeavat ihmiset, vaikka he olisivat syntyperältään suomalaisia.

Read whole story.

YLE in English: Roma evicted from Kalasatama camp assemble at Senate Square

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: This is an ongoing story that has no end. Most of the time when the politicians and city authorities attempt to find a solution to the problem of how to deal with a few Roma that have set up camp in Helsinki, the more lost they become. This should not surprise us, however, because it is has been the  way that the Finnish authorities and public have treated the Romany question in Finland for centuries.

Some of the most incredible measures that politicians tried to impose on this group of Romany was to prohibit begging in public. Even if they made a few euros a day begging in the streets of Helsinki, some had the nerve to claim that they were working for organized crime. 

The handling by the police and authorities of the foreign Roma in Helsinki is unfortunate and reveals a wider problem in Europe on how we deal with minority issues and poverty.

The treatment of these people should inspire others, like especially the Finnish Romany, to stand up and begin asking for their long-overdue acceptance by Finnish society.

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About 40 police officers descended on the Kalasatama area in Helsinki to evict a camp of itinerant foreign Roma. The operation came at the request of the Helsinki City Public Works Department. In the evening, dozens of Roma who had been forced to leave Kalasatama, and a number of local supporters assembled at Senate Square in the centre of the city.

Read whole story.

Finnish hate blogs’ toilet graffiti attack (or toilet democracy)

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

It is a positive sign that more politicians and organizations like the Council for Mass Media (JSN) are finally taking a strong stance against hate speech and racism that is rife on the net. These types of opinions, usually done anonymously and on sites like Hommaforum, Scripta and others, resemble racist peeping Toms writing graffiti on public toilet walls.

Some guidelines have to be put in place but the question is if they will bite. The JSN will make public its new recommendations on September 5.

“Hate speech was included in the guidelines, ” said JSN chairperson Risto Uimonen. “It would have been odd after what happened in Norway if we would not have done so.”

For too long the Finnish media, too many politicians and the public at large have shown a remarkable lack of leadership with respect to the rising hate speech and popularity of parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS).  It seems that the majority of our best leaders and most enlightened citizens are ready to forfeit our values for hate speech.

Why have politicians reacted so late? Have they become more tolerant to immigrants or does it only hinge on Norway and how mass killer Anders Breivik was  a serious wakeup call?

Migrant Tales predicted after the tragic events that gripped Norway at the hands of a mass killer on July 22 that a major watershed was crossed.  The new JSN guidelines and less tolerance for hate speech have put parties like the PS on the defensive.  The Norwegian Labor Party, for example,  is expected to make big gains in next month’s the municipal election at the cost of the anti-immigration Fremskrittspartiet, of which Anders Breivik was a member.

A social ill like racism is no light matter. If it were up to the likes of PS MP Halla-aho and his cronies, immigrants would suffer the same exclusion that the Romany have endured in Finland for hundreds of years.

We cannot let something like that to happen ever again.

The sooner Finns can distinguish between racism and constructive criticism on issues like immigration policy, the faster we will be able to put this social ill on the defensive.

Ten steps to tame the beast of racism and prejudice in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Like alcoholism, racism is a social ill that exists but is rarely recognized as a problem. In countries like Finland we are still debating whether racism and prejudice is a problem or not.  How much must racism grow for us to accept it as a serious problem that threatens our present Nordic way of life?

In Europe, the Nordic region was seen as an island of tolerance when compared with the treatment of immigrants and minorities in other parts of the continent. Xenophobic and far-right parties like the Danish People’s Party, Sweden Democrats, Perussuomalaiset (PS) and mass killer Anders Breivik have dented that image recently.

Racism and prejudice are close relatives. One good definition of racism is that it is institutionalized while the other one is personal suspicion against a group.

The term “institutional racism” was coined by Stokely Carmichael (later known as Kwame Ture) in the 1960s. According to him, institutional racism is the “collective failure of an organization to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their color, culture, or ethnic origin.”

While these two social ills exist in all political parties, they have found a home in the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party.  The questionable views of PS MPs like Jussi Halla-aho feed people’s prejudice which in term fuel institutional racism in our society.

Thus we can, thanks to these arguments, justify not hiring and not accepting certain groups as equals in our society because we loathe them. If we let matters to parties like the PS, institutional racism and prejudice would survive for hundreds of years as is the case with the Romany in Finland.

While this list below is far from complete, here are some things we can do:

1.  The first step is to accept that it exists and is a threat to our society;

2. Stop ignoring history when it is uncomfortable like our relationship with Nazi Germany in the Continuation War (1941-44);

3. Teach our children what terrible wars and suffering racism and prejudice has brought on humankind;

4. Demand an end to silence by politicians. Expose politicians who vacillate on this issue of racism and prejudice;

5. Don’t be afraid to speak out. Start your own blog and/or association to spur debate to expose these social ills;

6. Join a political party or start a social movement that challenges institutional racism and prejudice. Be ready to use all of your democratic rights  like organizing demonstrations, hunger strikes and active lobbying;

7. Speak to those who suffer from these social illnesses and forgive their ignorance. People change;

8. Report all racist harassment and hate crimes to the police. If the police treat you unfairly report it as well;

9.  Have zero tolerance for racism and prejudice. Be passionate about fighting racism;

10. “Never, never, never give up (Winston Churchill).”

 

Note: If you still believe that racism isn’t a big problem in Finland, check out these sites and read the threads: Are you a target of racism in Finland and Racism in Finland.

HS in English: Concerns about growing racism in Savo and Karelia

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment:  We all know that racism is a problem and that immigrants and other minorities are targets of attacks. Ask many visible immigrants in Finland if they have ever been a victim of racist harassment or a hate crime the answers you get may surprise you.  Some immigrants may play down these incidents while others are quite candid about them. 

A good rule of thumb in the town that I live in is the visible immigrants usually visit a bar with two other friends. Going alone could put you in harm way especially when alcohol has a role in the matter. 

YLE reports something that has been known for a long while: “In Iisalmi, in the north of Savo, police have had reports of residents of immigrant background being targeted by verbal abuse. Racist graffiti has been seen in public places, and in one case, a young woman was threatened with physical violence.”

So what gives and why is racism “growing more than usual” in Savo and Karelia?

The police do not give us a clear answer. 

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Police in North Karelia and North Savo are concerned about increasing manifestations of racism in the area. Police in the eastern town of Lieksa were informed that young people in the area had been invited on Facebook to convene on Tuesday evening in a suburb with a large immigrant population under the heading “Who’s afraid of a black man?”

Read whole story.

Migration patters among Jews – Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: The first Jew to receive a permanent residence to live in Finland in 1832 was Jakob Weikaim, a tinsmith who moved from Latvia in 1799 at the age of 14.He was the first Jew that was allowed to move to Finland without converting to Christianity.

Until 1809, when Finland was still a part of Sweden, its former ruler promulgated a number of laws that permitted Jews to only settle in the following Swedish cities: Stockholm, Gothenburg and Norrköping.  

The size of the Jewish community of Finland has always been small. In 1870 there were 460 in the country and today it totals under 2,000.

Sounding much of the arguments used by some parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) today,  Finnish-language newspaper Uusi Suometar wrote in 1833 that Finland’s Jewish population would reach half a million within a hundred years due to high birth rates.

One of the most uncomfortable relationships that affected the Finnish Jewish community during the Continuation War (1941-44) was when Finland aligned itself with Nazi Germany. Even though Jews fought in the Finnish army sometimes alongside the Germans, it was pretty clear to some what would happen to them if the Nazis would have won the war. 

While persecution of Jews in Finland was a far cry from Germany of the 1930s, there was anti-Semitism.  Another factor that kept matters from escalating on this front was the fact that there were so few Jews.  As in other parts of Europe,  Jewishness was not encouraged.

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Finland’s Jewish community is small, but active. Its small size and unique characteristics allow us to understand the migratory patterns of this community and to use the data to extrapolate the migration patterns in Finland to larger Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. Finland aligned itself with Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union 1941-1944. Finnish Jews fought in the Finnish army, occasionally side by side with the Germans.

Read whole story.