When Finns talk about expats, they usually mean those that are Finnish citizens and, most importantly, speak the Finnish or Swedish language. Apart from speaking on of Finland’s two official languages, your ethnic background plays a role as well.
When you generalize, you risk walking on thin ice. I’ll take that risk, however, to make a point. If you grew up in countries like the united States, Canada, Australia or any other with a large white English-speaking population, your acceptance in Finland may be easier than if you were black, Native American, and Latino.
Being white doesn’t mean tat you’ll be automatically accepted. Many Russians, who are white struggle for acceptance in this country due to the historical wounds that have not yet healed. Let’s make on matter clear: When I speak of Finns I’m talking about some Finns, not all Finns.
Certainly there are matters that officially define where you’re from. This can be a passport, but what if you feel a close bond to this country, don’t speak any of the two languages and aren’t a Finnish citizen?
In my opinion, the line that separates Finns from “us” versus “them” should be obliterated. If there is one factor that is throwing sand in the gears of building a vibrant culturally diverse society in this century, it’s our narrow definition of who is and who isn’t a Finn.
Look at it this way. Over 1.2 million people emigrated between 1860 and 1999. The fact that so many built their lives abroad suggests that Finnish national culture, language, and identity have changed dramatically. Those Finns that have lived abroad for some generations are decades ahead of us in Finland since they represent the future Finn.
Who are the future Finns? They are those who have multicultural and multiethnic backgrounds but still see Finland a a part of their heritage.
New century, new Finn
The meteoric rise of an anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam part in the 2011 parliamentary elections, is one sin that matter have changed radically in Finland.
The number of MPs of the Finns Party won two years ago soared to 39 from just 5 in 2007. While Finland’s ever-growing culturally diversity played a role in the Finns Party victory, other factors like the euro crisis and massive bailout of countries like Greece Ireland and Portugal helped.
The knee-jerk reaction and te rise of a populist party to our ever-growing culture diversity and EU skepticism shouldn’t surprise us. Even if hundreds of thousands of Finns had emigrated from the country in the last two centuries, Finland immigrant population has been tiny, peaking to 29,685 in 1928 but steadily declining to 5,483 in 1970. EU membership in 1995 changed matters dramatically and today our foreign population total 195,511.
When I had the opportunity to visit the Finnish community of Thunder Bay in Canada in 2006, I learned that Finnish identity was not only restless but constantly changing: It could be Canadian, Finnish Canadian, Finnish or a multitude of other identities.
Even if some of the members of the Finnish community of Thunder Bay ad grown accustomed to speaking Finngligh, what I witnessed was not a distancing from the Finnish spoke n in Finland but the birth of a new branch of our language.
Inclusion and acceptance
Despite my Finnish multicultural background, which I’m proud of, it is still used by some to remind me that I’m not fully “us.” This, fortunately, happens less than before.
When I moved to Finland permanently over thirty years ago, I didn’t have the right to vote never mind the right to citizenship. Until 1984, only the children of Finnish men were granted Finnish citizenship. Since there were at te time so few Finns with multicultural and multiethnic backgrounds living in the country my sense of isolation was deep and real.
That foe that grouped you into “us” versus “them” was formidable since it had succeeded at socially excluding groups like the Romany minority for five centuries.
As Finland became more culturally diverse, the more comfortable I began to feel in this country about my identity. Things are getting better, but there is still a long way to go. Compared to other countries in Europe, like Sweden, we’re about thirty years behind them on the cultural diversity front.
One of the biggest differences between the Americas and Europe is the role that immigration has played in forging national identity. In Europe, immigration is a more recent phenomenon than in the Americas, which explains why national identity in tis part of the world hinges so strongly on “race and blood.”
Our race-and-blood view of ourselves sheds light on why some European countries like Finland still find it difficult to overcome the “us” versus “them” mindset. If the terrible legacy of slavery still casts a terrible shadow over the US, Europe’s colonial legacy plays the same role.
If I could, I’d write a letter to each of the over one million Finns and their descendants abroad and offer them Finnish citizenship and a ticket to live and work here. I would not only include them but anyone wo want to move this country in good faith.
Why such generosity?
Because the survival of this country depends today on ho well we reap the benefits of our cultural diversity. The more inclusive we become, the more successful we’ll b as a society.
Let the following non-violent battle cry ring out in the meantime as we build the New Finland in this century: Finnish expats, distant descendants and migrants of the world, unite! We have nothing to lose except the prejudice and stereotypes that others impose on us to force us to live in prisons of prejudice!”
*Suomen Silta, or Finland Bridge, is the official magazine of the Finland Society.