Matters have changed for the better with respect to the ongoing debate on immigrants, immigration to Finland and our ever-growing cultural diversity, reports Turun Sanomat, quoting researcher Suvi Keskinen of Turku University. She warns, however, that making strong distinctions between “us Finns” and “them immigrants” can have dire consequences for the person and society.
Tag: current-events
PS MP Hakkarainen instigates social-media lynch mob from Singapore
Scandal-ridden Perussuomalaliset (PS) party MP, Teuvo Hakkarainen, has stuck his foot in his mouth again. This time he has taken the law in his hands and instigated a social-media lynch mob against two minors found guilty of rape, according to Keskisuomalainen. The Jyväskylä-based daily reports that Hakkarainen published on his Facebook page link to court documents that give the accused names, social security numbers, addresses and even their parents’ names.
Ilta-Sanomat tabloid ad (lööppi) from July 22, 1993
Migrant Tales publishes on and off Finnish tabloid ads* (lööppi in Finnish) from the 1990s. Taking into account that Finland’s immigrant population started to grow during that decade, it is easy at least through some of the main stories of tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti to see how some of them reflected our xenophobic, prejudiced, racist or anti-Russian views.
Are Hirvisaari and Eronen a mean Finnish version of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza?
If I had to draw a cartoon about suspended Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari and his aide Helena Eronen, I’d draw them as the legendary Spanish literary icons Don Quixote and Sancho Panza that chased after windmills. If Hirvisaari were Don Quixote, would his windmills be “multiculturalism,” “Islamization” and the media?
Halla-aho says ghettoization spreading in Finland’s major cities
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho said on a popular talk show that he stands by everything he said and doesn’t regret anything. He does, however, admit that sometimes the timing of what he said was wrong. He then tells us that ghettoization is taking place ” full steam ahead” in Finland’s biggest cities.
The Eronen “armband” scandal reveals healthy accountability by the media
The Helena Eronen scandal exposes an important watershed in Finland. It is a similar turning point we saw on July 22 with the mass killings in Norway and in February when Tommi Rautio suggested decoarating a white Finn for killing a Muslim in February in Oulu. The latest scandal reveals that those who bashed and spread racism and Nazi-spirited writings freely are now held accountable for what they write.
Finland’s interior minister wants to make begging illegal
Christian Democrat (KD) Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen was quoted as saying on MTV3 that she is in favor of making begging illegal in Finland. Just like many past suggestions by the conservative Räsänen, like her provocative views on homosexuality that caused last year an exodus from the Lutheran Church, her views on begging and how to deal with a group like the Roma of Eastern Europe doesn’t come as a surprise.
Our Finnish national identity in the new century
Glancing through a pile of documents and certificates my late grandfather (1892-1979) had is like entering a time machine. Two certificates catch my attention: a Finnish-language test in 1925 and another one when he changed his surname from Hantwargh to Harvo. Both documents offer us a glimpse of how a social construct like Finnish national identity was forged in the last century.
Eronen asked for trouble when she wrote her column about armbands
Finland has been inflicted for a number of years by people who think they can say and write anything they please about immigrants and visible minorities in Finland. It’s only natural that when you let out racism and prejudice to roam freely in society unchecked, things will eventually snap as we saw in Norway in July. What did Helena Eronen, Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari’s aide, do wrong?
What PS MP aide Helena Eronen wrote about armbands for foreigners in Finland (part 2)
Even if Helena Eronen’s boss, Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari wants to play down the impact of his aide’s blog entry by claiming that we do not know what satire is, the whole affair exposes something far worrying: It is a new dive into the depths of these shameful political times.