Alarm bells go off inside of me whenever I hear migrants, who should know better, claim that racism isn’t a major issue in our society many times standing next to or speaking to white Finns. There are many reasons why a migrant may play down such a social ill. These may include ignorance, prejudice, lack…
Tag: intolerance
Higher unemployment and economic woes spell big trouble for migrants and visible minorities
Finland got shocking news Thursday when postal company Itella announced that it may shed up to 1,200 jobs, according to Yle in English. Taking into account that unemployment shot up in 2013 to 7.9% from 6.9% in the previous year, what do these two news stories mean for the migrant and visible minority community? Those…
Comment: Finland & Cultural Diversity 2013
This year’s Finland & Cultural Diversity 2013 report by Migrant Tales reveals something that we’ve known all along but had difficulty challenging: Accepting others who are different from us as equals. This is unfortunate considering that we have all the legal means to do so. Our Constitution guarantees cultural diversity and sees discrimination as a crime….
Finland & Cultural Diversity 2013 will be published on December 28
Finland & Cultural Diversity 2013 will be published Saturday. The review of the year will look at cultural diversity and intolerance in Finland. Read previous reports from 2012 and 2011. News published by the media this year reveals that 2013 was worse than 2012. Taking into account that an anti-immigration party like the Perussuomalaiset must…
Why do we still hesitate to challenge intolerance in Finland?
I had an interesting chat yesterday with an old friend about racism in Finland. One of the matters we agreed was that Finland hasn’t reached that stage where we accept that racism exists and that concrete steps must be taken to challenge it. This fact leads us to a second important question: Why? The answer…
Maryan Abdulkarim: “Finland is a very racist country”
Is there racism in Finland? In order to find the answer to that question, we’d have to ask visible migrants and minorities. Maryan Abdulkarim, 31, is a Finn who was born in Somalia, had the opportunity on Friday’s Helsingin Sanomat to answer that question. “Finland is a very racist country,” she said. “It always has been.”…
Can Peru shed light on how to identify and tackle intolerance in Finland?
In order to understand how racism works in countries like Finland, it is important to see how it occurs in multi-ethnic countries like Peru. While the documentary below clearly shows the many ugly faces of intolerance in Peru, it gives us some good answers to address the social ill in Finland. One of the interesting…
A guest of the Finnish PS gives a Nazi salute in parliament
We all know how a political party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) has declared war against immigrants and other minorities in this country. The latest attack by the PS was against the Finnish parliament by a guest of MP James Hirvisaari, who was pictured giving a Nazi salute. UPDATE: Hirvisaari confirmed Thursday that it was him…
Does Finland promote two-way or one-way adaption of immigrants?
Our integration law promotes two-way adaption as opposed to assimilation, which is a one-way process. Section 17 of the Finnish Constitution states that each person living in this country has the right to maintain and develop their own language and culture. What do these two important laws mean in practice and how are they applied? Sensible Finns…
Helsingin Sanomat poll reveals Finns’ opposition to cultural diversity
A poll commissioned by Helsingin Sanomt, Finland’s largest-circulation daily, reveals that 53% of those polled agreed (22%) or partially agreed (31%) that immigrants should aim at becoming as Finnish as possible. That compares with 18% and 30%, respectively, in 2011. If there is something worrying that the poll shows, it’s Finland’s growing opposition to cultural…