To be frank, the magazine Charlie Hebdo deserves criticism, not praise—despite the horrific events that have unfolded. While I am certainly not condoning the murder of its staff members, I do find them guilty of Islam-bashing and inconsiderately expressing religious intolerance, cultural ethnocentrism, and extremely poor human judgment, issues that should be important to antiracists…
Tag: politics
Racism Review: United Nations’ Universal Declaration Of Human Rights: A Personal Perspective
By Edna Chun At the conclusion of the forthcoming third edition of Joe Feagin’s Racist America: Roots, Current Realities, and Future Reparations, he recommends that a new constitutional convention for a true multiracial democracy begin with the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights ratified in 1948. Feagin points out that the United States has never had a…
Cold war winds still chill Finland's ongoing debate on racism and social exclusion
The anger and surprise that Gerry Brownlee has stirred up in this country sheds light why debating an issue like discriminaiton is so diffeicult to accept by some Finns. The New Zealand minister sharply criticised Finland last week in an address in parliament. Is our anger due to our low self-esteem or to the cold war, when censorship and self-censorship were pretty much the rule?
Cold war winds still chill Finland’s ongoing debate on racism and social exclusion
The anger and surprise that Gerry Brownlee has stirred up in this country sheds light why debating an issue like discriminaiton is so diffeicult to accept by some Finns. The New Zealand minister sharply criticised Finland last week in an address in parliament. Is our anger due to our low self-esteem or to the cold war, when censorship and self-censorship were pretty much the rule?
Victim pays fine to attacker of racially motivated crime
A story published by Kuopio-based Savon Sanomat* on Monday shows us how a racially motivated crime can lead to a conviction involving the victim. Thus this shows how the victim’s population group become part of the statistical profile. Anti-immigration groups then use this information to show “abnormally high propensity to violent crime.”
Who is allowed to debate a social ill like racism and exclusion in Finland?
After being the editor of Migrant Tales for about five years, I get the message: Finns with international backgrounds, immigrants never mind Muslims are not allowed to take part in the ongoing debate on Finland’s ever-growing cultural diversity. The reason that we doing exactly that, debating openly issues like racism, exclusion and Finnish identity openly explains why we are no longer such a faint voice in this country.
Coming out of the stuffy Finnish cultural closet
I would like to thank those bloggers for reading my previous blog entry in which I wrote about the international background of my Finnish family. I must confess, however, that I thought about writing such a blog entry for months but could not find the right approach to tackle the topic. The answer appeared when I decided to come out.
Migrant Tales: "I hope what I write isn't true"
After about five years of existence, 887 blog entries (including this one) and over 20,140 comments, ?I would like to make a confession: Deep down inside I have always hoped that what I write isn’t true. Finland is a noble country and noble countries don’t even flirt with racism and xenophobia.
Migrant Tales: “I hope what I write isn’t true”
After about five years of existence, 887 blog entries (including this one) and over 20,140 comments, ?I would like to make a confession: Deep down inside I have always hoped that what I write isn’t true. Finland is a noble country and noble countries don’t even flirt with racism and xenophobia.