Tag: racial hatred

Ilta-Sanomat tabloid ad (lööppi) from November 16, 1995

Posted on by Migrant Tales

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.

Taking into account the suspicion, hostile attacks (verbal and physical) against a group in Finland thanks in part to tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat, a leader of the Somali community asks Finns not to blame them for everything.

I have wondered many times why the Somalis have been so victimized in Finland. One of the reasons may be that they were the first visible black group that came to Finland in large numbers. Their presence in our society acted as a key that apparently released some of our most racist views of Africans. This same victimization is still going on and was used by some Perussuomalaiset (PS) party members to get elected to Parliament in April.

With the PS heading south in the polls, some party members are reverting to the message of racial hatred and suspicion to bolster their sagging popularity.  One of these groups that is being targeted by the PS is the Romany minority.

*Migration Institute archive.

Facebook PS killer "medal" scandal: Shame on Timo Soini and the police

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The action of some exemplary Finns, who are shocked by the growing appetite that some Finns have  for racism, played a key role in the political downfall of Perussuomalaiset (PS) city councilman Tommi Rautio. If blogger Ossi Mäntylahti would not have pasted on Facebook what Rautio had said on Sunday, the PS politician would not have faced such a political storm. 

Migrant Tales published Rautio’s comments shortly after Mäntylahti’s Facebook entry.

Rautio chose a very bad day to suggest decorating the killer who shot Saturday night a Moroccan pizzeria employee before taking his life. That killing followed another one on Friday, when Migrant Tales revealed the victim to be a Somali.

Why did it take such a long time for PS chairman Timo Soini to condemn what Rautio said? Was he waiting for the storm to blow over on Monday? Or was it the media and common Finns on social media, outraged by the cold-blooded killer being glorified by a politician that made the difference?

When I heard about Soini condemning what Rautio said, I heard his words with a large pinch of salt. Such statements have little meaning except a patch-up job for his party. Take a look at the following news clip shortly after the April 17 election on TV channel Nelonen,  where he claims with a poker face “there isn’t one racist” in his party.

Soini was also quick to criticize the foreign media.

Another worrying matter that the Rautio scandal revealed was the police, which first decided not to investigate whether the PS councilman incited racial hatred with his statements. The police announced Tuesday, however, that they would carry out an investigation after all.

I sometimes get the feeling that the police in Finland are more interested in showing that racism isn’t a problem as opposed to exposing the social ill.

Were the police forced to make an about-turn and carry out an investigation on Rautio due to the avalanche of criticism and a loss of face if they had let the PS councilman off the hook?

Just like Anders Breivik impacted negatively anti-immigration parties in the Nordic region, Rautio’s contribution will be similar to the PS’s popularity.

How much of an impact it will have on the PS depends on how much support Finns want to hand to parties and politicians who openly support racism and fascism in a 2010s context.

Fascism thrived in the 1930s from demonizing groups like Jews. Today, fascism demonizes different groups like Muslims, Romany minorities and others.