Tag: Racism

Finland election today: What future awaits us and Europe?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Today Finnish voters will head to the polls. What their collective message may be for the direction Finland will take in the following four years remains to be seen. One of the most tragic aspects of the campaigning to April 17 is how some, like the True Finns and individual members of all the parties in this country, have used fear-mongering of immigrants and refugees to further their political careers.

This type of chicanery is unacceptable in a country where IT-technology is king and where its students enjoy one of the best educational systems in the world.

If xenophobia gets the best of us after the polling stations close today at 8pm local time, then all the Nokias and Pisa exams will have little meaning. We must now begin to invest in stereotypes, ethnic myths, intolerance and see our society consisting of  “us” (good guys) and “them” (evil people).

Another matter that has surprised me is the sheer ignorance of some of the candidates who should know better. Even if there are politicians who have been quite outspoken on racism and xenophobia, there are PhDs who speak of other cultures in the same level as elementary school dropouts. They are the children of  Rolf Nordenstreng’s teachings in a twenty-first century context.

Contrary to the nineteenth century racist, its twenty-first century counterpart is more astute and hides his fanatism by carefully chosing his/her words to avoid being sued for incitement against a religious or ethnic group.

These types of candidates masquerade behind soundbites like “guardians of  freedom of speech and western values” while they bash and send other groups to the twenty-first century gas chambers of hatred, where one survives but is imprisoned by walls of hostility.

If we allow the new fanatism to get the best of us, we will be setting the groundwork for future wars. Wasn’t that the whole idea of the European Union when it was founded in the 1950s?

Good trade and business relations will keep our countries busy in more productive things than spreading hatred and war.

Resolving and winning the challenges we face as a region will be the icing on that cake.

BBC: True Finns’ nationalism colours Finland election

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: The BBC is one of many media in Europe that will be covering the April 17 election.  It writes: “The True Finns saw political potential among the neglected people in society. Their political message is two-fold: social-democratic welfare combined with nationalism and xenophobia.”

The BBC continues by stating that Finland is officially a bilingual country but Timo Soini’s party has no room for Swedish: “It excludes Swedish as something unfamiliar to Finnish culture.”

I’ll never forget an analyst in the early 1990s who pointed out that devaluating the Finnish markka was like pissing in one’s pants in winter. At first it feels good but later on the sensation changes.

Could this be a good description of the election and especially for all those who believe that the True Finns are a sensible answer to the challenges the country presently faces?

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An anti-immigration party in Finland – the True Finns – has surged in popularity and could produce a surprise in Sunday’s general election, opinion polls suggest.

Read whole story.

Thank you for this link @Mastersson

Should Finland thank Halla-aho?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

The chairman of the True Finns, Timo Soini, said on Thursday’s election debate that we should be thankful to Jussi Halla-aho for tightening our immigration policy and, strangely enough, for the ongoing debate on Finland’s cultural diversity.

The head of the True Finns plays with fire whenever he attempts to justify the open hostility of some of his party members towards minorities. An attack on a specific group should be treated as an attack on all minorities.

The ongoing debate in Finland concerning the role of the Swedish-speaking minority is a direct outcome of the type of hatred and discord that has been fuelled by Halla-aho and his far-right ideological followers.

The obsession of some politicians against certain immigrant groups like the Somalis is disgraceful. It is even more shameful considering that they do so for short-term electoral gains.

One of the most incredible about-turns in Soini’s stand came this week when he told a group of German journalists that he stood behind the government immigration policy. After fanning the flames of xenophobia in Finland, he now states that the True Finns were bluffing all along.

Should we then thank Halla-aho as Soini suggests?

Yes, for showing the worst side of ourselves as a society.

Karjalainen: Koko suomalaisuus on lainaa vain

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Comment: Below is a story that was published in the Joensuu-based daily Karjalainen, which questions the myths surrounding Finnish identity. Even if parties that base part of their image on maintaining the country “white” by depriving people who come from different backgrounds, the nationalist-populist True Finns’ television ad is based on an Italian song by Toto Cutugno, L’italiano.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that the True Finns are one party capitalizing on our national myths. Certainly other parties do it but they are more careful. At least they understand the dangers of arguing for nineteenth century myths of the world and cultures in 2011.

One of the most interesting matters to study about Finnish history and national identity is where and why it came about. Even though some want to give us the impression that Finns are a homogenous group, nothing could be further from the truth.  Much of our identity as a nation is based on threat of the outside world and erasing or forgetting our history.

Migrant Tales has written about this before. See An insult to over a million Finns.

People who suffer from such amnesia readily forget that over one million Finns emigrated from this country in the last two centuries.  Many of us who emigrated from this country come today from diverse cultural backgrounds. We still call ourselves Finns.

If I had a complaint about the way some view our history and national identity, it is narrow-mindedness. When we play around with myths like national identity too seriously we run the danger of excluding others who have a rightful claim to this country.

The acceptance of “others” as members of this society is vital because our future as a dynamic and successful nation depends on it.

Monoculturalism is only an excuse used by some to exclude.

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Terhi Nevalainen

Ihan hätkäytti, kun perussuomalaisten televisiomainos sattui silmiin – tai itse asiassa korviin. Mainoksessa ääni laulaa sanan perussuomalainen täsmälleen samalla nuotilla kuin laulussa Olen suomalainen.

To keep on reading click here.

Helsingin Sanomat: Rotuajattelu elää täälläkin

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Comment: Researcher Vesa Puuronen has been creating some waves in Finland as of late with his observations of racism and the rise of right-wing populism in our society.  The Helsingin Sanomat review of his book, “Rasistinen Suomi” (Racist Finland), claims a lot of disturbing matters about ourselves as a society.

He believes that the roots of racism span deep in our history and have been present through our treatment of the Russians and Saami as well as newer groups that have moved to Finland.

Certainly we can blame the rise of the True Finns and xenophobia in this country on the general atmosphere in Europe. If Finland had as many immigrants as Sweden (14.3%) compared with 2.9% now, would some Finns have gone on the rampage as happened to the Reds shortly after the Civil War of 1918?

Even though the xenophobic atmosphere makes us wonder these days, the racism that has inflicted this society is out in the open for all of us to observe.

Silence will no longer make it go away.

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Antti Blåfield

Tutkija Vesa Puurosen johtopäätös on karu: “Suomalaisessa yhteiskunnassa vallitsee rotujärjestelmä, ja rasismi tarkoittaa rotujärjestelmän ylläpitämistä”. Kirjassaan Rasistinen Suomi Puuronen etsii suomalaisen rasismin juuria ja tämän ajan rasismia.

To keep on reading click here.


Finland votes on April 17: Stoking the flames of bigotry

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Finns will go to the ballot boxes on April 17 and some are predicting a big victory for the populist True Finns, a party which bases much of its  campaign on anti-EU rhetoric as well as nationalism, conservative values, anti-immigration and Islamophobia.  The good news is that the majority of Finns have given them the thumbs down.

Researcher Vesa Puuronen said in an interview on Sunday in Mikkeli-based daily Länsi-Savo that the Islamophobia gripping some parts of Europe is similar to what happened in this continent in the 1930s. “I fear that it (right-wing populism) will rise (elsewhere) and could grow in Finland,” he was quoted as saying in Länsi-Savo. “I hope we’ll pull through this with less damage than from the right-wing populist wave of the 1930s that caused a calamity throughout Europe and the world.”

Another important matter to take into account is that researchers like Puuronen believe that racism based on culture and religion is as dangerous as what eugenics brought us before World War II. One of the favorite pastimes of these questionable “men of science” was classifying and justifying “racial” superiority.

One of these “researchers” of eugenics in Finland was Rolf Nordenstreng. This was the level of his observations: “You cannot expect intelligent children from a Gypsy horse thief and a promiscuous Negro wife (sic!).” (Nordenstreng, 1929, p. 48).

This is an updated 2010 version of the above by James Hirvisaari of the True Finns:  “And on top of this we’ll get (from Muslim immigrants) discrimination,   intolerable contemptuous bad behavior, hate, degradation of women, mutilated children’s bodies, sexual molesters (sic!)…”

Isn’t it incredible that we live in 2011 and still find these types of affirmations are coming from people who should know better?

This is what General David Petraeus said recently about the buring of the Koran in Florida: “This was a surprise. (It was) hateful, extremely disrespectful and enormously intolerant.” Is there any difference to what happened in Florida and Hirvisaari’s wrath?

Despite the fact that racism has raised its ugly head in Finland, it is a good matter that it is out there for all of us to see. We must not only challenge it but nip this social ill in the bud.

Because I believe in Finland, I know that we will prevail in the task.

Iltalehti: Intialaistaustaista ehdokasta syrjittiin vaalikentällä Persukahakka!

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Comment: Here is a worrying story that is the tip of the iceberg.  For many foreigners it is a common story.

What did Iltalehti report? A True Finn allegedly tried to pick a fight with a naturalized Finn for offering him work. One matter is a group of True Finns supporters acting in a hostile fashion but a more serious matter is their contentious message towards the immigrant population.

The major parties in Finland made a big mistake by not giving the True Finns the cold shoulder like what happened with the Sweden Democrats. OK, the True Finns are not all following Jussi Halla-aho, but the party’s leadership opportunistically approves Islamophobic behavior by not condemning it.

The attacks and rancor towards immigrants and minorities in Finland will continue to pick up as long as parties like the True Finns continue to peddle their populism, which is deeply rooted in ignorance and bigotry.

Do you agree?

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Olli Waris

SDP:n ehdokkaan Ranbir Sodhin vaalitilaisuus Vantaan Myyrmäessä sai ikävän päätöksen viime lauantaina, kun perussuomalaisehdokkaan taustajoukot heittivät ilmoille syrjiviä kommentteja.

To keep on reading click here.

Seeing the ogre of racism in Finland at an early age

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

What kind of society denies others their identity? What kind of society approves their children of ostracizing those that come from different backgrounds? The answer is simple: a culture that suffers from low self-esteem.

One of the biggest cultural crimes that had been committed in Finland in the previous century was Finnicization. It is another version of what countries like Brazil did to “whiten” their population by inviting European immigration to its shores.

I am grateful that I did not grow up in Finland during the 1960s and 1970s because it would have meant, apart from ridicule and exclusion, denying a part of my identity.

There are tens of thousands of people in Finland that grew up in the 1990s that went to school in this country and come from multicultural backgrounds. I doubt that you will find many rosy stories in that group about how well they were treated at school. Many, especially the visible minorities, will tell you tales about how they were excluded and bullied at school with the blessing of silence and inaction of their teachers.

Evey time politicians like Wille Rydman of Kokoomus or Timo Soini and his followers as well as others speak about the need for immigrants to integrate into society, I wonder what they mean. Students of multicultural backgrounds and visible minorities hear this rude message loud and clear every time they step out of their homes.

In many cases the attitudes, treatment and relationship that some Finns have with people of multicultural backgrounds has its roots in exclusion and racism.

When I was a kid briefly living in Finland, I had to fight with my bare fists to be accepted by my friends. In the end they did but there were always new kids, total strangers, who would make a big deal about my otherness.

I have only one advice for those who suffered this type of discrimination in Finland when they were young: It is never too late to raise your self-esteem of your other self. Returning to where you were once from will fill you with power that you never knew existed inside of you. The first crucial step in this process is accepting who you are.

If people have a problem with that it is their problem – not yours.

(Many thanks to Larion for bringing this issue to my attention)

guardian.co.uk: France’s minorities under fire

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: “(French President) Nicolas Sarkozy has failed to keep his promises on diversity – as the far right rises, we must defend the rights of ethnic minorities;” writes Patrick Lozès.

He continues:  “According to independent research associations, visible minorities represent more than 15% of the population of France. Yet only 0.2% of deputies and about 1% of senators elected in metropolitan France are from a minority background. There is no French black person at the head of any large government ministry, and no French black person occupying the position of an ambassador, director of a CAC 40 corporation or senior staff officer in the armed forces.”

With the rise of the far-right National Front, it’s pretty clear that matters are not going to improve in France anytime soon.

What must minorities do in Europe as xenophobic parties raise their heads? In many cases, some minorities are the most defenceless in society because they don’t have political power.  Instead of defending their rights, some politicians use them as punching and bashing bags to gain votes.

The magic word or clarion call that should unite all immigrants and minorities throughout Europe is inclusion.

Do you agree?

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By Patrick Lozès

The recent local elections in France witnessed not only increased pressure from the extreme right National Front (FN), but also division within the conservative party in power, the UMP, which fluctuated uncertainly between an alliance with the FN and one with the opposition parties. As for the left, it can hardly be seen as a credible alternative. The situation for minorities in France has therefore become more than difficult. It has become critical.

To keep on reading click here.

Magma Media: Populismin nousu Euroopassa

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Comment: Apart from recovering from a  financial meltdown in September 2008 and the adverse effects of globalization, another explanation for the rise of far-right parties in Europe has been the political terrain left by traditional left-wing parties that no longer appeal to voters as in the past.

Far-right parties have emerged in almost every country in Europe: BNP in England, France’s National Front (FN), Swiss People’s Party, Lega Nord of Italy, Sweden Democrats, Danish People’s Party, Ataka of Bulgaria, Hungary’s Jobbik , Dutch Party for Freedom (PW), FrP of Norway and others.

The report, published by Magma Media below, does not consider the True Finns a far-right party per say but one with populist roots.

While the True Finns’ leader, Timo Soini, has renounced racism and is publicly against inciting violence against other ethnic groups, some of the candidates of the party would think twice about signing such a pledge. The anti-immigrant wing, led by Jussi Halla-aho, does not mind peddling the Islamophobic rhetoric of  far-right parties in Europe.

See a recent story published by Migrant Tales on the ties some True Finns candidates have with Suomen Sisu, a far-right group.

The authors don’t see a very smooth future for Soini despite his good success in the polls. Since the True Finns are a hodgepodge of ideologies and political passions, it is this heterogeneity that poses its greatest threat.

What do you think?

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Ääriliikkeet ja poliittinen populismi ovat lisänneet kannatustaan eri maissa. Kyse on rajat ylittävästä ilmiöstä. Populismin alla on selvästi toisistaan poikkeavia liikkeitä ja puolueita. Ideologioissa, tavoitteissa, toimintatavoissa ja ääriliikkeiden esittämissä uhkakuvissa on eroja, mutta myös yhtäläisyyksiä.

To keep on reading click here.

To read the report (in Finnish)  click here.