Racism is a sickness, and as a disorder, it has consequences for the victim and the perpetrator. We learned about a bus driver and Peurssuomalaiset (PS)* politician called Gleb Simonov, who thought up the “bright” idea to videotape and insult only Somalis in three videos that he posted.
Tag: Somalis
A Helsinki bus driver who publishes video tapes of Somali clients he’s insulted
What would you say if a bus driver, who only video tapes Somalis, starts calling them liars and forces them off the bus even after one of them said she was ready to pay for the bus fare? Ethnic profiling? Racist? All of the above?
Ilta-Sanomat continues to publish racist stories even today
It’s disingenuous of tabloid Ilta-Sanomat to publish a story on Monday about legendary Finnish sports television commentator Raimo “Höyry” Häyrinen’s racist comments without taking a long look at itself in the mirror.
Writer Nura Farah is one of the bright hopes of multicultural Finland
Nura Farah is Finland’s first published writer with Somali roots. She moved to Finland as a refugee in the early 1990s when she was 13 years after her country became tangled in a costly and painful civil war that continues to date.
Nura Farah: A blooming flower with a pen that many aimed to destroy
There is an interesting interview of Nura Farah, Finland’s first Somali-born writer, who speaks openly about growing up as a black person in this country from the 1990s, when even middle-school teachers took part in the racist bullying of non-white Finns. Racist bullying and racism are white privilege weapons used by this society to destroy…
Finnish tabloid media’s dubious “achievment” is spreading intolerance
The Finnish tabloid media has the dubious “honor” for having spread intolerance in Finland by giving populists and racists inflated respectability and importance. If we look at some of the billboards that tabloids published in the 1990s, it’s clear that they were responsible for spreading racism and prejudice in Finland. Take for instance the most…
Fadumo Dayib: To research, or not to research Somalis, is the question
I am here today to reflect on being the other, on othering. I am not here as a PhD student from this University but as an activist, a blogger and as your research object. Read full essay here. The previous presenter raised a very important point that activism does not put bread on your table….
So a PS councilman of Lieksa, Finland, wants a “Somali-free” room…
Roble Bashir We need a Somali-free meeting room today in the eastern Finnish town of Lieksa, according to a Perussuomalaiset (PS) councilman Esko Saastamoinen. Somali-free town tomorrow or Somali- free country after tomorrow? Why do they hate us so much? Illustration by Sebastian L. Jackson for Migrant Tales. Many times I wonder what is wrong…
Meet the Somalis – the illustrated stories of Somalis in seven cities in Europe
The Open Society Foundations have recently published a fascinating set of seven illustrated stories, called ‘meet the Somalis‘, covering the experiences of Somalis living in cities across Europe. On November 21, this will coincide with the publishing of the Foundations’ research report “Somalis in Helsinki”. To quote the Foundation’s website: “The Somali community in Europe…
How tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat reinforce our prejudices against immigrants and refugees
Tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat have a lot to learn about fairness, which is the cornerstone of all good news reporting. But tabloids aren’t interested in fairness but in sensationalism. A story by Ilta-Sanomat is headlined: ”Two Somalis use [fake] Yemeni passports to travel to Finland.” Even if the story suggests that these Somalis are committing a crime…