Tag: xenophobia

Abagond: Kumbaya anti-racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

I dedicate Abagond’s most recent blog entry to the Finnish media.

Comment:  I met a journalist from a local paper and we spoke about racism in Finland. He said that the daily had a policy of not reporting too many racism cases in the city because it would be acknowledging the problem. 

The reasoning behind the journalist’s words are pretty far-fetched:  If we don’t hear about racism cases in our society it means that it isn’t a problem. By not reporting too many racism cases we ensure that we won’t become racists.

If there is a threat that is impoverishing our society today, that danger is racism. 

Taking into account our aging workforce and our ever-growing army of pensioners, Finland needs racism like a hole in the head.  

It’s crucial that we debate this social ill openly.  

____

Julian Abagond

Kumbaya anti-racism (c. 1970- ) is where racism is fought by not talking about race, by not seeing people’s skin colour, by not saying certain words or expressing certain thoughts out loud that are politically incorrect.

People often quote Martin Luther King, Jr in support:

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

And sometimes they even quote Morgan Freeman, who informed Mike Wallace in 2005 that the way to get rid of racism is to – “Stop talking about it.”

To talk about race, like this blog does, is therefore “divisive”, it keeps racism alive, it is unenlightened, it spreads hatred.

So now most White Americans keep their children from becoming racist by not talking about racism!

It might sound good – except it does not work.

Instead of wiping out racism it has replaced one sort of racism – the open hatred of Jim Crow racism – with another – the silent, subtle contempt of colour-blind racism.

Martin Luther King said something else:

When we view the negative experiences of life, the Negro has a double share. There are twice as many unemployed. The rate of infant mortality among Negroes is double that of whites…

After 40 years Kumbaya anti-racist thinking in America:

  • the black unemployment rate stood at 2.1 times the white rate;
  • black babies are 2.6 times more likely to die than white babies.

It also goes against common sense:

What if we applied the same philosophy to other forms of marginalization:

Sexism: I do not see you as a woman, I see you as a person.

Classism: Once we stop seeing people as rich or poor everyone will have the same amount of money.

Anti-Semitism: Talking about the Holocaust spreads hatred and keeps anti-Semitism alive.

In practice the Kumbaya approach is used to silence talk about white racism. So instead of questioning white racism and helping to tear it down, it keeps that racism in place, untouched.

For whites that means they get to keep all the advantages of being white in a white racist society while at the same time sounding anti-racist. At least to themselves. It is yet another morally broken piece of white racist thinking. It is anti-racist in form not function.

For people of colour, the Kumbaya approach leaves them wide open to internalized racism – to self-hatred and self-doubt. It leads them into trying to “transcend” race, to be “American” or “Christian” or “universal” or “just me” – or even an honorary white. But trying to “transcend” race in America means, in effect, trying to be white. As if there is something wrong with being black or Asian or Chicano.

Martin Luther King:

We must stand up and say, “I’m black and I’m beautiful,” and this self-affirmation is the black man’s need, made compelling by the white man’s crimes against him.

Read original story her.

This piece was reprinted by Migrant Tales with permission.

What is the fine line that separates Anders Breivik and PS MP Olli Immonen?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

This week we heard Anders Breivik’s closing statements in his defense for killing 77 innocent victims. In his final tirade of how multiculturalism is responsible for fuelling the Islamization of Europe, the mass killer showed no remorse.

“The attacks on July 22 were preventive attacks to defend the indigenous Norwegian people,” he said. “I therefore demand to be acquitted.”

In a recent column, Perussuomalaiset party MP Olli Immonen writes at the same time as the Breivik trial is ongoing:  “…it is clear that current developments [concerning Islamization] will lead to a situation where our Western way of life in Finland and elsewhere in Europe will be threatened. The confrontation between Islamic and Western culture is one of the megatrends of this century.”

Shivers went up my spine when I read both quotes. While they convey the same message, there is a  difference: Breivik went on a killing rampage while Immonen didn’t.

The Norwegian mass killer uses Islamization to justify what he did; Immonen uses the same arguments but to attract media attention and, crucial to his political career, future votes. One is being tried in a courtroom for mass murder while the other is in parliament spreading Breivik’s Counter-Jihadist views.

In many respects, the debate revolving around whether Breivik is insane or not when he carried out the killings speaks volumes about how we want to continue seeing ourselves as a people and society irrespective of 22/7.

The question is an exceptionally tough one: Are Breivik’s thoughts “sane” but what he did “insane?” In other words, is it ok to spread hatred, racism and prejudice of other groups as long as you don’t take the law in your hands and start killing people?

If Breivik were Immonen and Immonen, Breivik, the verdict would be clear: Breivik would be “sane” and Immonen “insane.”

In light of what happened, we should ask some serious questions. One of these is what kind of society do we want to live in. Is it one where we consider racism “sane” but becomes “insane” if you are a racist that murders other people? Or one where all forms of racism and prejudice by anyone or any group are unacceptable?

Shouldn’t both cases, the sane and the insane racist, be equally condemned by society?

 

The PS asks if it can openly discriminate against immigrants and visible minorities in Finland

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A group of Perussuomalaiset (PS) MPs, including its chairman Timo Soini, have formally asked the council of state whether they can only hire Finnish workers to refurbish its recently acquired 1.7-million-euro headquarters in Helsinki. Why should the PS limit itself to only hiring Finnish workers?  Why not make sure that 100% of the materials used are Finnish as well.

What does the PS mean by Finnish workers? Would black Finns do? What about Muslim Finns? Is it ok if you are a naturalized Finn?

JusticeDemon answers the PS’ question whether the party can openly discriminate against immigrants and visible minorities: “For the record, any fool can see plainly that business conditions fall within the scope of the Non-Discrimination Act(section 2, subsection 1, paragraph 1), and that the Act prohibits discrimination on grounds of nationality (section 6).”

The fact that the PS wants to throw such a loaded question to the government reveals how desperate Soini and his party are. The latest publicity stunt by the party has a clear aim: bolster its sagging popularity and the municipal elections of October.

Recent polls suggest that the PS may suffer a big setback in the next elections. Veteran PS politician, Raimo Vistbacka, didn’t rule out in April the PS suffering a “catastrophic election result” sometime in the future.

Using racism and xenophobia to score political points does not only reveal cowardice, they have been a double-edged sword for the party. Jussi Halla-aho’s scandalous resignation from the administration committee is one of many examples.

Hiring people on the basis of national background is outright discrimination.

We would think that the country’s  third-largest party in parliament would know this fact.

 

 

The wrong Finnish identity for all the wrong reasons

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In many respects, Finland is a fortunate country when it comes to a social construct like national identity. We are still a young nation actively searching for our roots. We have learned many things about ourselves as a society thanks to the rise of an anti-immigration party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS).

One of the matters that the PS has done is encourage some Finns to test the waters of their worst prejudices. Is there anything good about this?

Like this Saami woman in the picture, we Finns are from many places and come from diverse backgrounds.  Source: New York Public Library. 

Paradoxically, the PS has brought out more inclusive and positive values about ourselves than ever before thanks to its anti-immigration, anti-EU and anti-outside-world views.  While this may be true, social-media platforms like Hommaforum and associations like Suomalaisuuden liitto (Association of Finnish Culture and Identity) continue promoting the opposite.

As the municipal elections near in October, it’s clear that embattled PS chairman Timo Soini still pins his hopes on the anti-immigration and anti-cultural diversity message.  Matias Turkkila, Hommaforum editor, was named in May editor-in-chief of the PS’ newspaper and web page.

Turkkila was PS MP Jussi Halla-aho’s campaign manager. If there is any person that has spread the PS’ anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam message, it is Turkkila.

The Finnish Alliance,  chaired by PS EuroMP Sampo Terho, is another example of how the PS and anti-immigration groups have hijacked our national symbols and dressed up history to suit their exclusive views of Finnish culture.

One of the aims of the Finnish Alliance is to undermine the role of the Swedish-speaking minority by lobbying against mandatory Swedish-language lessons at schools.

The aim of the PS, Hommaforum and Finnish Alliance  is to hinder and place obstacles on the growth of our culturally diverse society and retard acceptance. They have no solutions except promoting deep divisions in our society. There is no strategy except to make life as hard as possible for immigrants and visible minorities.

Considering that over 1.2 million Finns emigrated from this country between 1860 and 1999, it is  incredible how some in this country continue to promote a race-and-blood view of our Finnish identity.

Our national identity is rich and diverse. Accepting this fact could be one of our most exciting goals in the new century.

 

 

The Halla-aho scandal raises disturbing questions

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Disquieting questions emerge in light of the Jussi Halla-aho scandal: Is pressure on the Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP to resign as chairman of the administration committee due to his dismissive reaction to the Supreme Court sentence or because of what he wrote about Muslims and Somalis, which got him in trouble in the first place?

When the PS won the April 2011 elections, it was well-known by many that the PS was an anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam party.  The question, however, at the time was how many politicians were ready to admit the latter about the PS.

Another important fact that Finland’s political establishment knew last year was that there were a few problem cases in the PS like Halla-aho, who was charged in 2009 by a lower court for defaming a religion.

In light of these facts, why was Halla-aho approved unanimously to chair the administration committee, which, among other matters, is in charge of immigration policy?

Would political parties be demanding the MP’s head today if he’d remained quiet and taken the Supreme Court decision with a drop of humility?

Legal scholars have reacted to Halla-aho’s provocative statements after the Supreme Court decision, who considered the ruling as “a personal interpretation by a few people.”

Halla-aho’s and the PS’ view of our judicial system is odd coming from a party that claims immigrants don’t follow and respect our laws.

Writes Husein Muhammed on Migrant Tales: “Now I grasp what the Perussuomalaiset actually mean when they demand that immigrants should respect the country’s laws. They don’t themselves respect Finnish laws/judicial system.”

If Halla-aho’s arrogant stand has surprised many, PS chairman Timo Soini’s decision to not do anything hasn’t helped matters either.

Soini said in 2009 that any person would get sacked from the party if that person were charged for a racist crime.

Soini has been forced to eat his words on a number of occasions. With a poker face, he claimed right after last year’s election that there wasn’t one racist among the PS and that if Halla-aho got  criminally charged he’d get the boot from the party.

Halla-aho plans to take up the matter before the European Court of Human Rights.

If there is anything positive about the scandal, it may be that political parties in Finland are starting to take a social issue  like racism more seriously.

Finland’s parliament may be making history tomorrow if the PS does not force Halla-aho to resign.  Parliament may decide Wednesday to dissolve the administration committee and appoint new members, which in turn would choose a new chairman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abagond: What this blog has taught me about white people

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Abagond is a very successful blog that debates issues like racism in the United States. We at Migrant Tales like to ask serious question about such a social ill as well. What about if we asked that same question as Abagond did in the headline? 

For me personally, Migrant Tales has taught me that racism is a problem that should be challenged in Finland. Our blog has helped expose as well the outright lies of anti-immigration groups like the Perussuomalaiset. Most importantly, it has inspired a lot of people to challenge one of the worst menaces threatening our society today: prejudice, nationalism, xenophobia, far-right ideology and racism. 

___________

Keeping this blog has blown my mind. White people say stuff here that they would never  say offline in my hearing. I knew white Americanswere racist – living in so-called liberal New York left no doubt in my mind about that – but I had no idea how deep their racism ran.

Read original blog entry here.

 

Finnish anti-immigration party seeks to ban begging

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Three Perussuomalaiset (PS) MPs plan to present a bill to Parliament that would ban begging in public places, according to YLE in English.  The aim of the bill has nothing to do with helping the Roma, a group that has suffered persecution in Europe for centuries. Its main aim is to reap political points for an embattled and scandal-ridden party, the PS. 

Scapegoating the Roma by banning begging will only exacerbate the problem by sweeping the issue under the rug. Such a law indirectly casts a shadow as well on Finland’s 10,000-strong Roma community and reinforces our collective suspicion of the group.

The proposed bill is a good example of how the PS are trying, with the municipal elections nearing in October, to capitalize on our xenophobia and racism.  

Why are Roma leaving Romania, Bulgaria and other eastern European countries to come to prosperous Finland? How many Roma are we speaking of? Are those begging on our streets a number-one national issue?  Why is an anti-immigration and especially anti-Muslim party like the PS so interested in banning begging by the Roma?  

Behind all these questions you will find two factors orchestrating the rhetoric from behind: loathing for the Romany minority and political opportunism. 

The aim of the bill is what makes it especially suspect. Writes YLE in English: “The proposal states that begging has a negative impact on public safety and that permitting begging does not reduce the poverty and discrimination that foreign Roma face in their home countries.” 

Two of the PS MPs proposing the bill, Jussi Halla-aho and Olli Immonen, have made their questionable political careers by bashing Muslims and immigrants.  Now their attention has shifted to the Romany minority.  

The third PS MP is Tom Packalén, a policeman.


Greed, narcissism, apathy and fascism are the greatest threats to Finland today

Posted on by Migrant Tales

One of the matters I have admired most about Finland is its underdog spirit. When I grew up part of the year as a child and adolescent in Finland with my grandparents, that fighting spirit was ever-present. It was the fuel that led the country forward and turned it into a model society today.

Despite our successes as a nation, you don’t have to search far to see social ills like greed, narcissism, apathy, totalitarian far-right ideology and ineffective checks and balances threatening our society.

Finland’s anti-immigration sentiment, based on greed and collective jealousy, is a part of the general malice that has spread like cancer in our society.

I remember reading in the 1960s a National Geographic feature on Finland, which claimed that there were so few auto thefts in this country that all of them could be listed on a single sheet of paper!

That sheet of paper has, unfortunately, grown into many volumes. Tragedies at schools in Jokela and Kauhajoki, tragic family killings as well as Hyvinkää, which caused the death of two people, reveal the serious illness that has inflicted our society.

Helsingin Sanomat reports today that the general managers’ salaries and bonuses of Finland’s 43 largest stock quoted companies rose on average in 2011 to 918,000 euros versus 792,000 euros in the previous year.

How can any human being be so valuable that he or she can make twenty-four times more money than an average worker? Weak checks and balances are certainly to blame.

It’s difficult to say what is more shameful, the avarice of general managers like Finnair’s CEO Mika Vehviläinen or his insistent denial of any wrongdoing in a suspected bribery case.

A number of politicians who should know better have rightfully got their fingers burned. One of these is National Coalition Party veteran MP Ilkka Kanerva, who was convicted in April of aggravated bribery.

Like the Vehviläinens and Kanervas of the business and political world, far-right parties and politicians  capitalize on general discontent by repackaging and simplifying social, political and economic problems into 1 + 1= 2 terms.

In Finland the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party is a good example of how far-right ideology bloomed in the April 2011 election.

Like the CEOs that make hefty salaries and enjoy fat bonuses, politicians like PS MP Jussi Halla-aho, James Hirvisaari and others have struck gold with their racism and far-right rhetoric.

It’s so easy to attack defenseless people like refugees escaping war-torn regions and make up fairy tales about them. It is a shameful case of political opportunism, cowardice and chicanery.

Finland must and can do better than today. One of the ways of changing matters is to reinforce those very values that made us into a great nation today.

Those values are nothing more than social equality, empathy, modesty and patriotism, or a sense of community where everyone is accepted and included.

Finland’s future recipe for success is based on social equality, mutual acceptance, respect and equal opportunities

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Why would any political party seriously care about immigrants and their children if these newcomers form part of a fragmented group that has little political and economic power? Should they be concerned about high unemployment and ever-growing social inequality among such groups in Finland? 

Our success story as a society was never based on social inequality but on social equality, or tasa-arvo.  If you disagree, look at our violent history between 1918 and 1945. The crucial fuel that fed the wheels of internal and external strife back then was suspicion of other groups and nations.

Despite our rocky start as an independent nation, we have built today a model society that is the envy of other nations. Another welcome characteristic of our society is its strong sense of community and belonging. Not everyone, however, enjoys being part of such a great family. Some of these are  visible minorities like the Roma, Saami, non-white Finns, homosexuals and other groups.

As we race deeper into the depths of the new century, we need more than ever those tools that turned us into a successful nation and helped mend our differences as a society. We especially need values such as inclusion to rub off on those that form part of our ever-growing culturally diverse nation.

Are we putting Finland in harm’s way again by reviving those same class divisions, inequality and loathing that once impoverished us? Are those very values that fueled strife now entering our society through the back door as anti-immigrant sentiment and intolerance?

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that humans are social animals and that our successful Nordic welfare society is based on social equality.  Social vices like greed, apathy and even racism therefore constitute today the greatest threat to our society.

Some politicians in Finland and Europe naively believe that they can revive these above-mentioned social ills and control them with a short leash. Nothing could be further from the truth. The mass killings in Norway that we witnessed last year are tragic proof of the contrary. What attacked Norway wasn’t a mass killer called Anders Breivik but his racist values and fear.

Political parties are playing with fire if they fuel class divisions and hatred of other groups like immigrants and visible minorities.

It is an encouraging sign, however, that more politicians, political parties and common Finns are finding the courage to openly question racism and all forms of discrimination.

A lot more work is still needed on this front. We should hear more than ever those values, together with new ones, that turned us into what we are today:  social equality for all based on mutual acceptance, respect and equal opportunities.

 

Xenoholism is a behavioral disorder caused by foreigners

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Have you noticed how some people get violent and turn into Mr. Hydes from Dr. Jekylls whenever they start speaking about other ethnic or religious groups? Could we call those that suffer from such split personality disorders xenoholics?

Xeno derives from Latin meaning “foreigner” or “outsider.” Thus a xenoholic is any person who suffers from “a disorder caused by foreigners.”

Contrary to alcoholic, the xenoholic consumes dry rhetoric. There are different types of xenoholic like there are different types of alcoholic drinks such as gin, whiskey and vodka. Xenoholic “drinks” include: racism, prejudice, bigotry, ethnocentrism or a mix of the mentioned into one potent atomic-bomb cocktail.

Isn’t it incredible that some of these xenoholics are the nicest persons when they interact with their group. Everything changes, however, when they take a sip or shot of xenohol.

But let’s stop whining and look at what we can do to help xenoholics kick the habit.

Since its founding in 1935 in Akron, Ohio, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has played an important role in helping people rebuild their lives after alcohol addiction.  What about if we establish Xenoholics Anonymous (XA) to help those who suffer from xenoholism? I can see it now at the first-ever XA meeting in history… “Hi, I’m Jussi or James and I am a xenoholic…”

Since xenoholics, like alcoholics, rarely admit they have a “drinking” problem,  I suggest the following AA test* for potential XA members. Simply replace “drinking” to “consuming racist rhetoric” in the AA test below:

  1. Do you lose time from work due to drinking?
  2. Is drinking making your home like unhappy?
  3. Do you drink because you are shy with other people?
  4. Is drinking affecting your reputation?
  5. Have you ever felt remorse after drinking?
  6. Have you gotten into financial difficulties as a result of drinking?
  7. Do you turn to lower companions and an inferior environment as a result of drinking?
  8. Does your drinking make you careless of your family’s social welfare?
  9. Has your ambition decreased since drinking?
  10. Do you crave a drink at a definite time daily?
  11. Do you want a drink the next morning?
  12. Does drinking cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
  13. Has your efficiency decreased since drinking?
  14. Is drinking jeopardizing your job or business?
  15. Do you drink to escape from worries or troubles?
  16. Do you drink alone?
  17. Have you ever had a complete loss of memory as a result of drinking?
  18. Has your physician ever treated you for drinking?
  19. Do you drink to build up your self-confidence?
  20. Have you ever been to a hospital or institution on account of drinking?

If you answered YES to any one of the questions, there is a definite warning that you may be an alcoholic.

If you have answered YES to any two, the chances are that you are an alcoholic.

For alcohol and drug dependency issues, you can also get in touch with the National Council on Seniors Drug & Alcohol Rehab.

If you answered YES to three or more, you are definitely an alcoholic.

*Steward Brand: The Next Whole Earth Catalog. Sept. 1981. p. 328.