One of the facts about the government’s anti-racism statement is that it has more to do with injecting trust in a government after it was hit by a string of racism and far-right scandals in the summer. At least for the time being, the statement succeeded at keeping the government from dissolving after the Swedish People’s Party gave it the thumbs up.
The statement also exposes the magic abilities and wishful thinking of the government: the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* isn’t a far-right party; politicians with problematic racist backgrounds are appointed ministers and with the wave of a wand, their racism instantly white-cleaned.
Read the full government anti-racism statement here.
While there was nothing new in the statement except for criminalizing Holocaust denial, Nazi and Communist flags, it was a rehashing of what the government is obliged to do to protect the rights of all people in Finland irrespective of their background.
The statement would have never been drafted if it weren’t for the scandals that the government underwent.
The statement highlights, however, the ongoing problem of racism in Finland: We acknowledge the social ill’s existence but are not willing to challenge it head on.
It is disappointing that during the summer a committee drafted the statement, heard over 100 experts on racism, to come up with 13 pages of information we already knew.
There is also a noticeable disconnect with expectations versus reality. On the one hand, the government claims that everyone is equal before the law, but on the other it is pursuing a highly discriminatory, even racist, migration policy.
Add to the latter that Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Chairperson Riikka Purra made a clear distinction between the anti-racism statement and her party’s policies. In other words, they’ll respect the statement but PS’ policies will not be affected.
What this tells us is that the PS, racism in general, will live another day in Finland and, unfortunately, continue to grow.
