Some Finns don’t grasp how violent anti-immigration groups are and the role of institutional racism, which serves and supports such groups. Every lie, distorted and exaggerated fact concocted against migrants and visible minorities is a bullet.
These anti-immigration groups and their supporters are, however, big cowards. They often threaten, slander and distort facts anonymously. Some may even write to your employer – anonymously of course – and chastise you in the hope that you’ll get fired from your job.
Even though I got my first death threats in Finland in the early 1990s after I wrote about Somali and African asylum seekers in Mikkeli for Finland’s largest magazine, Apu, matters have gotten worse since those days.
That’s why I believe that the Perussuomalaiset, especially their far-right and anti-immigration wing, are a big threat to the security of migrants and visible minorities. The Perussuomalaiset aren’t the only political party in Finland that has racists. You can find them in all parties.
Violence doesn’t always have to be physical and can be found in the form of institutional racism. It lives at elementary schools where children of migrant parents are openly labeled as “them,” or “other.”
Inequality is violence with a capital “V” especially in a noble country like Finland.
It’s high time that we recognize and challenge violent language against migrants and all minorities.
Being “critical of migrants” is only a code word for racism and hostility.
Read posting in Finnish here.