Migrant Tales insight: Finland is a nation of emigrants, not of immigrants. Even so, the same structures that have kept intact the structures and systemic exploitation of minorities, slavery and Jim Crow are still alive and kicking despite the fact that we try to convince ourselves that the United States is a nation of immigrants.
Read on »Julian Abagond
Julian Abagond: Was Hitler evil?
MT comment: Was Hitler and the Nazis an aberration or a product of European racism and colonialism? Was the devastation that Hitler sowed the same beast that Europeans had imposed on others in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Australia? By blaming Hitler and the Nazis for what they did, are we denying the problem of
Read on »Julian Abagond: What did race have to do with the George Zimmerman case?
By Julian Abagond What did race have to do with the George Zimmerman case in America?George Zimmerman, a half-white, half-Latino man who gets a bloody nose and a few scratches on his head, shoots dead Trayvon Martin, an unarmed, 17-year-old black boy, calls it self-defence and is found “not guilty” of both murder and manslaughter
Read on »Julian Abagond: How to tell if a white person is a recovering racist
By Julian Abagond In America there are only racists and recovering racists. It is like alcoholism. There is no point at which you are rid of it completely – racist thinking is too much a part of American culture. No one completely escapes it, not even people of colour. Signs that a White American is
Read on »Julian Abagond: Calling out racism
By Julian Abagond Calling out racism is where you point out that something is racist. It might not seem like a big deal, but it is an important part of fighting racism. It can even stop genocide, as crazy as that sounds. Genocide: Genocides unfold in eight stages. Stopping it at any one stage, stops
Read on »Julian Abagond: style guide – Eurocentric words
By Julian Abagond Eurocentricisms are words that centre Western experience, that make white people seem “normal” and everyone else strange, exotic or screwed up. Such words get in the way of clear thinking. In general, avoid: Dichotomous thinking: words that split the world in two, especially into a good half and a bad half. The world is
Read on »Julian Abagond: The term “illegal immigrant”
By Julian Abagond The term “illegal immigrant” (1930s- ) means an undocumented immigrant, one without papers to stay in the country. The older term was ”illegal alien”, common in English in the 1970s and 1980s, rare in American news stories since 2003. An illegal immigrant can mean someone who: crossed the border illegally, overstayed a student or
Read on »Julian Abagond: Spielberg’s Lincoln
By Julian Abagond “Lincoln” (2012) is a Steven Spielberg film about the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment, the one that freed the slaves. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln, Sally Field as his wife and Tommy Lee Jones as Radical Republican Congressman Thaddeus Stevens. Gloria Reuben plays Elizabeth Keckley, Mrs Lincoln’s dressmaker and friend. The
Read on »Julian Abagond: Why I write about racism
By Julian Abagond I write about racism in America because it affects my life and the lives of those I care about. Because it has shaped how I experience and see the world and myself, so by understanding racism I understand myself and the world better. It has little to do with trying to make
Read on »Julian Abagond: “Stereotypes have some truth to them”
By Julian Abagond “Stereotypes have some truth to them” has some truth to it but not in the way people think. That truth is not about the stereotyped but the stereotyper. First, stereotypes are kept alive by confirmation bias: We notice the few examples that fit the stereotype and overlook the ton of examples that do
Read on »Julian Abagond: human zoos
Julian Abagond Human zoos (1500s- ), also known as ethnological exhibits, peoples shows (Völkerschau) or Negro villages, showed native peoples at zoos and fairs. They have been common in the West since the time of Columbus, butreached their height from the 1870s to the 1930s – back in the days of Joseph Conrad, Gauguin, minstrel shows and
Read on »Abagond: Is the white anti-racist an oxymoron?
Julian Abagond The White Anti-Racist is an Oxymoron” (2003) by Kil Ja Kim argues that you cannot be white and against racism at the same time. By “white” she does not mean having white skin. She means thinking of yourself as white and enjoying the benefits that come with it in America: white people need
Read on »Abagond: Colorblind racism
Comment: Every time we stray from the real issue behind racism (=ethnic background) we are flirting or committing colorblind racism. A familiar colorblind racist counter-argument commonly heard from anti-immigration groups is why whites are treated unfairly? Why was Jussi Halla-aho fined for defaming a religion and inciting ethnic hatred but nothing happens to you if you insult
Read on »Finland also locks up asylum seeker children
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- A child in the Joutseno Immigration Removal Center.
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