Comment: Here is another example of how the PS cannot put a lid on their own racism. Tabloid Iltalehti reports that PS MP Juho Eerola’s aide, Ulla Pyysalo, posted a racist joke about Green Party MP Jani Toivola, who is black and gay.
Here is MP Toivola’s reaction to the “joke” on the Green Pary website.
These types of “jokes” by people close to Eerola shouldn’t come as a suprise since the MP from Kotka belongs to the far right wing of the PS. If Eerola were Hungarian, Swedish or Danish, he’d find his ideological home in parties like Jobbik, Sweden Democrats or the Danish People’s Party.
A member of the Nazi-spirited Suomen Sisu, Eerola has praised in the past Benito Mussolini’s economic model. If he is really that lured by a corporativist model, he should take some time to study Juan Domingo Perón’s economic model for Argentina during the 1940s and 1950s.
Eerola, like his PS anti-immigration cronies, are responsible for inciting some Finns to adopt even more hardline and unrealistic positions when it comes to immigration.
Pyysalo regrets what she said on Ilatlehti: “It was dumb, I didn’t want to insult Toivola personally.”
The tabloid asked if she considers herself a racist. “I don’t know. It depends how you define racism.”
How you define racism? What about a racist joke on Facebook?! The excuses by the PS on how to make their racism more acceptable takes stranger forms by the day.
When contacted, Toivola expressed dismay at what Eerola’s aide had written on Facebook.
One of the matters that far-right PS MPs like Eerola are trying to do in Finland is make something unacceptable like racism acceptable. At the forefront of this shift in values is nobody else but the PS.
Are you surprised?
___________
Linda Pelkonen
Kansanedustaja Juho Eerolan (ps) avustaja Ulla Pyysalo julkaisi rasistisen vitsin Facebook-profiilissaan sunnuntaina. Kirjoituksessa vitsailtiin Jani Toivolan ihonväristä ja seksuaalisesta suuntautumisesta.
I kinda find it useless to talk about this if you only rely on second hand information about something being racist without knowing what has actually being said. Now I read some internet forums and many people claim the joke to be:
“what is green, black and shits sperm? Jani Toivola”
Now if this is the case(if someone knows better correct me) I feel very dissapointed. I have always felt gays and black people need to bear the jokes like blondes or people from turku do. However this “joke” is not a joke at all, its rude and insulting, its not funny. One really needs to question the maturity and manners of person who thinks this is funny and appropriate for someone in such position. However I really cant find to be racist at all its anti gay if anything.
–I kinda find it useless to talk about this if you only rely on second hand information about something being racist without knowing what has actually being said. Now I read some internet forums and many people claim the joke to be:
I didn’t have to see the “joke” to understand that it was offensive and racist.
Yossie, the point is not what YOU think but how do other people (the target of the joke) feel. Racist jokes come in different shades. This one is pretty offensive because its aim is to demonize the person.
This shows as well that the threshold to accept racist jokes by public officials that work for Finland’s third-largest party is much lower than in other countries. This, I believe, is one of the problems in Finland. Racism is shameful and unacceptable behavior. Strike out and you are fired. It should not translate into a friendly chat and “we have resolved the problem.” Nothing, however, has been resolved except that racism can live unscathed another day in parliament.
When public officials start to get fired for making racist jokes, that is when matters will start to take a better turn against this social ill.
the point was that people should see the joke so they would be able to determine themselves what they feel about the joke. Some people are way more sensitive than others. Should the punishments be awarded based on how offended some people feel? What if I go on to tell tabloids Enrique Tessieri writes hate speech in his blog? If your writings offend me should we all accept they are offending because I say so without anyone else reading them? Should you get punished based on how offended I feel?
–What if I go on to tell tabloids Enrique Tessieri writes hate speech in his blog?
Yossie, a little bit of consideration can go a long way.
As with what I write, I believe a lot of people would contend that I write “hate speeches.” What I write are opinion pieces/columns. I don’t go around making jokes about Finns to insult them for the sake of satisfying my own hatred. We should draw the line what happened with the Jani Toivola incident. People who do stupid things like make racist jokes as public officials should be fired from their jobs. It is evident that they haven’t learned very little about what racism is. Thus the hand of ignorance has had its say in this affair as well.
Indeed Yossie. Enrique likes to tell everyone how nobody has right to tell how others should feel, but he considers himself absolute authority on everything.
If we were to look at how much offensive jokes/remarks are made of for example PS-party, we would see that they have much better case to claim to be offended than Toivola, victim of ONE bad and disgusting joke.
But then again, Enrique appears to entertain idea that Finns and Perussuomalaiset are free game for anything.
“As with what I write, I believe a lot of people would contend that I write “hate speeches.” What I write are opinion pieces/columns. ”
You write poorly hidden racist statements with vehement anti-Finnish attitude. Even your foreign readers have already noted and commented this.
Come on, admitting you are anti-Finnish racist would be good for your public image in terms of honesty.
“People who do stupid things like make racist jokes as public officials should be fired from their jobs.”
Should this not include ones making fofensive jokes about PS-party as well hmm?
Well, I think media would have lots of openings after that.
Oh, I forgot, you are all for racism when it is the type of racism you support. Sorry, my bad.
Here is a person calling me a “racist” who uses a Nazi symbol like the Tiwaz rune. Let me refresh your memory: “Leistungsbuch” (Performance booklet) of a Hitler Youth / Deutsches Jungvolk member. The symbol in the upper right, based on the Sowilo rune, reads “For accomplishments in the DJ (Deutsches Jungvolk)”. The symbol in the lower left, based on the Tiwaz rune, reads “For accomplishments in the HJ (Hitler Jugend)”. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Youth
But I am not going to get into this issue because it has been mentioned quite a few times on this blog. If you start playing around with “runes” and “tribal Nordic stuff” you will see your own racism. Every time a Finn speaks of himself as a tribe he/she is flirting with racism.
Maybe I wasnt too clear on what I meant. I gave that as an example for you so you would understand my point better. I do not actually think you are writing hate speech. You are just very critical and you have your opinions, but if someone got offended like I wrote then do you still agree with your point of punishing people based on how offended the target feels? Are PS members too allowed to get offended about something wrote on internet about them? Should writers be tracked and punished?
Also I still stand with what I said: the “joke” is not racist. Its stupid, childish and disgusting. Is it racist because it mentioned Toivola is black or is it racist because it was targetted to a person who happens to be black? “joke” also mentioned greens, is it discriminating toward green party too? Why has that not come up yet?
–You are just very critical and you have your opinions, but if someone got offended like I wrote then do you still agree with your point of punishing people based on how offended the target feels?
One of the great things about Migrant Tales is that we allow different opinions as long as it isn’t outright hate speech. I have censored in the past Finns and foreigners alike.
Yossie, I still think there is a line that one should not cross when it comes to offending people because of their background. It should be even clearer if that person is a public official. The “joke” was racist because it was an atom bomb. It destroyed everything – even his good name.
Some people never learn how to work with people. The Toivola incident shows that some Finns are still challenged on the social skills front.
What I tried to say was that while it might not be hate speech still some people might get offended. That is why I felt that mesuring what is racist/offensive should not be based on personal feelings.
Are we reading a same joke here? If it destroyed anything, it was the credibilty of one who said it. I cant see the joke hurting Toivola at all, maybe his feelings but certainly not his name or anything. It might had offended him as a gay but him being black was only mentioned not really rediculed in there.
–That is why I felt that mesuring what is racist/offensive should not be based on personal feelings.
I think they do. The problem with racism and racist jokes is that it is never the victim who is taken into account. You should. It’s common decency, respect and consideration for others.
then.. a few years back was it, Yle prime time news called Jussi Halla-aho as a “rotutohtori” Racial doctor of what would be a right translation? Anyways it was offensive to against his academic degree and his person as relates him to nazi warcriminals. He felt it was offensive and made complaint to JSN. Nothing came out of that ofcourse. Now, if you are consistent you must think the who ever wrote that piece of news must be fired from YLE right?