When asked about racism towards foreigners in Finland, Finns answer in a culturally approved script: “We Finns are not racist”; “If there is racism in Finland it is not as bad as it is in other countries” and; “Racism is the fault of the foreigners who move to Finland with unrealistic expectations.” Such dismissals require willful ethnic blindness to racism,
Read on »Posts Tagged: exclusion
Exposing white Finnish privilege #75: Obsession with race, ethnicity, and us versus them
THE STORY WAS UPDATED If we want to give a massive blow to racism in Finland and parties that promote this social ill, we need to change the language we use when speaking of all those that live here. One label that I have always disliked is “person with migrant or foreign background.” What does
Read on »Why doesn’t Prime Minister Juha Sipilä respond and show leadership?
Dear PM Sipilä,
I am resending and reminding you of my communication on an issue that has not gone away and which – in my opinion – you have yet to acknowledge.
Read on »Camtu Suhonen: Women in Academic Careers
Discrimination against women who are advancing their career is a breaking down the rule of equality. Men and women are created equal. All the rights, treatment and opportunity that a man has should also be even to women who are pursuing careers of any sort. It will be called unfair, biased and not just when it comes to women.
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: Unspeakable politicians and their own gain
White Finns rarely consult migrants and minorities on anything important. They may ask them their opinion on x and y but the final decision on policy is made by them because you don’t really count. And then there are people like Jussi Halla-aho, Laura Huhtasaari, Timo Soini, Wille Rydman, and many others who pour gasoline
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: Rejoice 100 years of Finland’s treatment of migrants and minorities
Should we boycott Finland’s centenary celebrations? One hundred years of building a white Finnish-speaking Lutheran society has not only whitewashed my roots and who my family was but on top of that continues to exclude me from being treated as an equal member of society. Do you have the courage to not only see but change how
Read on »Finland’s politics of discrimination and exclusion are seen in your thin pension
Decades of labor discrimination in Finland adds up to one terrible reality for some migrants: a thin pension and poverty. If in this decade the pay gap between migrants and white Finns was 25% (36,800 euros versus 27,500 euros made by migrants), it’s clear that their pension will not add up to much.
Read on »Finnish PS speaker of parliament blames migrants for high unemployment
Anti-immigration party Perussuomalaiset (PS)* speaker of parliament, Maria Lohela, states in an interview in Helsingin Sanomat that the jobless rate among some migrant groups is many times higher than the national average. True. But the question the reporter should ask Lohela is “why” and “what she’s doing to change the situation” instead of parroting her views.
Read on »Our response to racism, bigotry and hate speech in Finland should be first and foremost a reaction
We’ve been overwhelmed as of late by Valtteri Saarinen’s story about how is harassed in a racist manner at school for such a long time that he doesn’t care to react any longer. There was as well Perussuomalaiset (PS) party chairperson for Tampere, Pirjo Kiemunki, who wrote on Facebook that it was unfortunate that she didn’t have any condoms to give Muslim children trick-or-treating.
Read on »Why are racists in Finland racists?
It’s clear that racism derives also from low self-esteem apart from being a sinister tool to exclude other groups from gaining access to political, social and economic capital. Ever thought why those who are vocal about their racist views are such an active group? The answer is simple: In order to climb up a few miserable
Read on »What President Sauli Niinstö forgets to state when he claims that migrants should “do as the Romans do”
What does President Sauli Niinitö mean by the controversial phrase, in Rome do as the Romans do, or maassa maan tavalla?
Read on »Migrant Tales (October 5, 2013): Microaggressions: How “law-abiding” community members discriminate
Microaggressions, the subject of a book by Derald Wing Sue of the Teachers College, Columbia University, highlights perfectly one of the ongoing problems in Finland. Microaggressions occur unconsciously and underline inclusion-exclusion and superiority-inferiority. They are everyday putdowns, insults that aim to undermine the dignity of visible minorities, women, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights
Read on »Foreign Student editorial (February 1981): On immigrants living in Finland
The Foreign Student was a short-lived but courageous newsletter of the Foreign Student Club of Helsinki. The humble publication appeared from January 1981 to January 1982 and lasted 11 issues. Much of the things the newsletter wrote about 35 years ago are still valid today. Surprisingly those that opposed what we wrote weren’t officials or Finns, but
Read on »Fadumo Dayib: To research, or not to research Somalis, is the question
I am here today to reflect on being the other, on othering. I am not here as a PhD student from this University but as an activist, a blogger and as your research object. Read full essay here. The previous presenter raised a very important point that activism does not put bread on your table.
Read on »Migrant Tales Literary: What Color is the Finnish Government?
By Dana There is a fist on earth, saying stop this crime oh human There is a fist on parliament, shouting stop the lie oh liar men Unresponsive Helsinki, there is a city in Saami -land Has a shame building in it, there is a city in Finnish – land Sham parliament, raw members oh
Read on »Microaggressions: How “law-abiding” community members discriminate
Microaggressions, the subject of a book by Derald Wing Sue of the Teachers College, Columbia University, highlights perfectly one of the ongoing problems in Finland. Microaggressions occur unconsciously and underline inclusion-exclusion and superiority-inferiority. They are everyday putdowns, insults that aim to undermine the dignity of visible minorities, women, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights
Read on »Enough is enough! I’ve had it with you Finns!
By Dana Yesterday was a dark black day but a blessed one even if it brought so much sadness. A racist couldn’t kill who I am and yet again, like so many times before in my life, God helped me to overcome a very difficult situation. For you racists out there, and those who support
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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