You hear a lot from anti-immigration politicians like the Perussuomalaiset* and even the police about how we must contain “Sweden’s immigrant problem” from coming to Finland. If you analyze such a claim and weigh its truth you will rapidly arrive at the following conclusions: It is racist and untrue. It is racist because it paints
Read on »Posts Tagged: Prejudice
Racism is an ugly monster that can and must be slayed and banished from our society
Do you remember five years ago a young brave fourteen-year-old called Rebecka Holm? A letter to the editor about the racist harassment she endured regularly when going to school changed her life.
Do you remember five years ago a young brave fourteen-year-old called Rebecka Holm? A letter to the editor about the racist harassment she endured regularly when going to school changed her life.
Do you remember five years ago a young brave fourteen-year-old called Rebecka Holm? A letter to the editor about the racist harassment she endured regularly when going to school changed her life.
Do you remember five years ago a young brave fourteen-year-old called Rebecka Holm? A letter to the editor about the racist harassment she endured regularly when going to school changed her life.
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: White washing in Finland
If Finland had a very effective white washing* process in place from independence, who dismantled it or was it ever dismantled? I have my serious doubts. Blackfaces are still aired on Finnish television. The clip above was shown on Pressiklubi on October 6, 2017, and the full movie in 2016. In the 1970s, when it
Read on »Finland’s bigoted and perilous path
Finland has become in a short time a country that has lost its way. The police service, public officials like politicians and even ministers, who should know better, don’t. The most shameful matter that exposes these wretched times is that we’ve allowed xenophobia and nationalist populism to not only enter through the back door but through the main and wide one as well.
Read on »Iraqi asylum seeker: The first Finnish word I learned was “vittu”
It’s a Sunday and we’re at a fast-food Middle Eastern restaurant in the heart of Helsinki. I have an appointment with a twenty-six-year-old Iraqi asylum seeker who came to Finland in September via Tornio and who is staying at one of Luona’s asylum reception centers. Like many who have the misfortune of staying at a reception center run by Luona, he too isn’t happy about the poor and humiliating treatment he’s getting.
Read on »Researchers working for the police see falling support of the Perussuomalaiset as a danger to society
It’s incredible how even the police service feeds the xenophobic climate in Finland. A column published by two applied science researchers on the Police College of Finland page is a perfect example of the one-sided view that some people of the police service have.
Read on »UPDATE (November 20): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism
Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link. November 20 Aukeavatko suvakin silmät? – (Tamperelainen) What’s wrong with this community paper editorial? Community papers like Helsingin Uutiset and Vantaa Sanomat are just as bad as other
Read on »A new low in Finnish journalism: Forcing asylum seekers to like our food
One more time I’m going to show one of the low points of the A2 Pakolais-ilta debate on refugees. Yes, right, it’s the porridge scene where the host Wali Hashi offers porridge to a Syrian family. Not funny but it reveals a lot about the media’s attitude of refugees.
Read on »Migrants need greater voting rights in Europe to challenge the far right and ultranationaistic menace
Bashy Quraishy made recently a very valid point on his Facebook wall: “Active political participation, voting in large numbers and support for the friendly politicians is Alpha and Omega for the protection of ethnic minority rights in Denmark.”
Read on »My identity is mine, not yours, so stop labeling me according to your prejudices
Don’t let anyone, no one, ever define who you are. That’s your right and never give it away. Why do some public services like the police even some migrants believe they have the right to define who are? The police do it constantly. Every time they label a person or group as a person with “foreign”
Read on »THL survey in Finland says first-generation migrants more likely to experience bullying, physical and sexual harassment
A new survey shows that first-generation immigrants are more likely to experience bullying, physical threats and sexual harassment than white Finns, according to YLE in English, which cites the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). The survey revealed some 32% of “immigrant” children found it difficult to access school welfare officers. Should the findings
Read on »Effectively challenging intolerance and promoting respect in Finland and elsewhere
An effective weapon that racists use is to convince you that you don’t count. One of the overriding matters that I’ve learned time and again is that silence is the worst decision you can make when challenging intolerance. There are many effective ways to challenge racism like a simple question: I disagree with you. Can
Read on »How the Finnish media continues to be part of the problem by reinforcing stereotypes and racist perceptions of migrants and minorities
A news story about migrant crime was published by the Lahti-based Etelä-Suomen Sanomat with a provocative drawing of a black man’s arms handcuffed. Migrant Tales got in touch with the reporter that wrote the story and asked why it was considered news at the end of July if it was based on a study published by The
Read on »Challenging prejudices against migrants in Finland should be a priority. But who’s doing this?
Dr. Gareth Rice’s claim that foreign academics are being bypassed for permanent tenures in favor of Finnish academics raises a wider issue that migrants and minorities face in Finland. Finding a job is one matter for an immigrant in this country but being hired on a permanent basis is quite another story. One may ask
Read on »Challenging urban tales about migrants and ourselves should be our first and foremost priority
After contributing regularly for Migrant Tales and reading and answering some of the over 30,000 comments we have received in the past seven years, a bigger picture emerges. This has been reinforced by my work at a folk high school, where the majority of the students on campus aren’t white Finns. As Don Flynn of
Read on »Jussi Halla-aho: “Do not tolerate the intolerant one”
Migrant Tales insight: We get a lot of email and tip-offs from our readers. The latest one we got is of three blog entry translations in English of Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MEP Jussi Halla-aho, who was convicted for ethnic agitation. This last one, Do not tolerate the intolerant one, was published in Scripta on December 20, 2007. Apart
Read on »What Finnish school children from a small town think about racism?
During the European Action Week Against Racism (March 15-23), I had the opportunity to visit an elementary and middle school in rural Eastern Finland. The event, which was organized by the Red Cross, asked elementary and middle school students to do a posters pointing out the good and bad things about Finland. Some did short
Read on »The Ukraine-Russia crisis can spark ethnic hatred across Europe
The crisis and standoff between the Ukraine and Russia is worrying for many reasons. One of these, which isn’t being covered enough by the European media, is how the crisis is fueling xenophobia and age-old diehard ethnic hatred. There has been, however, a lot of coverage of the ethnic crisis between the Ukrainians and Russians.
Read on »Does Finland promote two-way or one-way adaption of immigrants?
Our integration law promotes two-way adaption as opposed to assimilation, which is a one-way process. Section 17 of the Finnish Constitution states that each person living in this country has the right to maintain and develop their own language and culture. What do these two important laws mean in practice and how are they applied? Sensible Finns
Read on »Dana: You are not welcome in Finland – go back to where you came from!
By Dana Yes, who invited you here? If you don’t like it here, why don’t you go back to where you came from? This statement is aimed to tire and weaken you. It’s a dark trick with a dark ending for you. And who knows about those dark goals better than I? Back home you
Read on »Internet policeman Marko Forss mildly reprimanded by deputy ombudsman for tweeting stereotypes of the Roma
Deputy Parliamentary Ombudsman Jussi Pajuoja mildly reprimanded Internet policeman Marko Forss for tweeting a so-called joke about the Roma, reports YLE. The personal tweet, as Migrant Tales reported in November, spread and strengthened stereotypes about the Roma. What did Forss, who was named policeman of the year in 2011, tweet? “Some funny things happen in police
Read on »The media should stop stereotyping immigrants!
Black is beautiful, but I have a question: Why is it that whenever there is a story about immigrants or refugees in the Finnish media, the picture that is published with the story is usually of a black man or Muslim woman? Publishing pictures that feed the public a stereotypical image of immigrants does nothing more
Read on »Sara speaks out against the racist harassment her son endured at a school in Mikkeli, Finland
What would you do if you heard that an African single mother decided to leave Mikkeli for Helsinki because her eight-year-old child was a victim of racist harassment or bullying at school? Would you just register the news and brush it conveniently under the rug and reassure yourself that these types of things don’t happen
Read on »The Boston bombings reveal a deadlier blowback
I was shocked to hear about the twin bombs in Boston and my heart goes to the victims. Two days after the incident, however, speculation has been rife about the probable ethnicity of the perpetrator. The eerie silence of the killer suggests that this was probably carried out individually. The latest story on the
Read on »How can immigrants and visible minorities clear the minefields of misinformation?
There is an interesting news story on today’s YLE that raises a timely question: Not why there is so much misinformation spead about immigrants, but what does this reveal about us as a society? Does it bring to light ignorance or a subtle conspiracy that permits us to have and eat our racist cake simultaneously?
Read on »Common Ground News Service: Spreading “anti-rumours” about immigrants
By María-Paz López Barcelona, Spain –“They are invading us”, “They don’t respect the rules”, “They don’t pay taxes”, “They don’t want to integrate”, “They get special subsidies to open businesses”, are just a few of the often repeated accusations against immigrant communities in Spain. To deal with rising prejudices, Barcelona City Council is now beginning
Read on »How discrimination works in Finnish basketball
If there is a game that is played by people from diverse backgrounds, that game is basketball. When I moved to the United States as a child, basketball was my door to new friends and acceptance. Basketball was a way of life in Hollywood, California, for many young people like me. In Finland it is
Read on »Go for the values and weaknesses of a group if you aim to destroy their self-esteem
How would you go about destroying the self-esteem of a group? If you were an anti-immigration politician, certainly you’d target the group’s values (religion) and exploit your racist arguments by pointing the finger at their most vulnerable weaknesses, like high unemployment. Prejudice and racism are diehard social ills because they take generations to wear off.
Read on »Prejudice discourages employers from hiring deaf people
I read an interesting news story on YLE in English about how prejudice hinders deaf people from getting jobs. Sounds like a familiar excuse heard commonly by immigrants, right? The jobless rate of deaf workers and immigrants in Finland is about three times greater than the national average. Unemployment in Finland in April stood at
Read on »Rasismin määrittäminen
Melkein jokaista ihmistä kohden on eri määritelmä rasismista. Jos Suomessa on suunnilleen viisi miljoonaa ihmistä, joten meillä on suunnilleen viisi miljoonaa eri määritelmää rasismille. Tämä voi olla vahvaa karrikointia, mutta ei ole kaukana todellisuudesta. Jos aiomme taistella rasismia meillä on oltava vähintään, jokin selvä määritelmä sille mikä on rasismi. Rasismin voi ajatella Malcolm X:än
Read on »Ilta-Sanomat tabloid ad (lööppi) from August 19, 1992
Migrant Tales will begin to publish Finnish tabloid ads* (lööppi in Finnish) from the 1990s. Taking into account that Finland’s immigrant population started to grow during that decade, it is easy at least through the main stories of tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti to see how they reflected some people’s xenophobic and racist views.
Read on »Community Village Activist: Teaching Children To Respect One Another
Has anyone seen research where the researcher asks children, instead of a closed ended question like “Who is the smart one” but instead “Are all phenotypes equally nice and equally smart?” (Children may not know what a phenotype is but that creates a good opportunity to explain that a phenotype is only skin deep). Children can then be asked to explain their answer and where they learned their knowledge or stereotypes. Maybe they learned it from TV, radio, friends, students, family or even their parents.
Read on »Am I a carrier of European right-wing populist rhetoric?
We all know that right-wing populism is on the rise in Europe. By the same token, many us without knowing it, may carry the same seeds of intolerance that these groups spread without ever knowing it. Certainly our democratic society must be able to debate a wide range of issues that affect us like immigration. We must, however, be able to distinguish what are inaccurate claims and facts.
Read on »Science Daily: People With Low Self-Esteem Show More Signs of Prejudice
ScienceDaily — When people are feeling bad about themselves, they’re more likely to show bias against people who are different. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, examines how that works.
Read on »Is Finland prepared for multiculturalism?
In an interesting article published by Siirtolaisuus – Migration issue 2/1996, social psychologist Professor J. W. Berry asks what factors have to be in place to establish reasonable harmonious relationships between diverse groups. Ethnocentrism is a theory devised by Sumner in 1906 and means when “one’s group is the center of everything, and all others
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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