The Republicans exposed the clown show in choosing, after six failed attempts, the speaker of the house. It is a mirror image of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* parliamentary group. All there is personal political greed, simplistic 1+1=2 (non)solutions, and utter incompetence. Today, Yle published its latest monthly opinion poll, which showed the PS overtaking the Social
Read on »Posts Tagged: United States
Finnish voters take stock: The US midterms were a referendum against “the crazies”
There was no red wave, never mind a red tsunami, in the midterm elections in the United States. Defying the precedent of past elections, the Democrats gave the Republicans a beating they will not easily forget. What lessons can Finland learn from the US midterm elections? For one, voters shunned extremist positions on issues like
Read on »Trump, Putin and the Perussuomalaiset
Former President Donald Trump is a threat to USAmerican democracy, and Russian President Vladimir Putin a threat to world peace. While these leaders spread their toxicity and hatred on other people and nations for political gain, our Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party has nothing more than praise for them. Well, that was before Trump and Putin became
Read on »If Biden calls MAGA Republicans semi-fascists, why can’t we call the Perussuomalaiset the same?
Like many analysts, US President Joe Biden’s “semi-fascism” remark did not go far enough. He should have just dropped the word semi and called them fascists. Taking into account how much the US democracy is in peril, shouldn’t it be time to call out the enemies by their real names? The MAGA Republicans, who have
Read on »The PS and its enablers are the wrecking balls of Finland’s social welfare democracy
I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do. James Baldwin If some scholars sound the alarm bells that democracy in the United States could turn into a right-wing dictatorship that has the potential of sparking a civil war. How should Finland prepare for such an eventuality? Writes Thomas Homer-Dixon, a Canadian
Read on »The overdose of hypocrisy and crocodile tears from the West on Afghanistan
I don’t know if you feel the same way about helping Afghans after the Taliban took over the country. Listening to politicians and the media, two words reveal the present state of things: hypocrisy and crocodile tears. Such deception is not only coming from Western leaders but from the Taliban as well. Below are some
Read on »Who is Finland’s Marjorie Taylor Greene?
TOPLINE Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is the far-right conspiracy monger who was voted out of her two committee assignments this week. In the age of misinformation, peddling conspiracy theories and racism are rewarded handsomely. Voters are gullible and conspiracy lies are quickly consumed with the help of the eyes and ears. KEY FACT AND
Read on »Biden inauguration: Words of unity and inclusion that reverberate in Finland
After four years of chaos and division, an illness that even inflicted the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and politicians in other parties that sow division heard long-overdue healing words. Without losing sight of the wars, CIA-inspired coups, and the human destruction brought on by the United States, it took a despot-inspired president like Donald Trump to give
Read on »Halla-aho, Purra, Tavio, Niikko and all of you PS politicians: Trump’s stench will linger
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED TOPLINE It is quite extraordinary that the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* continues to play down and deflect criticism for their admiration and support for outgoing US President Donald Trump whose most recent crimes included actively inciting a mob to violently assault the legislative branch of government to overturn the election he lost by
Read on »Why radical-right populism will fail in Finland
TOPLINE After the historic election of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party in 2011, when it won 39 seats in parliament from 5 previously, two international events have kept in check the PS’ rise: the bloody 22/7 events that left seventy-seven dead in Norway, and Wednesday’s storming of the Capitol building in Washington. After the historical rise
Read on »November 7, 2020: A day that ended an infamous administration
The US presidential election’s long-anticipated result bore fruit on Saturday with Joe Biden projected as Pennsylvania’s winner and getting him over the 270 electoral threshold defeating incumbent Donald Trump. Four years of political capriciousness and reckless buffoonery by Trump came to an end. It has been a terrible and exhausting four years following a man
Read on »US elections: Will November 3, 2020, be a day of continued infamy or new hope?
Four years ago, I wrote about the surprise US presidential election, which elected Donald Trump. I compared the election outcome to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous words after the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. He said that the surprise attack on December 7, 1942, was “a date that will live in infamy.” Four years
Read on »If racism costs the US $16 trillion, how much has it cost Finland?
The Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* have been quick to point out how much migrants (all?!) are an economic burden to Finland. A new study by Citigroup claims that ethnic inequality and inequity have cost the US a staggering $16 trillion! While parties like the PS and other ones who follow their racist tune believe that social
Read on »Exposing white Finnish privilege #72: False police reporting is an example of violence and open hostility
White Finnish privilege is powerful since you can use the police to project the need for defense and protection. In the United States, we saw two viral examples (see below) involving Amy Cooper and Lisa Alexander. For those who don’t remember, Cooper is the “Central Park Karen” for false reporting to the police. She falsely
Read on »Are Donald Trump and his critics interested in #BlackLivesMatter, social equality, and change?
Thanks to the United States, Latin America has suffered human rights abuses, poverty, exploitation, and a long line of dictators. The latest coup we saw in that part of the world was in Bolivia when Jeanine Áñez usurped power and named herself president. I lived under a ruthless dictatorship in Argentina. Memories from those times
Read on »Twitter (The Daily Show): President Trump is the “+100,000 charlatan”
The video clip by The Daily Show does not need anymore elaboration except for barf bag to expell his administration’s outright lies and toxicity. Viewer discrtion is advised when looking at the video below. Thank you @zuzeeko for the heads-up.
Read on »Jussi Halla-aho is President Donald Trump’s Finnish cheerleader
The Islamophobic and populist Perussuomalaiset (PS) is a party that attempts to revindicate far-right racists on the rampage and its leader, Jussi Halla-aho, is US President Donald Trump’s enthusiastic cheerleader. Halla-aho, who has a conviction for ethnic agitation, breaching the sanctity of religion and being a racist smartass, stated his undying admiration for a president
Read on »What would Jussi Halla-aho and the PS say if Harvey Weinstein lived in Finland? Would anti-Semitism spiral out of control?
If there is one party that racializes sexual assaults, especially committed by Muslims, that party is without a doubt the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*. Its chairperson Jussi Halla-aho, first vice-president Riikka Purra, MP Sebastian Tynkkynen, and the rest of the 36 MPs of their party in parliament. All of them, the 39 PS MPs, used Islamophobia and
Read on »(Racism Review) Trump’s policies: Killing immigrant Latino children
Posted: 25 Jun 2019 04:57 PM PDT Tweet As I plan a beautiful summer filled with fun with my family, my heart is heavy knowing that there are hundreds of immigrant children from Latin America who are locked up in modern day concentration camps–U.S. detention centers. These children are waking up on concrete floors, do
Read on »Racism, Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia: Words can turn into bullets and corpses
Recently we have seen the consequences of hatred towards minorities in the United States: The cold-blooded shooting of an alt-right suspect that attacked a synagogue killing 11 people in Pittsburgh, the killing of two African Americans in Louisville, and mail bombs sent to Democrats and liberals who oppose President Donald Trump.
Read on »The children of separated families in the US are telling us to change our greedy ways
In Europe, the driver of millions of asylum seekers is us. We invaded with the United States and gave support to the invasion of Iraq. In Latin America, the driver of refugees to the United States is Washington’s big-stick policy and economic exploitation of the region’s wealth and opportunities.
Read on »The more politicians and racists vilify migrants the stronger we get
No matter how much politicians vilify migrants and continue to attack us, the more desperate their situation becomes.
Read on »The United States and Finland must stop incarcerating migrant children
One picture on the left shows how migrant children in the United States are being separated and incarcerated. On the right, is a picture taken in Finland last year of a minor looking out the window at the Joutseno immigration removal center.
Read on »The would-be mini Trumps: Geert Wilders, Marine Le Pen, Frauke Petry, Jussi Halla-aho and other autocrats
We have commented that President Donald Trump’s erratic and autocratic style may be a curse on the US but a blessing for Europe since his style may scare away potential voters who don’t want far-right politicians like Geert Wilders, Marine Le Pen, Frauke Petry and others.
Read on »Ahmad Liath: “I left Iraq because I long for freedom”
Ahmad Liath was twelve years old when he left Iraq in 2005. Two years before that year, the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and in 2004 his father was killed.
Read on »Trump’s USAmerica and populist parties in Europe have given us a choice: democracy or demagoguery
Over the weekend I had the opportunity to chat with Wouter Van Bellingen, the first black deputy mayor of Belgium and prominent civil rights activist against causes like Black Pete. Some of the topics we touched upon were the future of Europe in light of the rise of the far right populist parties and the start of President Donald Trump’s mandate in the White House.
Read on »November 9, 2016: “A date that will live in infamy”
It looks like Donald Trump is heading for an upset victory over Hillary Clinton in the US presidential elections, according to the New York Times.
Read on »(Racism Review) More hostility to Spanish: An Arizona mayor
José Cobas Fort Huachuca City is a small community in Arizona (pop. 1900) located approximately 20 miles from the Mexican Border. Mayor Ken Taylor was upset when he received an invitation to a meeting of U.S. and Mexican border city mayors because it was written in both English and Spanish, or “Spanish/Mexican,” as he put
Read on »(Racism Review) Our post-truth culture: institutional and individual consequences
This presidential election has become the perfect storm of “post-truth” politics and racism. It is reflected by the fact that an unqualified “know-nothing” like Trump could be nominated as the Republican presidential candidate. Trump’s disregard for ethics, extreme egoism, and racist solutions to complex policy problems, which include banning all Muslims, building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, and bombing our enemies into the stone age, will have institutional and individual consequences if he is elected as the next president.
Read on »Juha Sipilä and Petteri Orpo: The sad Finnish tale of spineless politicians
In the United States, a lot of Republican politicians who should know better still haven’t withdrawn their support for Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump despite his ultranationalistic, racist and misogynistic comments. The latest row involves Trump insulting the parents of Captain Humayun Khan, a Muslim who was killed in Iraq.
Read on »Racism Review: Debunking white supremacy
The United States has always been a white supremacy that masquerades as a democracy. For white racists those are fighting words. How dare anyone cast aspersions on the motives of America’s founding fathers? For shame.
Read on »Migrant Tales (January 26, 2013): Making torture and hate acceptable
Even if the media in the United States speaks of torture as something recent, the truth is that it has been going on for a very long time. These type of barbaric interrogation techniques were widely used in the last century in regions like Latin America. The CIA and the United States trained and promoted torture and state-sponsored terrorism in places like the School of the Americas.
Read on »Unfriend those Facebook friends that are openly racist, homophobic and sexist
There’s one matter that continues to baffle me about Finnish politics: How xenophobic and Islamophobic politicians are Facebook “friends” with people who claim to champion cultural diversity and anti-racism. If we look at the US Civil Rights Movement (1955-68), there’s one important lesson: Don’t flirt with those that want to keep in in the chains of bigotry.
Read on »Systemic racism in Finland
A video clip below by Jay Smooth published by Race Forward gives us simple good examples of how systemic or institutional racism occurs in the United States. Is systemic racism a problem in Finland? If so, how and where does it occur?
Read on »What do Jim Crow, Nuremberg Laws and Finland’s Restricting Act of 1939 have in common?
All forms of intolerance have one factor in common: They are violent ways to disenfranchise and control groups through social exclusion. Jim Crow laws in the United States sought to ensure that blacks remain marginalized in the same way as the Nuremberg Laws of Nazi Germany took away all power from the Jews. In Finland, foreigners
Read on »New World Finn: Bye for now
To part is to die a little to die to what we love .* Edmond Haracourt (1856-1941) The first time I heard the phrase by the French, “to part is to die a little,” was in Finland a long time ago during one of those unforgettable summers, when I used to visit my grandparents in Eastern
Read on »Julian Abagond: nation of immigrants
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 »BALOBESHAYI: Are Africans Really Black?
Beatrice Kabutakapua Ferguson. One of the most known city in the US right now, not for the happiest reasons though. It’s the place where Michael Brown, an African America man, was shot by the police. Usually the ethnic background is useless for me,but in this case is the engine that started the turmoil happening in this
Read on »Defining white privilege #9: Mohammad Ali’s insight
In many respects white privilege, or specifically white Finnish privilege, is a good way to understand some of the challenges that migrants and especially non-white Finns face in this country. The interview below of Mohammad Ali* says a lot about white privilege in the United States even if the interview took place 33 years ago. What
Read on »Some migrants can be pretty racist, especially those who enjoyed ethnic privilege in their former homelands
I am at a gathering at the British Council in Helsinki hearing a talk in 2013 by Eva Biaudet, the Ombudsman for Minorities, on discrimination and prejudice in Finland. After the talk, one of the participants, a white Englishman, says: “You speak just like a [U.S.] American.” People who make such statements assume a lot
Read on »Uncle Toms, or mamus, are used to control minority groups
It’s interesting to read how some white Finns get all jumpy when you speak about Uncle Toms, or mamus, in Finland. One such blogger, Veli-Pekka Leivo, claimed that labeling someone a traitor to his ethnic group fuels and supports victimization. Victimization? How much harm does an Uncle Tom do to members of his community by
Read on »Racism Review: White Sexual Violence against Enslaved Black Women
MT comment: Understanding how why there was/is slavery enables us to understand the nature of the beast of racism and social exclusion. _____________ By Rachel F Historians have estimated that at least 58% of all enslaved women between 15 and 30 years of age were sexually assaulted by white men during the antebellum period. In
Read on »ENAR condemns racism against blacks in Europe
MT comment: The statement by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) was published five days before the fiftieth anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a dream” speech, and the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and of its Abolition. Millions of black Europeans are still victims of racism and discrimination
Read on »Why does intolerance get so much attention in the media?
Why does racism, xenophobia and intolerance get so much space in the media and so little condemnation by politicians and society? Is it because racism strikes a chord inside of us or is it because we are taught from a very early age to leave if alone? We can make the following argument as well:
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 »Should Finns trust the police?
“…when the laws have ceased to be executed, as this can only come from the corruption of the republic, the state is already lost.” Montesquieu (1689-1755) A survey by T-Media reveals that Finns trust the most the police, educational and justice system and the least the media, EU and employer’s associations. Of those surveyed, 69%
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 »Racism Review: Does Cultural Diversity Promote Economic Growth?
By Racism Review Diversity has sometimes been considered as an abstract principle, divorced from macro-economic trends and global realities. Research by Quamrul Ashraf and Oded Galor of Brown University, suggests otherwise. In a paper released by the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2011, Ashraf and Galor crystallize their findings on the interplay between cultural
Read on »My naïvity and the Finns
When I moved to Finland in December 1978, I wasn’t naïve about Finland, but super naïve. I was so confiding that I actually believed all Finns were honest. If happiness were a spider, it would spin a web to catch our good thoughts. Apart from a strong admiration for the forests and people who inhabited
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 »Kamppailu rasismia vastaan on usein kaksisuuntaista
Kamppailu rasismia vastaan on usein historiallisesti polarisoitunut kahteen suuntaukseen. Suvaitsevaiset, monikulttuurisuutta ihannoivat, monimuotoisuutta tukevat ja maltilliset vastaan ”suvaitsemattomat”, radikaalit, itsensä pelastajat ja pessimistit. Tämä jako menee usein valkoisten ja keskiluokkaisten värillisten ja köyhien tai muulla tavoin huonommassa asemassa olevien värillisten välillä. Toisaalta tämä jako menee enemmän valkoisten ja värillisten välillä, koska valkoiset useimmiten hakevat maltillista muutosta jos muutosta laisinkaan. Silmiin pistävää on, että värilliset helpommin siirtävät rasismi syytöksen yhteiskuntaan kuin yksilöön. Valkoiset melkeinpä rakastavat syyttää yksilöitä rasismista, mutta jättävät rakenteellisen rasismin aivan koskemattomaksi.
Read on »Finland and our Trayvon Martins
The unprovoked killing of Trayvon Martin, 17, in the state of Florida in the United States has caused widespread national outrage especially among black USAmericans. How did we react in Finland when our own Trayvon Martins appeared after a killing spree took place involving three Muslims within about three weeks? On top of this we had a former councilman of a major Finnish party, the Perussuomalaiset (PS), saying publicly that he’d give one of the killers a medal.
Read on »How would you react to a racist, sexist or homophobic joke?
How would you react if somebody at work during a coffee break would crack a racist, sexist of homophobic joke? We’ve all been in such uncomfortable situations many times in our lives. Sometimes our silence glares back at us, other times we do react.
Read on »A possible cartoon depicting white privilege in Finland
The cartoon below pictures pretty well how white privilege works in the United States, according to Bicultural Mom. How would the same cartoon look if we’d draw it for Finland?
Read on »It's hard for some to see racism when you are a white Finn
What does Finnish white privilege mean? Does it mean controlling almost all political, economic and social power in Finland? How do we address the issue?
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 »Racism Review: A Year End Review 2011
As the year 2011 ends, there are several good year-end reviews about racial justice, this video from Colorlines and this post from a David J. Leonard writing at New Black Man, are both excellent. We here at Racism Review offer this as our own brief, and necessarily incomplete, recap of some of the notable events in the struggle for racial justice. Be sure to scroll all the way to the end, there are some victories there, too ~ and a challenge for you at the end.
Read on »Urban Faith: Why We Can’t Ignore Racism
As a white man in America, I’ve been guilty of rolling my eyes when someone would raise the subject of racism. “Why can’t everyone just get over it,” I’d think. But ignoring wounds from the past can be as damaging as the initial offense.
Read on »What we should reflect on Finland’s Independence Day
Since I grew up in three countries, I have the opportunity to celebrate three independence days every year. Today is Finland’s turn. What should we be reflecting on this day? Should it be nationalism, patriotism or neither?
Read on »Extremism in Finland and elsewhere grows on the same soil of hatred
The video clip blow is a frightening example of how far-right groups like the Nazi Party of the United States use the First Amendment (freedom of speech) to justify their hate speech. While it’s unlikely that the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party or even Muutos 2011 and Vapauspuolue will have summer camps with Nazi flags and members dressed in SS-like gear, they do believe in racial purity and loathe Muslims.
Read on »Spiegel Online International: How 9/11 Triggered America’s Decline
The events of Sept. 11, 2001 led to a wave of solidarity with the US. But the superpower has lost that goodwill over the course of the wars it subsequently waged. Now America is mainly seen not as the victim of terrorism, but as a perpetrator of violence itself.
Read on »Community Village blog: What makes us what we are
Ethnicity is amorphous, and only a small fraction of what makes us who we are. “There are no races, there are only clines,” according to anthopologist Frank Livingstone.
Read on »Rosa Parks and Finland
Rosa Parks (1913-2005) is not only a symbol of the US civil rights movement but of countries like Finland as well. In order for history to change you don’t need a lot of firepower but people who lead by example. Rosa Parks is one of these we should not forget as Multicultural Finns and other minorities struggle for greater acceptance recognition in this country.
Read on »guardian.co.uk: North Carolina’s reparation for the dark past of American eugenics
North Carolina’s compensation to victims of forced sterilisation is a chance to illuminate a gruesome US tradition of racial ‘science.’
Twenty-seven American states joined a decades-long pseudo-scientific crusade to create a white, blond, blue-eyed, biologically superior “master race”. Their misguided utopian quest was called eugenics. But only one state, North Carolina, is now readying a massive plan of financial repatriations to its survivying victims. Just how much North Carolina should pay is now the subject of a historically wrenching debate.
Read on »HS: Ihmisrotuja ei voi perustella biologialla
Mitä pidemmälle ihmiskunnan geneettisen muuntelun tutkimus on edennyt, sitä selvemmäksi on käynyt, että mitään selviä ihmisrotuja ei ole olemassa.Antropologian historian aikana ihmiskunnassa on erotettu kymmeniä eri rotuja. Ihmisbiologiassa ollaan kuitenkin nykyään luopumassa tai on jo luovuttu rodun käsitteestä.
Read on »Finnish Americans tell us what immigration is
Here is an interesting 18:18-minute video on some interviews of second- to fourth-generation Finnish Americans who give their insight on immigration.
Read on »Obama’s mother had the right idea about cultures
President Barack Obama remembered his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro, as “the most generous spirit I have ever known.” In a touching article in The New York Times, we get a view of this remarkable woman who understood the beauty and strength of diversity. Having been raised in Kansas, her first husband was from Kenya and the second one from Indonesia.
Read on »Racism debate: Finland today – United States in the 1970s
Some Finns that claim today that they are automatically labelled racists if they speak out against immigration resembles very much the atmosphere in the United States in the early 1970s, when blacks started to win legal as well as social rights after the civil rights movement.
Read on »How do some Finns discriminate?
In countries such as the United States and Brazil the term “race” is used to find out the ethnic diversity of their societies. While it is unclear why Brazil classifies in its census people from different ethnicities, in the United States it is done when drawing up electoral districts.
Read on »US Louisiana justice of the peace refuses to wed white woman with a black man
The refusal of a Louisiana justice of the peace to marry a white woman and a black man has caused dismay and calls by government as well as civil rights groups the removal of justice of the peace Keith Bardwell.
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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