Every scar I have makes me who I am. Anonymous It is ok to utter the full n-word on Finnish television, as we saw on Friday on the Marja Sannikka show, which turned out to be a fiasco revealing how little homework the host had done and how polarized and ignorant Finnish society is of
Read on »Posts Tagged: white privilege
A danger to democracy
If there is one matter that US President Donald Trump’s self-coup has evidenced, it is the fragility of our democracy. This is also the case in Finland with the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, a pro-Trump radical right party that openly supports Trump. Some factors unite Finland with the United States. Finns have – incorrectly – said in
Read on »Finland is too white to solve its issues with racism. There must be change.
After the bombshell news that one of the suspects arrested Friday who brutally attacked Pekka Kataja of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) in July, the new chairperson of the Center Party, Annika Saarikko, said on Ykkösaamu Saturday that she could form a government with the PS. In light of the PS’ links with far-right groups, Saarikko’s response
Read on »Kotoutuminen* #9: Spreading half-truths about integration
If the learn-Finnish-and-you’re-integrated promise is misleading, so are many others spread by people who should know better. “The best way to eliminate racism is to get people to know each other,” goes the affirmation. It is like the claim that traveling opens your eyes to the world. After we do all these things, will we
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: The end of white Finland’s hegemony over narrative and “truth”
“There are signs that white Finland’s hegemony over culture and society is being seriously challenged. Green League MP Ozan Yanar rightfully questioned President Sauli Niinistö’s problematic speech about migrants. We have information as well that the police and school principal may have played down what happened to a 10-year-old Muslim girl at school in Espoo in
Read on »Twitter (Julie Pascoet): Silence is not only a political statement but privilege that contributes to inequality
Read original tweet here. Julie Pascoe is senior advocacy officer at the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), Europe’s largest anti-racism NGO.
Read on »Camtu Suhonen: How discrimination destroys academic careers
Discrimination is a disease that plagues many organizations and often causes more damage to the organization such as profit loss, economical issues, and natural disasters. This is because discrimination destroys the people who make up the organization and causes damages irreparable by money or promotion. Career paths and patterns are things most affected by such a plague because they damage people mentally, emotionally, and socially. If a person is mentally and emotionally damaged by discrimination, this person becomes paralyzed and unable to function properly within the organization. Also, socially, victims experience role malfunction and resort to isolation for comfort rather than ask for help from colleagues.
Read on »Exposing white Finnish privilege #43: White versus dark skin
Brown is beautiful just like black and white are beautiful, right? Add to the latter equation power and privilege and a more sinister picture emerges: white is beautiful but brown and black aren’t.
Read on »Cultural appropriation of Saami in Northern Europe: “Make as much noise as you can”
The most recent case of cultural appropriation in Finland was seen in October when a Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) host put on a Native American feathered hairpiece. To add insult to injury, the YLE TV host aired on the same programme a clip of a Finnish 1960 “comedy” with blackfaced actors.
Read on »YLE News: What Prosecutor General Raija Toiviainen forgets to tell us about growing hate speech in Finland
There’s a lot of evidence of how Finland denies an issue like racism and near-constantly plays down its impact on migrants, minorities, and society in general. Prosecutor General Raija Toivainen claims in a YLE News story that racist statement lead to bitterness, radicalization, and terrorism.
Read on »Exposing* white Finnish privilege #39: The Hollywood ending of racism that will never happen in Finland
There is one characteristic when watching for some years Finnish journalists, public officials, politicians and the public debate about racism: Everything will end like in a Hollywood movie, and we’ll live happily forever.
Read on »Defining white Finnish privilege #38: Cultural appropriation and racism are quaint discussion topics between white Finns
Sanna Ukkola is a YLE journalist who has stuck her foot in her mouth a number of times. Hosting Pressiklubi on Friday was a clear example when she put on an Amerindian feather hairpiece and showed a clip of Pekka and Pätkä black faces to the audience.
Read on »Maria Rittis Ikola: Imagine a world without white privilege
Maria Rittis Ikola* Imagine that white Finns like me weren’t able to speak over others in every medium available. Imagine a time when white people were not able to express their confusion and dismay over political correctness in prime spaces in Finnish newspapers, because nobody would let them. Imagine that racialised journalists didn’t have to
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 »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 »Defining white Finnish privilege #11: Case Teuvo Hakkarainen
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Teuvo Hakkarainen is a good example of white Finnish privilege. Here’s an MP that has issues with alcohol, racism and now dates teenagers as well as allegedly takes minors to bars. He has sent on his work phone pictures of his phallus and Image magazine claims in its latest issue that the PS MP drove
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 »Defining white Finnish privilege #7: A definitive guide
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. Migrant Tales invites readers to share their thoughts on the social ill. Please send your comments on the topic to migranttalesblog@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you.
Read on »Defining white Finnish privilege #5: It’s ok to be a racist
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. Migrant Tales invites readers to share their thoughts on the social ill. Please send your comments on the topic to migranttalesblog@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you.
Read on »Defining white Finnish privilege #4: Holding the short end of the stick
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. Migrant Tales invites readers to share their thoughts on the social ill. Please send your comments on the topic to migranttalesblog@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you.
Read on »Defining white Finnish privilege #3: No history, no doctrine, no heroes and no martyrs
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. Migrant Tales invites its readers to share their thoughts on the social ill. Please send your comments on the topic to migranttalesblog@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from
Read on »MP Olli Immonen reinforces that the PS is a xenophobic and racist party
After the EU election victories of the National Front of France, UKIP and the Danish People’s Party, Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Olli Immonen lashes out against Muslims on a blog entry, claiming that Europe is being overtaken by Muslims. This latest attack by Immonen against Muslims, migrants and non-white Finns, is a good example that the
Read on »Racism Review: Façade of tolerance – Donald Sterling, the NBA, and systemic racism
John D. Foster Over the weekend, much media buzz centered on the release by TMZ of a recorded conversation between Donald Sterling and V. Stiviano, his girlfriend. In the conversation, Sterling expresses his objection to her posting pictures on Instagram with Black people, including one with Magic Johnson. Response to the story has varied. Other
Read on »Espoo city council votes against racism
A proposal by the Perussuomalaiset (PS) to rewrite the City of Espoo’s multicultural programme because it stated that city residents “don’t tolerate racism” were voted down 64-10, reports Länsiväylä. Two PS councilmen, Simon Elo (left) and Teemu Lahtinen, loathe Muslims and cultural diversity. Read full story (in Finnish) here. If one reads closely the position of the PS, an anti-EU, anti-immigration
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 »Are you a perpetrator or victim of white Finnish privilege?
One matter about intolerance is that it is universal. The social ill can manifest itself in different ways by speaking different languages and historical context but don’t be fooled by these deceptions: Intolerance is the same ogre. White privilege is one of the many faces of racism and means automatic access or exclusion to the
Read on »Red Sociology: ASSIMILATION AS ASSASSINATION
MT comment: Even if the blog entry below speaks of assimilation, or one-way integration of blacks in the United States, it’s pretty certain that these types of discussions will pick up in Finland as we become a more culturally diverse society. Who is being assimilated into Finnish society? Are blacks and visible minorities expected to
Read on »Whiteness and white privilege speak European languages
As we hold our collective breaths and await to know the identity of the bombings in Boston Monday, too many don’t see a suspect but a whole ethnicity or religious group. Tim Wise put it very well in an opinion piece where he makes some distributing revelations about the power of whiteness. If we understand
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 »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 »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 »Finland also locks up asylum seeker children
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- A child in the Joutseno Immigration Removal Center.
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