Migrant Tales

Immigration does and must work for Finland

Enrique — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:46:33 +0000

Some of the bloggers who visit this site believe that multiculturalism in a demographic sense is a failed project. Just because immigration has been a part of humanity since the dawn of time, some insist that a country with lots of immigrants are failed states, pointing to countries such as the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and others.

US Louisiana justice of the peace refuses to wed white woman with a black man

Enrique — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 07:51:14 +0000

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.

Immigrants in Finland must have a voice

Enrique — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:59:12 +0000

One may ask why unemployment among foreigners was three-fold higher than the national average of 7.6% in the month of August. Certainly those that take a stricter view on the role of immigrants in Finland may claim that it is due to lack of language, culture and job skills.

Is multiculturalism good for Finland?

Enrique — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:30:40 +0000

One of the surprising matters about the debate on multiculturalism is how little we understand the basic terms. Take for instance the term multicultural. Does it only mean a society comprised physically of many (multi) cultures? Or is it a policy that facilitates the participation of immigrants and ethnic minorities in a society?

Jimmy Carter said Republican congressman’s outburst was based “on racism”

Enrique — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:21:05 +0000

Here is an interesting case: The biggest military and economic power in the world, the United States, continues to be hounded by one of its dubious legacies - racism. On the other side of the Atlantic, we too have a long way to go before we wipe the scourge of racism from our continent.

Joutsen puolue in Finland – old suspicions die hard

Enrique — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 10:57:43 +0000

It is always a healthy matter when new parties emerge and take part in the debate on immigrants in Finland. One of these is the so-called Joutsen puolue being spearheaded by Jussi Halla-aho, who is presently standing trial for incitement of hatred against an ethnic group and defamation of a religion.

We are all cultural plagiarists

Enrique — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:58:16 +0000

Those who are in university and write essays or are in the writing business know that there is one very big no-no: plagiarism, which means the close imitation of thelanguage and thoughts of another author as one´s own.

Finnishness is taboo to the Swedes

Enrique — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 22:45:33 +0000

By JusticeDemon* Dr Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki Department of Geography, had the following letter printed in the Opinions column of Finland’s leading national daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday 23 August 2009. The sub-editor chose to print this letter under the heading Finnishness is taboo to the Swedes. The following [...]

What kind of “integration” of immigrants do we want in Finland?

Enrique — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:56:54 +0000

Before answering the question, let's take a look at how some scholars define the three important modes in which a minority adapts to a new society. In Finland, there is a lot of confusion about what is meant by integration. When politicians speak of integration of immigrants are they referring to assimilation, which is one-way adaption without creating any waves?

The far right strikes at immigrants in Finland and elsewhere

Enrique — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:49:05 +0000

There is an interesting (long) article in a recent issue of Time that writes about the rise of the far-right in Europe. One of the favorite shooting grounds of these parties are immigrants in general and Muslims in particular.