I think most finns don't really care about what a person looks like, where they come from, what they believe in, whether they prefer men or women, etc. As long as the person isn't causing problems for others, they're accepted.
The definition of causing problems is subjective, so in some way your comment is contradicting itself. In Finland, racism is often confused with criticizing different cultures. Finns accept many people regardless of appearance, as long as they are ready to respect Finland's values based on freedom and human rights, the Finnish constitution, customs and so on.
Definitely. Live by the rules of the country you go, and you should have no issues. If i went to an arabic country and behaved like a finnish drunk man does, i'd be dead which is expectable and thats how we have to live. Different countries, different rules and customs. The worst is a nation with a population that is not united but seperated. Sweden is a great example where there are ghettos which live by completely different rules and where swedish police doesn't have a say. That is unacceptable, everyone in a country must abide by the same rules or it is a chaos. Finland's harmony has been based on national unity.
These days there is quite strong hate towards Russians. People might stop serving them etc. But its kinda understandable though. It was not like that before the war. There might be some playfull "racism", or hate towards Swedes too, but that's mostly just joking. Especially, if its about hockey.
American media does have stronger influence on youth more than ever before. Since internet became widespread due to smartphones the toxicity in this society has been increasing by every year
Nice video (as always). You mentioned that kids have sometimes looked at your skin color and it made me to remember what happened over 20 years ago when my son was about 2-3 years old and I want to tell it to you. In a Citymarket fruit section there was an African man with traditional African clothes cutting pineapples and giving people small pieces for tasting (smart marketing btw). My son asked very loudly: "Mom! Why is that man black?" I and my wife felt troubled like "oh no, what did he say...". That African man answered my son that he is from Africa and there's always sunshine and everybody has dark skin (spoke Finnish quite well btw). My son reacted just: "Aha. Ok." Kids are honest, they just want to get information about the World around them.
Good way to put it, there are idiots where ever you go. There are always good people and always bad people. But if you only focus on the bad, you will only see bad and vice versa. Hi from 🇫🇮
Thank you for the insight you gave about racism vs xenophobia. I have always felt that racism is a blanket word that often gets thrown around, but it does not seem to fit in every situation. I could not articulate why, but it seemed insufficient to describe the situation.
Finlands society has taken the best part of Swedish and Scandinavian models and have preserved them a lot better than for example Sweden. Racism in the Nordic countries have been a very big no-no, but Finland together with countries like Norway have held a good balance between compassion for refugees but a stricter view on migrants, avoiding huge divides in their society. Finland also never had the weird self minimizing of ones own culture that Sweden been up to. Swedish people and especially politicians should have looked to Finland for guidance in many respects, I don’t know if it stupidity or pride thats been stopping them. The schools in Finland are amazing and you can also see this in Estonia where they successfully copied the best system in Europe, the Finns took the old Swedish system and carefully built on it for ages, in Sweden we just up and ruined it. I love the Finns absolutely among the best people in the world! 🇸🇪❤️🇫🇮
What you described about finnish attitude towards race is due to being monoracial society. Multiracial societies tend to always have more tensions between groups of people. When you come here as an indivinual there is no problem. But if you come here as kurdi/somali etc and mostly socialice with them and if you don't assimilate, then there will be problems. I am not finnish by birth and I was born near equator.
5:37 I can vouch for that part. In Finland, we are taught at schools to never judge anyone based on their skin color, but the content of their character. We are all people, and we are all equal. Recently with the integration of American society with ours through social media etc., we have received more and more focus on skin color. I personally dislike this development.
I mean not that I disagree with the sentiment, but that never was taught in my school and I haven't heard anyone say that they've been taught that (actually slightly the opposite, because some teachers have said racist things themselves despite it not being part of the curriculum). Also I disagree with america being the sole influence, I think the main reason why race has been brought up was mentioned in the video. Through migration in combination with financial instability, people have started focusing more on it (usually looking for a scapegoat for what the issue is).
@@Arstik That's fair and that's why I tried to include what I've also heard from others, but I understand that's not everyone. I made the comment, because the original comment makes quite a big blanket statement, so I wanted to share how that's not entirely true (if at all, maybe it is now). I doubt that the person is themselves young enough to be at that age themselves and most of the population isn't, so I figured they likely also mean the past and not just the current moment. I think that's a fair interpretation since they didn't say that only young people are like this, but just talked about finnish people and education. I'm in my early 20s for the record and some of the people I've talked to were younger than me, so I'm not talking about a time that was that long ago.
@@ellem8990 Where I was taught, at Oulunsalo, this sentiment was 100% taught at school. I still remember the lessons like it was yesterday. This is early and late 2000's teaching Im talking about.
Thank you for this video! I am considering moving from the US, but my son is half Nigerian and his safety and feeling of acceptance is the top priority. This is such a relief to hear.
Unless you have a job ready for you, I would advice against moving here. The unemployment rate is currently over 10%, Finns are getting poorer and angrier. As many African immigrants do not work at all (not being a racist, there are statistics to back this up), there is a serious risk some Finns will see your son (+his dad) as a parasite. Public resources are not that great, the healthcare is in ruins. The benefits were recently cut, so families with kids have it extra hard. Pensioners rule this country.
Finland is a safe country,, there is always people with bad intentions, but our system tries to help you so you wouldn't have the need to shoplift etc.. yet still mostly safe and peaceful place to be. But ofc then there is migrants who can not adapt their ways to our ways, reason why Sweden is in deep waters and so is UK and many other counties also, they just can not respect anything other than their own bellybutton.
Funny story, yesterday I happened to stand behind a black woman in a small shop, waiting for the cashier. I somehow froze, because it is super rare in my town to see anyone of colour. I was thinking, do I stand too close, witch way I'm supposed to look, am I acting natural enough to not make her unconfortable... XD Here is a Finn talking, I really try not to act like some racist! :D
@@statueofgod_ jos ihmisen fyysiset kokemukset "kenestä tahansa" rajoittuu valkoihoisiin, ei se ole ihme jos hieman ihmettelee jotain uutta mitä ei ole nähnyt. samalla tavalla jos et ole ennen nähnyt valkoista kissaa vaan aina mustia kissoja, on valkoinen kissa uusi ilmestys. ei siinä uuden ihmettelyssä ole mitään vikaa, mutta jos uutta pitää jotenkin automaattisesti pahana niin sehän on se rasismin ongelma.
@@statueofgod_ aika mustavalkoista :D Radikaalisti erilainen ihonväri, mihin ei oo tottunu, aiheuttaa itelläkin jollain tavalla hämmennyksen tunteen. Enkä todellakaan kohtele mitenkään eritavalla, ku ketä tahansa muuta ihonväristä riippumatta. Aivojen reseptorit lähtee vaan vähä laukalle 🤷 Ja uskon et omalla kohdalla yliajattelua nousee pintaan syystä, ettei tiedä kuinka muut heitä kohtelee. Kuullut ja lukenut kuitenki paljon juttuja, jotka saa kokemaan, et rasismia on ja mahdollisesti lisääntyy Suomessakin. Jollain tavalla haluaa kompensoida ja varmistaa, että toinen kokee olevansa ihan yhtä hyväksytty vaikka onkin tummempi iho.
Just don't think about it at all. BLack people are the most accepting people in the world. We love love. America portrays us as gun toting savages. It that is for an agenda that they have to keep us down trodden and looked at as something to fear or pity. Just be yourself
If you get some extra views from the aged population in Finland, especially from the ones from the northern parts as I am, it can simply be just the inexperience. I for example, having grown 99% of my life in just the northern parts, haven't ever talked face-to-face with anyone with a darker skin tone than mine. With no ill will I would be a bit stressed about it, since I feel like it's a bit loaded situation socially, even though I know it should just be basic human interaction. It really comes down to my own inexperience and likely overthinking it.
Very true. My mom grew up in a Finland that didn't really have people from other ethnic backgrounds. She hates how she tends to tense up when she sees people from other cultures because she thinks there's no reason for it; it comes from some animal part of her brain thinking "Our tribe. Not our tribe." She was glad to tell me that now that her mother is in care housing where apparently majority of nurses are black, she has been able to interact with them just like any other person. I, on the other hand, have had people from different backgrounds in my classes since I started school. I don't think about it.
Thank you for the video. Really enjoyed it! Finland is a very induvidualistic place. There are no that many of us, so it's more about who you are, than what specific group you belong to. I can't pretend I don't notice color though. Just this morning there was a black guy playing hockey with me and I have to admit I was a bit surprised at first. Just because it's unusual. But you know, when the puck dropped I was just worried he doesn't score on me (I'm a goalie). And the color of his shirt was more important than the color of his skin :)
Looks like you have a good and healthy attitude and I'm sure you'd do well anywhere. I'm glad to see you chose to live in Finland and I'm happy your experience has been nice 😊
I think Finland is mostly about three things: 1. Honesty 2. Respect 3. Humility Anyone that has these and is worthy of these things will very likely fit right in. You can manage without humility but I think it's something we value and respect greatly and tend to frown upon people that brag loudly or make a scene of themselves. Of course there is the accentuated sense of personal space and privacy that can feel alienating at first but once you get the hang of that you're good. A dude like you should fit right in. I truly think we are one of the more honest, no bullshit kind of nations out there so just being yourself and not trying too hard should work.
As a Finn I'm glad to hear this, but wonder how different the experiences are. I agree we care more about culture than melanin which of course is better than the other way around, but I'd still guess being for example somalian in Finland is not so easy unless you're born here and thus just Finnish. You look like a cool dude that could be from anywhere as well.
That is an interesting thought, I have noticed the same thing. When I grew up in the 90s I attended an immigration elementary school. It was and still is a regular school, but it has a special class to asses their educational level and teach elementary. Students were integrated at a ratio of 1:20 into classes of their level. My class integrated immigrants from US, Saudi Arabia and Italy. Point being, I can barely tell the difference between a person born in Finland and someone who attended one of the immigration schools, and I have noticed that they are fully trusted immediately regardless of their appearance while immigrants who have not yet integrated are treated politely. Integrated immigrants are granted easily full trust, but it isn't as... joyous as with the former case. Not everyone, of course, is as accepting. A related story comes to mind from lukio when throught student council and the "Alliance" - national council network - I observed an anti-bullying campaign where the first commercial was axed by the school staff, because ONE of the bullies was black. He volunteered, and we all had known him for years. We couldn't fathom that anyone would question him as dissimilar. Of course, there was a reason but not allowing his participation kind of went against the spirit of the whole campaign - in our i.e. the council's opinion. No one cares, and even less so in higher education.
"Hurt people hurt people" is a good thing to remember. It's very sad but interesting that black people born in SA were teasing and bullying you for not being born there. Maybe it stems from them being bullied for their race and then seeing you as somehow even "worse" in the society or something. So they probably put their anger and hate on you because they experienced the same thing. You seem like a very nice dude, I hope you're doing well and are happy here in Finland!
Your insight to racism in Finland and in South Africa is very interesting and important to talk about. Thank you for sharing your experiences and thoughts.
I saw the comments on one of your videos chico and it was a bit disappointing seeing black people pull each other down and the most common were "Your not South African" and I was like why?? I didn't know Black South African are Racist towards each other!!
Yeah, it was pretty discouraging. I’ve experienced that my entire life. However, I’d completely forgotten that some black people can be like that in South Africa. I wasn’t sad because of what some of the comments were saying. I felt sad because it made me feel even less hope for the country. It’s such small minded thinking. I hate it. But, they will live their lives and I will live mine. Instead of coming together, they divide each other by nationality. It’s a tragedy.
Well, in Finland too, growing up, racism was mostly against Eastern Europeans, so white-on-white. We thought of people from Eastern Europe as poor and thieves. So, it makes sense that in SA you would have black-on-black racism.
@@Basheez People often confuse cultural differences/shock as racism. People nagging about Karelians (Lahti jokes etc) are due to class and cultural differences.
Race is only relevant issue in USA, rest of world have ethnic groups. Nigeria a one country has close to 400 different etnic groups, they are different culturaly, also in apearance. If americans watch only skin color rest of world also watches other things, like how tall are you how tall is your forehead, Shape of your nose, size of your lips and other thing. Like In europe you can make difference how latwians differ from estonian or Russians or How Fins differ from Swedes and Estonians
Here in Sweden where I know live, people are in principle very "nice", but one has to be the third or more generation in a village to "count" as being one of the villagers - and those from this or that town are considered like this or that. All kinds of prejudice. Political parties have a lot of prejudice against each other, so a little village can be devided along that line, too. Why would that be different in South Africa?
Glad to hear that the experience's been good and even eye opening for you. It outright confuses many Europeans / Finns if another country is still politically or racially loaded in the 21st century. It feels like something that should've died away already a century ago. Random jackasses are everywhere, but they're always best left ignored.
I have issue with people who come here and wont bother to learn our language, dont respect our social norms, dont respect our laws... that makes me really mad.. but like you said: as long as they try their best to adapt here and yes ik learning language wont happen overnight but if they put the effort and respect our culture and respect personal space.. sure welcome! the worst " racism " what I have seen been drunk people yelling at immigrant taxi drivers or wolt workers " go to hell " , " go home ", " go f* yourself " or something 🙄 you seem wonderful personality! hope you enjoy your stay in finland!
As Finnish person myself, to me you're a person. If you'd take your time to learn finnish, the culture and really work to integrate into the society I'd call you finnish, but that's just me. There is in my opinion not just real xenophobia, but racism in Finland, but it depends. It depends where you live and what social groups you hang with. Difference is, it's not institutional like apartheid was or societal like it is in the US. because we never have had racial segregation in the independent history of Finland. It's a small, but annoyingly loud minority who hide behind religious bigotry and nationalism, but to me they don't represent Finland, finnish society or values. At the end of the day Finland is the most content eg. satisfied nation in the world, call it happiness, I guess. To most it matters that your not violent or a nuisance and in all fairness in my experience foreign people be it black or not who come to Finland are more chill and less violent than the average drunk finn tbh. Anyway its lovely to hear that you enjoy living in Finland ❤
Good talk/essay. I think a lot of it stems from seeing western Europe f up their big cities with terrible immigration policies. That has hardened attitudes here quite alot. And to be fair, and we are all adults here, islam is main reason for xenophobia. There is no reason people cant live together in harmony even if its in their own loose groups... Unless you are guided by the ethics of 600ad warlord. Its not just "hey we do our cultural thing and you do yours but we share the same core values which maintais social cohesion". Its "when we grow strong enough we want you guys to respect our taboos and eventually it would be cool if we could have sharia". It is honestly scary.
Im glad to hear you feel at peace here in Finland. Much respect to you for going into a country so completely unknown, and trying to actively fit in and appreciate the culture. Fuck racism. All we are is people from different backgrounds and cultures. Hope Finland continues to feel like a good place to be for you! Cheers.
When you value a person for thier ethics and not thier skin, they will try to work harder and increase thier value. If you focus on color people will drag each other down cause you cant change your skin. Kids are curious be kind and understanding and they will never have a reason to hate. Most of all in finnish culture thier is no fear, they don't focus on it, they see a problem and work to fix it, but are careful not to over fix it, its a minimalist aproach.
There's also a huge differency on WHERE u live in Finland. Like in Kontula white's can be minorities in certain areas :) I remember, in Käpylän aikuislukio, that I was the only native Finn in the class.. The teaching was done in Finnish and the math teacher was really good.. Majority Somali's I believe.. And this was like already 25 years ago.
It's exactly as you say Chico, everywhere you go there are closed minded hateful people and then there is peaceful open minded people too, and I would say the Finnish populations vast majority more on the peaceful open minded spectrum, but I would say in the recent years there has been some worrying signs of Xenophobia especially in Sweden. I think that is understandable since their government has had a very liberal immigration policy which has resulted in complete segregation of entire cities, also another factor to this development is the inflation caused by first corona, and then the wars started in Ukraine and Gaza/Israel.
It's really tiresome hearing people claim on the media that Finland is racist. Is it racist to be apprehensive of people who do not share your culture, who do not even attempt to assimilate? I don't think so. To those who come to Finland to live and work, and want to adopt our culture; you are welcome here. To those who come under the pretense of seeking refuge (after skipping through several safe and peaceful countries and going back to their "dangerous" home countries for holidays) and wish to only abuse our system; expect no respect or hospitality.
I'm not going to lie... It really annoys me too, if I'm honest. If someone thinks Finland is THE MOST racist and oppressive country... I would LOVE to know where they are from. I would almost bet money on the fact that its probably MUCH WORSE where they are from. It blows my mind. I can't imagine walking around in Finland feeling victimised because of the colour of my skin. But hey, to each their own I guess. Maybe folk are experiencing levels of racism I've never heard of.
Yes, in Finland people just don't like system abusers. And very oddly there is group of people whom think that "system abusing is ok, it's racist" to say anything against people whom abuse. Fact time, in Finland people don't care what person looks like or what he is, if he abuses system, people won't like it, and in that area it does not matter if person has shoe polished black face or just plain old ordinary finnish white face. Slackers are just not liked in finnish culture. And even less are liked people whom insist "saving" slackers at the expense of people who do actual work.
My mother has ever had very limited experience with non-whites, my father only marginally more so. My father is still surprised in your very Grump kind a way (guy might have been modeled after him) when he meets people who seem like they'd be foreigners and experience them speaking almost fluent Finnish. But every time he speaks of these encounters, you can sense certain pride and admiration from him and he always tells how well the encounter went, even if Finnish in question was less than fluent. Just the effort is worthy of note. But still, despite having met couple of such people, he still shows some surprise when it happens, not having grown customed to it. Where as a delightful encounter I had with my mother, as I helped her with her excersises, was when we were water running in a local outdoors swimming facility. We had couple of times taken notice that there had been a truly black fellow coming to the place at the same time as us. There had been fewer people of darker complexion in general, but this lad was truly dark. We especially noticed him because he was actually pretty hard to notice as he used stand in shade of nearby trees and take leisurely walks around the park surrounding the facility. Then for a while we had had different schedules and he had not been there. But I noticed a rare another such man swimming with us. He was just about to pass us and I was getting ready to tap my mom to point him out to her, when she suddenly said relatively loud (being hard of hearing as she was even then): "Haven't been seeing the black man lately!" (in Finnish) Coming behind her, she couldn't see my face go absolutely Pikachu on her, but the man passing just us gave my mother a wide smile and said in just slightly accented Finnish: "Well here you have one!" We all had a hearty laugh about it, mentioned him that we were talking about another person and just kept going with our day. In many countries those alone could be seen as grounds for "racism". There has been even serious talk about it here that it should be seen as such. Being surprised at people's colour, finding it anyway fascinating, let alone mentioning it. But to both of them, it is a new thing. It is a different thing. It is a noticeable thing. But it's not a bad thing. Yes, they both would figure that a person discint from the "general populace" is probably a foreigner. But if proven different, they make no mind of it. Might even be delighted to learn someone who's heritage is from somewhere else has liked our country enough to make a home in it. Heck, I have more experience and I still have first taken contact to people "out of the norm" in English, only to learn a moment later they speak perfectly good Finnish. Granted, that boba-tee shop had zero indicators about Finnish. Even all the menus were in English only. I have also met a lot of people who have lived here for years and still prefer to talk in English. And some of them in turn have looked outwardly like they were natives. So it's really not "assuming". All in all it really boils down to how much different you are and how much different do you demand to remain. If you even dress completely different, have an accent and weird habits, but have bothered to learn few words Finnish... You'll get along just fine, but people will notice you. You don't speak a word and have different customs, but want to give sauna, mämmi and salmiakki a hearty try? You'll get along just fine and people will still notice you. Go around telling people how different you are and how you should be treated and demanding more coloured professors in our university, because of course there need be such? Yeah. You won't get along. And people will make a note of you. And of course arseholes are just that everywhere. But you'd be surprised around here if a complete stranger might come to your aid, 'cose they don't like the arsehole either. /essay
Yeap Finns don't care about skin color they care about the content of your character. Cultural differences conflicting with Finnish tradition can cause grievance if the foreign culture is pushed on us and of course if a person is not contributing to society or is a criminal. Some people like to claim that is not so and it's really racism but those people generally just want there to be racism so they can oppose it and feel morally superior.
as a white finn it made me happy to hear your points of views about finland💜 we value respect and thats one reason why we dont wanna discriminate against people despite of their race or ethnicity, ofc we are not free from racist people but its not major problem, im kinda worried about the future tho due to our current government(they try to make poor people more poor and poverty sometimes increases hatred towards "outsiders") my grandma was actually karelian(indigineous) and needed to left her home at 6yo due to the war and she was treated pretty shitty by finns in her youth because people thought she was russian when in reality she lost her home because of russia(she spoke finnish and karelia but im pretty sure she didnt speak nor understand russian) i love finnish culture, music, nature and safety, but i have always struggled to fit in due to my adhd(got diagnosed at 19yo), being hyperactive and also insecure girl made people bully me harshly because i was always too much, i was speaking and laughing too much and expressed my emotions too much, in finland we value silence and it can undirectly lead to ableism imo, but its more common issues in small villages on country side and now when i live in helsinki i feel like people dont care if i cant fit into the standards of normality aka being stoic, also our communication is kinda non-verbal which has been difficult for me to read, we usually wont come say people if we dont like them but quietly judging is more common than people think but often foreigners might not notice it because its so subtle, we dont judge people so much but rather how theyre behaving in public places
You said outloud what I have thinked about finnish people and their mindset. I don't care what color anybody is, when they try to be part of Finnish sociaty and try to be part of the country! I really liked you thoughts a lot!
6:32 If you get into bus and look like a tourist, Finns are probably looking at you thinking "please, don't come to sit next to me". Not because of your skin color but native Finns know that you never ever go to sit next to somebody you don't know if there are any free seats elsewhere. That's because personal space is valued so high. If you want to try to become friends with a Finn, it's totally okay to ask if it's okay to sit next to them in a bus but do not do that silently if there are other seats available.
Thing is, in Finland dark skinned are few enough that they aren’t really a “group” in anyone’s minds. And when everyone is treated as an individual, it’s a lot less likely to get hate, because let’s face it, people are generally nice! There is some hard-core racism in Finland, but it is marginal and mostly imported.
As I grew up, Finnish young men thought the more colourfull and extrovert men from the south would charm the wit out of the Finnish girls, and the young Finnish women felt they could never rival the beauty of darker southern girls, so a bit envy there was, and so Finnish girls colored their blonde hair *red* at least. Who on earth would/could love us pale and colourless Finns, with not a natural curl in thin hair, and even our eyelashes had no colour to mention!!! 😀 Growing older, self-confidence also grows, based on other aspects than looks, like values, personality, and actions.
I'm really glad to hear this. I guess you're living in the southern Finland? It might be a little different than for example here in the east. A great video!
Most of the bigger cities and the capital region are very nice and inclusive places. In smaller rural towns, you'll still find old fashioned people who tend to be racist, and especially xenophobic. I still would assume, or at least want to assume that most people think in a similar way as me, where it doesn't matter who you are, where you are from or what your skin colour is, but only care about you having decent morals and trying to respect our culture and social norms :)
Nice words. Everywhere we have some rasist. Even in Finland Thats a fact. But can you see it really, I dont belive that. You said very well, that you are left alone as long as you do your job, youre good to go. Have a wonderful day. /Turku ;)
This makes me want to visit being a Black dude from Detroit. I always say racism is everywhere. Nowhere worst then America. Yet I never even worried about another race doing something to me. It was my own kind sad to say. So I definitely understand where you coming from. Kids just are curious an you can't blame them for asking questions. Shit we all have. I got love for people period no matter what you are. I like to go places an meet new people. So I think I want to visit for sure one day.
Finnish people have experience domination in history, swedes then russia Ruled Finland and it was not nice period in Finnish history. I think therefore Finnish people can understand how it feels and have more compassion.
Good video. As I see it, any foreigner will generally be accepted by fins if you take an effort to learn our ways, culture, social environment, language and so forth. It's especially important to respect our social boundaries regarding touch and distance, which you will find more reserved than anywhere else. We want to keep our space and enjoy our peace and quiet. However, once you befriend fins, you'll also find us quite warm and affectionate in our own ways. Of course, any foreigner will be at a disadvantage to be more easily untrusted at first if you cause problems or screw up big time. There can be some forms of prejudice in some sectors when trying to get a job. Very blatant racism is hard to find outside, whereas some web forums and discussion pages can be cesspools of racist thoughts.
As a person who moved to US over 3 decades ago iv'e had a chance to meet people from many nationalities and with different skin colour many of them are good friends of mine now, what turns me away from some of the people are simply their behavior, some who behave rowdy, loud or does disrespect other cultures, i'm finally going back to my birth country Finland after over 30 years without crossing the oceans ,i left there when i was a young man and i have missed the quietness and the it don't bother me attitude a lot!
I'm almost 40 and grew up in a small town in Finland where we didn't really see any black people back then. So I remember quite clearly when I first saw a black person. I was really shocked but not because of the color of his skin but because he was driving a tiny old car in an underpass meant for cycklists and pedestrians blasting reggae music and smoking a cigarette with the window open 🚗📻🎶🚬 Imagine little seven year-old me walking home from school and encountering this sight in an underpass 😂
I like to think the same way, that Finns face a person rather than a race. However, there are always narrow-minded people, regardless of where you live. I didn't know there was so much racism in Africa. In moments like these, you always realize how good it was for me to grow up in Finland. All the best and blessings to you
Brilliant, thanks for the video! My (non-biological) daughter with Eastern African roots is still very young, but when she was about one we bumped into three kids, a brother and a sister who were African and a Finnish boy. The African boy stared at us intensely and asked very loudly ”are you her MUM??”. The Finnish boy began scolding him immediately: ”are you serious???! That is so rude!”. The black little boy was so embarrassed - ”I was only wondering since they’re so different in skin colour.” The Finnish boy went on and on: ”you don’t ask such PERSONAL questions!”. I was in a bit of a hurry so just walked on with my daughter. They walked by the car as I was packing us in and the little African boy looked so regretful. I smiled at him and told him to have a nice day. My little anecdote seems to line up pretty neatly with your general experience. The little Finnish boy had been raised proper. 😂
I like your description of us. Yes, there are a-holes, but overall, we really don't care about the skin color. Things were certainly worse back when we weren't used to darker skin, but how bad it was, hard to really say. I'm pretty much as white as possible, so it's probably best to stay silent. With this attitude it's hard to see why anyone would care you being here? Welcome (5 years late, but still, this was my first vid I saw from you.) Peace.
As an African, I rarely think of my skin color unless it is a topic by itself. Ofcourse I had incidents of stares and even some confrontation with random drunk individuals. But in general, I know I am in a foreign country to study, work, and integrate to the society and the culture. There are difficulties in finding employment like any foreigner, regardless of skin color. But what I see as a gap from some immigrants is lack of will in integrating to the Finnish culture and learning the language. That's making the Finnish people to be suspicious of foreigners, asking Why do they come to us if they don't like us or our culture and language. That's a legit concern and it's not racism.
Many time people like to know people diffirent color or culture but pressure being mis understood and thos questions is it right or wrong so its just easy to back off and not even make slight eycontact born here i had such minimal contact to foreign people its ubeliveable mean finland is just finland
Hello, great video. I',m glad that you have good experience with Finland and Finnish people. I really liked your experience with kids, there is a Finnish saying that "Truth comes from kids mouth". Meaning that they do not yet have a filter and do not lie that much. I remember a incident when I was a kid and my sister saw a black person first time in her life, she said to my parents: "Look a Swedish person". Since she didnt know any other nationalities at the time and the guy definelty was not finnish LOL. But yes the summary of this video, huge majority of Finns do not care where are you from or what you do, if you just obey laws and do your best to contribute to the society. We are very proud of our nation for free education and pretty much free health care etc. These are provided to all by the taxes etc.
@@Ross-pe8iq You are basing your argument based by something that my 2-3 year old sister said in early 90's. So sure if you want to interpret it like that sure. I couldn't care less
Dude. Great vid. As you said, if you go looking for racism you're probably going to find it. The closest thing to racism in Finland that you will actually find is probably related to the local gypsy/rromani population. Xenophobia is more common and has become so with the increased immigration in past decades. I think it's worthwhile to separate the two ,racism and xenophobia even if they are closely related. I actually firmly believe the average finnish person has a hard time even grasping the idea of racism as it is in places like South Africa or the US. Finnish culture is very a much about "don't cause trouble and contribute to the society and you're ok by us", however with that said, a few bad apples can ruin the field for many others. And that has happened with immigrants and still is happening. And that gives birth to prejudice which again I think is abit different from racism. But I'm rambling by now. tldr Good vid, agree with your opinions. Cheers mate.
I worked with a dude from Gambia a few years back, Im a tradesman and i assumed on how they act that a lot of our older guys are very xenophobic, they are old, they make borderline jokes about everything, on an occasion use words that are dated to 1800s etc. so i thought the experience for the guy would be jarring at best, and i was very wrong, they did not care at all, and during Ramadan, once it was explained to them, helped out without a single word if the guy needed an extra break.
The most recent "racist" thing I can remember was like 3 years ago or something when german person of color saw our tabletop game Afrikan tähti which is a game about who gets lucky and finds the diamond "star of Africa" or the biggest amount of treasure. Well, she claimed that part of the game was that the losers would become slaves which is 100% wrong and she then decided to call basically everyone racist. In response we cleared the stores of that game. Must have been that years best seller. I don't know if that was racist or not but I can say that this was 100% deserved and most of us responded this way just for the lack of respect and understanding.
Hey fellow South African in Finland! Thanks for sharing :) My oddest experience in Finland is saying: I'm from South Africa and getting the response: No, you're not. I mean yes, I am. Sure, I'm pale, but I was still born in Africa. That is what it says on my birth certificate😂 Also agree, Finland is a great place to live (with some idiots).
Thank you❤️❤️. And also very well said about the massive immigration movement too❤️. Thank God for having clarity in our heart and mind, may God keep blessing you with kindness and respect ❤️
As a native Fin i think we have a lot of casual rasism that comes from the country being just lily white for so long hell when i was at school just 25 years ago from the grades 1-8 there was zero people of color other than one Somali girl and one Romani dude and they only came to our school when i was at 9th grade. Mostly Finnish people i think just do not really care about skin color or where you are from if you obey the laws and do not act like a jackass then most people just won't care.
"for so long". What's wrong with that exactly, these are the native people there, they aren't just "white", their a unique ethnic minority in the world and deserve to exist just like others and not become a minority in their own homeland via the mass migration craze happening in Europe that aims to get rid of all of the unique peoples,cultures,languages etc of native Europeans via mixing, as seen before in places in the Americas etc.
Some Finns are reserved because of how they have been raised, and some might have their own bad experiences. Most of us want to give a good people a chance, and I have pretty good experiences myself...except of some Somalis and Middle-Eastern. When Finland started to have refugees from Somalia in the 90's, some of them did very bad things here, and it did a lot of damage for all the refugees to come. Same again 8-10 years ago, when we got middle-eastern. When there are enough of those who doesn't respect our culture and laws, it affects to everyone, not only refugees or immigrants. It makes both ends, far right and far left much stronger, and there is nothing good about it. Both ends are unable to accept any compromises, and ability to make compromises is a foundation to living in peace.
I grew up a white immigrant in a white country and have experienced xenophobia from my young childhood, before I even understood anything about different nationalities and races. I've had it in Finland too; not much, but it's there. I have been lucky to live in different countries around the world and what it's taught me is that people are not really that different. It's frustrating because it feels so unnecessary to have all this hostility between people for completely superficial reasons.
I live in a such a small town that i think i never seen a black guy here. So i might give you that childish, curious look of "what's that dude doing here?" but then i would carry on my day without thinking further. As i've grown up i see people more as individuals rather than groups. So these individuals will gain my respect depending on their actions rather than existing features.
I thought Finland was pretty good about stuff like this but obviously the title implies otherwise... Haven't watched the video yet but I will when I get home!
Your video VERY interesting. I hope you see this comment. What is really interesting is that here in the United States, it's the opposite of what you said regarding culture. In the US, if you expect foreigners to embrace our culture, you are seen as racist or bigoted. It seems so backwards to me. Many come here and never learn English, then get upset when you don't speak Spanish (although I do speak Spanish). If I were to move to a foreign country, I would NEVER expect the locals to cater to me. I would make every effort to learn thre language and assimilate into their culture as best I possibly could. But many in the US thibk that expectation is bigoted. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
I think there is some racism in Finland. It's more hidden, like people may not like you because of your color/origins etc... They just keep it to theirselves type of stuff. So in a sense it really doesn't affect anyone so to say.
I was doing lunges at a gym in a weird spot next to a squat machine, a woman came to use the squat machine and I moved out of the way akwardly after looking at her. I feel like she may think I am racist, because from her point of view, I just looked at a black person and left.
Im sure there is alot of racism in finland, but it is not aimed towards anyone because of their skin colour. Its the immigrants that dont respect and follow the rules and manners and act arrogant that get the most hate from finnish people. If you are able to adapt to the culuture and integrate into society, everyone will accept you no matter your skin colour. I think you nailed it in your analogy
I'm a Dane, and I do have a set of stereotypes on mind... but nothing bad actually... no racism (as in thinking I'm superior) or xenophobia (not afraid of people with a different skin colour)... It's more like I'm amazed how much of the black population seem to always be in a good mood, I live in a community with quite a mix of colours from around the world... the darkest are always the most cheerful... and it puzzles me a bit... It's fricking cold at times, and if you're first generation immigrant, I know that our system tries to stress you out. Yet the ones smiling, whistling or singing on their way to work are the ones that look like they just arrived from Africa. Perhaps it's just because I'm more used to the Danish mentality, complaining about everything and trying to only mind your own business. It's just so colourful on the spectrum of moods. With that attitude, I don't care about the colour of your skin.
Because of aging population, Finland has been going in a worse financial situation and that has caused tension between people who receive benefits and people who pay taxes. European populism has also been on the rise for a while, which uses xenophobia for scapegoating immigrants for our financial struggles. They use rhetoric like, 'they don't want to work / they take our jobs'. There's a bigger picture hidden behind that: entry-level job employers discriminate based on race and gender (there was a study that proved this), making it harder for non-white immigrants to become employed. Immigrants are also in a more vulnerable position and less experienced with unions, so immigrant-majority jobs keep salaries low on some fields. Hence it looks like immigrants don't work or some employers prefer them over Finns (saying things like, 'they work much harder and complain less'). The truth is, immigration can alleviate the problem from aging population and we need it. There are also problems associated with immigrant employment that we need to solve.
Something I have noticed is that there can be alot of racism between different groups of immigrants. I have heard people from countries like Iraq or Syria talk down on black people, immigrants from the Balkan who don´t like anyone outside Europe or South east asians that don´t like people from the middle east. Being the victim of racism or xenophobia in a new country doesn´t have to come from the native population
Of course Finland is white majority country. You're talking about ethnicity. Racism is wrong and there is not excuse for it but sadly it occurs everywhere. Being black in Europe isn't such a big issue these days. It's nothing new or exceptional. No one should be ashamed for their ethnicity or colour. Finland is not South Africa and making comparisons between them could be complicated but that would depend on your and others' mindset and how you decide to agree or disagree. No one should every apologise for who they are. Ask Finns about emigrating to Sweden.
I think most finns don't really care about what a person looks like, where they come from, what they believe in, whether they prefer men or women, etc. As long as the person isn't causing problems for others, they're accepted.
The definition of causing problems is subjective, so in some way your comment is contradicting itself. In Finland, racism is often confused with criticizing different cultures. Finns accept many people regardless of appearance, as long as they are ready to respect Finland's values based on freedom and human rights, the Finnish constitution, customs and so on.
Definitely. Live by the rules of the country you go, and you should have no issues. If i went to an arabic country and behaved like a finnish drunk man does, i'd be dead which is expectable and thats how we have to live. Different countries, different rules and customs. The worst is a nation with a population that is not united but seperated. Sweden is a great example where there are ghettos which live by completely different rules and where swedish police doesn't have a say. That is unacceptable, everyone in a country must abide by the same rules or it is a chaos. Finland's harmony has been based on national unity.
These days there is quite strong hate towards Russians. People might stop serving them etc. But its kinda understandable though. It was not like that before the war.
There might be some playfull "racism", or hate towards Swedes too, but that's mostly just joking. Especially, if its about hockey.
American media does have stronger influence on youth more than ever before. Since internet became widespread due to smartphones the toxicity in this society has been increasing by every year
Thank you for your comments. I hope you find good friend soon in Finland😊😊
Its all about respect, without the respect we dont have anything.. You cool bro do your thing 🇫🇮
Well said brother
Nice video (as always). You mentioned that kids have sometimes looked at your skin color and it made me to remember what happened over 20 years ago when my son was about 2-3 years old and I want to tell it to you.
In a Citymarket fruit section there was an African man with traditional African clothes cutting pineapples and giving people small pieces for tasting (smart marketing btw). My son asked very loudly: "Mom! Why is that man black?" I and my wife felt troubled like "oh no, what did he say...". That African man answered my son that he is from Africa and there's always sunshine and everybody has dark skin (spoke Finnish quite well btw). My son reacted just: "Aha. Ok." Kids are honest, they just want to get information about the World around them.
Hahahaha! Brilliant. Yeah, kids will be kids and that completely alright!
I love this, good reaction for the african descent sir.
I'm really glad hearing that Finland has served u well :)
Thank you!
Good way to put it, there are idiots where ever you go. There are always good people and always bad people. But if you only focus on the bad, you will only see bad and vice versa.
Hi from 🇫🇮
Yea there IS idiots everywhere. In Africa in China in Britain. Everywhere.
Wise words
Thank you for the insight you gave about racism vs xenophobia. I have always felt that racism is a blanket word that often gets thrown around, but it does not seem to fit in every situation.
I could not articulate why, but it seemed insufficient to describe the situation.
Happy to hear you've had such a good experience in Finland! An awesome channel and a heart warming video ❤ Kiitos!
Your shirt reminds me of lonkero beverage. Guess Im in need for one!
This made me laugh!!!! Hahahahahahaha
Thank you for picking apart the issue so accurately and eloquently, as a Finn I feel understood.
Finlands society has taken the best part of Swedish and Scandinavian models and have preserved them a lot better than for example Sweden. Racism in the Nordic countries have been a very big no-no, but Finland together with countries like Norway have held a good balance between compassion for refugees but a stricter view on migrants, avoiding huge divides in their society. Finland also never had the weird self minimizing of ones own culture that Sweden been up to. Swedish people and especially politicians should have looked to Finland for guidance in many respects, I don’t know if it stupidity or pride thats been stopping them. The schools in Finland are amazing and you can also see this in Estonia where they successfully copied the best system in Europe, the Finns took the old Swedish system and carefully built on it for ages, in Sweden we just up and ruined it. I love the Finns absolutely among the best people in the world! 🇸🇪❤️🇫🇮
What you described about finnish attitude towards race is due to being monoracial society. Multiracial societies tend to always have more tensions between groups of people. When you come here as an indivinual there is no problem. But if you come here as kurdi/somali etc and mostly socialice with them and if you don't assimilate, then there will be problems. I am not finnish by birth and I was born near equator.
5:37 I can vouch for that part. In Finland, we are taught at schools to never judge anyone based on their skin color, but the content of their character. We are all people, and we are all equal.
Recently with the integration of American society with ours through social media etc., we have received more and more focus on skin color. I personally dislike this development.
I mean not that I disagree with the sentiment, but that never was taught in my school and I haven't heard anyone say that they've been taught that (actually slightly the opposite, because some teachers have said racist things themselves despite it not being part of the curriculum).
Also I disagree with america being the sole influence, I think the main reason why race has been brought up was mentioned in the video. Through migration in combination with financial instability, people have started focusing more on it (usually looking for a scapegoat for what the issue is).
@@ellem8990 i would say that it highly depends of the school and time you went to school.
@@Arstik That's fair and that's why I tried to include what I've also heard from others, but I understand that's not everyone. I made the comment, because the original comment makes quite a big blanket statement, so I wanted to share how that's not entirely true (if at all, maybe it is now). I doubt that the person is themselves young enough to be at that age themselves and most of the population isn't, so I figured they likely also mean the past and not just the current moment. I think that's a fair interpretation since they didn't say that only young people are like this, but just talked about finnish people and education.
I'm in my early 20s for the record and some of the people I've talked to were younger than me, so I'm not talking about a time that was that long ago.
@@ellem8990 Where I was taught, at Oulunsalo, this sentiment was 100% taught at school. I still remember the lessons like it was yesterday. This is early and late 2000's teaching Im talking about.
Good point about racism vs xenophobia!
Thank you for this video! I am considering moving from the US, but my son is half Nigerian and his safety and feeling of acceptance is the top priority. This is such a relief to hear.
Unless you have a job ready for you, I would advice against moving here. The unemployment rate is currently over 10%, Finns are getting poorer and angrier. As many African immigrants do not work at all (not being a racist, there are statistics to back this up), there is a serious risk some Finns will see your son (+his dad) as a parasite. Public resources are not that great, the healthcare is in ruins. The benefits were recently cut, so families with kids have it extra hard. Pensioners rule this country.
Finland is a safe country,, there is always people with bad intentions, but our system tries to help you so you wouldn't have the need to shoplift etc.. yet still mostly safe and peaceful place to be. But ofc then there is migrants who can not adapt their ways to our ways, reason why Sweden is in deep waters and so is UK and many other counties also, they just can not respect anything other than their own bellybutton.
Funny story, yesterday I happened to stand behind a black woman in a small shop, waiting for the cashier. I somehow froze, because it is super rare in my town to see anyone of colour. I was thinking, do I stand too close, witch way I'm supposed to look, am I acting natural enough to not make her unconfortable... XD Here is a Finn talking, I really try not to act like some racist! :D
jos kohtelisit häntä kuin ketä tahansa muutakin niin ei tulisi mietittyä tuollaisia :)
@@statueofgod_ jos ihmisen fyysiset kokemukset "kenestä tahansa" rajoittuu valkoihoisiin, ei se ole ihme jos hieman ihmettelee jotain uutta mitä ei ole nähnyt. samalla tavalla jos et ole ennen nähnyt valkoista kissaa vaan aina mustia kissoja, on valkoinen kissa uusi ilmestys. ei siinä uuden ihmettelyssä ole mitään vikaa, mutta jos uutta pitää jotenkin automaattisesti pahana niin sehän on se rasismin ongelma.
@@statueofgod_ aika mustavalkoista :D
Radikaalisti erilainen ihonväri, mihin ei oo tottunu, aiheuttaa itelläkin jollain tavalla hämmennyksen tunteen. Enkä todellakaan kohtele mitenkään eritavalla, ku ketä tahansa muuta ihonväristä riippumatta. Aivojen reseptorit lähtee vaan vähä laukalle 🤷
Ja uskon et omalla kohdalla yliajattelua nousee pintaan syystä, ettei tiedä kuinka muut heitä kohtelee. Kuullut ja lukenut kuitenki paljon juttuja, jotka saa kokemaan, et rasismia on ja mahdollisesti lisääntyy Suomessakin.
Jollain tavalla haluaa kompensoida ja varmistaa, että toinen kokee olevansa ihan yhtä hyväksytty vaikka onkin tummempi iho.
Just don't think about it at all. BLack people are the most accepting people in the world. We love love. America portrays us as gun toting savages. It that is for an agenda that they have to keep us down trodden and looked at as something to fear or pity. Just be yourself
If you get some extra views from the aged population in Finland, especially from the ones from the northern parts as I am, it can simply be just the inexperience. I for example, having grown 99% of my life in just the northern parts, haven't ever talked face-to-face with anyone with a darker skin tone than mine.
With no ill will I would be a bit stressed about it, since I feel like it's a bit loaded situation socially, even though I know it should just be basic human interaction. It really comes down to my own inexperience and likely overthinking it.
Very true. My mom grew up in a Finland that didn't really have people from other ethnic backgrounds. She hates how she tends to tense up when she sees people from other cultures because she thinks there's no reason for it; it comes from some animal part of her brain thinking "Our tribe. Not our tribe." She was glad to tell me that now that her mother is in care housing where apparently majority of nurses are black, she has been able to interact with them just like any other person. I, on the other hand, have had people from different backgrounds in my classes since I started school. I don't think about it.
Thank you for the video. Really enjoyed it!
Finland is a very induvidualistic place. There are no that many of us, so it's more about who you are, than what specific group you belong to.
I can't pretend I don't notice color though. Just this morning there was a black guy playing hockey with me and I have to admit I was a bit surprised at first.
Just because it's unusual.
But you know, when the puck dropped I was just worried he doesn't score on me (I'm a goalie). And the color of his shirt was more important than the color of his skin :)
Looks like you have a good and healthy attitude and I'm sure you'd do well anywhere. I'm glad to see you chose to live in Finland and I'm happy your experience has been nice 😊
Thank you!!
You are a true poet! I like to think there is very much good things in our world, but ignorance brings out the stupidity in some people. Good Video!
I think Finland is mostly about three things:
1. Honesty
2. Respect
3. Humility
Anyone that has these and is worthy of these things will very likely fit right in. You can manage without humility but I think it's something we value and respect greatly and tend to frown upon people that brag loudly or make a scene of themselves. Of course there is the accentuated sense of personal space and privacy that can feel alienating at first but once you get the hang of that you're good. A dude like you should fit right in.
I truly think we are one of the more honest, no bullshit kind of nations out there so just being yourself and not trying too hard should work.
As a Finn I'm glad to hear this, but wonder how different the experiences are. I agree we care more about culture than melanin which of course is better than the other way around, but I'd still guess being for example somalian in Finland is not so easy unless you're born here and thus just Finnish. You look like a cool dude that could be from anywhere as well.
That is an interesting thought, I have noticed the same thing. When I grew up in the 90s I attended an immigration elementary school. It was and still is a regular school, but it has a special class to asses their educational level and teach elementary. Students were integrated at a ratio of 1:20 into classes of their level. My class integrated immigrants from US, Saudi Arabia and Italy.
Point being, I can barely tell the difference between a person born in Finland and someone who attended one of the immigration schools, and I have noticed that they are fully trusted immediately regardless of their appearance while immigrants who have not yet integrated are treated politely. Integrated immigrants are granted easily full trust, but it isn't as... joyous as with the former case. Not everyone, of course, is as accepting.
A related story comes to mind from lukio when throught student council and the "Alliance" - national council network - I observed an anti-bullying campaign where the first commercial was axed by the school staff, because ONE of the bullies was black. He volunteered, and we all had known him for years. We couldn't fathom that anyone would question him as dissimilar. Of course, there was a reason but not allowing his participation kind of went against the spirit of the whole campaign - in our i.e. the council's opinion. No one cares, and even less so in higher education.
I love your attitude! Respect bro!
"Hurt people hurt people" is a good thing to remember. It's very sad but interesting that black people born in SA were teasing and bullying you for not being born there. Maybe it stems from them being bullied for their race and then seeing you as somehow even "worse" in the society or something. So they probably put their anger and hate on you because they experienced the same thing. You seem like a very nice dude, I hope you're doing well and are happy here in Finland!
I'm glad you're enjoying living in Finland 😊 I just found your channel and there seems to be a lot of great content. Subscribed!
Your insight to racism in Finland and in South Africa is very interesting and important to talk about. Thank you for sharing your experiences and thoughts.
Thx! Was great to hear your pov for your experience here in Finland👍
I saw the comments on one of your videos chico and it was a bit disappointing seeing black people pull each other down and the most common were "Your not South African" and I was like why?? I didn't know Black South African are Racist towards each other!!
Yeah, it was pretty discouraging. I’ve experienced that my entire life. However, I’d completely forgotten that some black people can be like that in South Africa. I wasn’t sad because of what some of the comments were saying. I felt sad because it made me feel even less hope for the country. It’s such small minded thinking. I hate it. But, they will live their lives and I will live mine. Instead of coming together, they divide each other by nationality. It’s a tragedy.
Well, in Finland too, growing up, racism was mostly against Eastern Europeans, so white-on-white. We thought of people from Eastern Europe as poor and thieves. So, it makes sense that in SA you would have black-on-black racism.
@@Basheez People often confuse cultural differences/shock as racism. People nagging about Karelians (Lahti jokes etc) are due to class and cultural differences.
Race is only relevant issue in USA, rest of world have ethnic groups. Nigeria a one country has close to 400 different etnic groups, they are different culturaly, also in apearance. If americans watch only skin color rest of world also watches other things, like how tall are you how tall is your forehead, Shape of your nose, size of your lips and other thing. Like In europe you can make difference how latwians differ from estonian or Russians or How Fins differ from Swedes and Estonians
Here in Sweden where I know live, people are in principle very "nice", but one has to be the third or more generation in a village to "count" as being one of the villagers - and those from this or that town are considered like this or that. All kinds of prejudice. Political parties have a lot of prejudice against each other, so a little village can be devided along that line, too. Why would that be different in South Africa?
Glad to hear that the experience's been good and even eye opening for you.
It outright confuses many Europeans / Finns if another country is still politically or racially loaded in the 21st century. It feels like something that should've died away already a century ago.
Random jackasses are everywhere, but they're always best left ignored.
I have issue with people who come here and wont bother to learn our language, dont respect our social norms, dont respect our laws...
that makes me really mad.. but like you said: as long as they try their best to adapt here and yes ik learning language wont happen overnight but if they put the effort and respect our culture and respect personal space.. sure welcome!
the worst " racism " what I have seen been drunk people yelling at immigrant taxi drivers or wolt workers " go to hell " , " go home ", " go f* yourself " or something
🙄
you seem wonderful personality! hope you enjoy your stay in finland!
As Finnish person myself, to me you're a person. If you'd take your time to learn finnish, the culture and really work to integrate into the society I'd call you finnish, but that's just me.
There is in my opinion not just real xenophobia, but racism in Finland, but it depends. It depends where you live and what social groups you hang with. Difference is, it's not institutional like apartheid was or societal like it is in the US. because we never have had racial segregation in the independent history of Finland.
It's a small, but annoyingly loud minority who hide behind religious bigotry and nationalism, but to me they don't represent Finland, finnish society or values.
At the end of the day Finland is the most content eg. satisfied nation in the world, call it happiness, I guess. To most it matters that your not violent or a nuisance and in all fairness in my experience foreign people be it black or not who come to Finland are more chill and less violent than the average drunk finn tbh. Anyway its lovely to hear that you enjoy living in Finland ❤
"Has he been drinking too much coffee?" 😂
You are amazingly eloquent!! Lovely and accurate analysis, keep up the good work!
I look at people, regardless of their color, because I'm curious.
Good talk/essay.
I think a lot of it stems from seeing western Europe f up their big cities with terrible immigration policies. That has hardened attitudes here quite alot. And to be fair, and we are all adults here, islam is main reason for xenophobia. There is no reason people cant live together in harmony even if its in their own loose groups... Unless you are guided by the ethics of 600ad warlord. Its not just "hey we do our cultural thing and you do yours but we share the same core values which maintais social cohesion". Its "when we grow strong enough we want you guys to respect our taboos and eventually it would be cool if we could have sharia".
It is honestly scary.
Im glad to hear you feel at peace here in Finland. Much respect to you for going into a country so completely unknown, and trying to actively fit in and appreciate the culture. Fuck racism. All we are is people from different backgrounds and cultures. Hope Finland continues to feel like a good place to be for you! Cheers.
When you value a person for thier ethics and not thier skin, they will try to work harder and increase thier value. If you focus on color people will drag each other down cause you cant change your skin. Kids are curious be kind and understanding and they will never have a reason to hate. Most of all in finnish culture thier is no fear, they don't focus on it, they see a problem and work to fix it, but are careful not to over fix it, its a minimalist aproach.
There's also a huge differency on WHERE u live in Finland. Like in Kontula white's can be minorities in certain areas :) I remember, in Käpylän aikuislukio, that I was the only native Finn in the class.. The teaching was done in Finnish and the math teacher was really good.. Majority Somali's I believe.. And this was like already 25 years ago.
That's a standard example of racist propaganda. Whites aren't minority anywhere in Finland.
It's exactly as you say Chico, everywhere you go there are closed minded hateful people and then there is peaceful open minded people too, and I would say the Finnish populations vast majority more on the peaceful open minded spectrum, but I would say in the recent years there has been some worrying signs of Xenophobia especially in Sweden.
I think that is understandable since their government has had a very liberal immigration policy which has resulted in complete segregation of entire cities, also another factor to this development is the inflation caused by first corona, and then the wars started in Ukraine and Gaza/Israel.
It's really tiresome hearing people claim on the media that Finland is racist. Is it racist to be apprehensive of people who do not share your culture, who do not even attempt to assimilate? I don't think so. To those who come to Finland to live and work, and want to adopt our culture; you are welcome here. To those who come under the pretense of seeking refuge (after skipping through several safe and peaceful countries and going back to their "dangerous" home countries for holidays) and wish to only abuse our system; expect no respect or hospitality.
Hear hear !
I'm not going to lie... It really annoys me too, if I'm honest. If someone thinks Finland is THE MOST racist and oppressive country... I would LOVE to know where they are from. I would almost bet money on the fact that its probably MUCH WORSE where they are from. It blows my mind. I can't imagine walking around in Finland feeling victimised because of the colour of my skin. But hey, to each their own I guess. Maybe folk are experiencing levels of racism I've never heard of.
@@ChicoMuya Mostly just leftist lies and propaganda. Also often used by blacks who behave badly to shift blame and victimize themselves.
Yes, in Finland people just don't like system abusers. And very oddly there is group of people whom think that "system abusing is ok, it's racist" to say anything against people whom abuse. Fact time, in Finland people don't care what person looks like or what he is, if he abuses system, people won't like it, and in that area it does not matter if person has shoe polished black face or just plain old ordinary finnish white face. Slackers are just not liked in finnish culture. And even less are liked people whom insist "saving" slackers at the expense of people who do actual work.
@@talvisota1939 yeah, the people who live off of welfare as a way of life are called "welfare rats" (kelarotta) regardless of skin colour
My mother has ever had very limited experience with non-whites, my father only marginally more so. My father is still surprised in your very Grump kind a way (guy might have been modeled after him) when he meets people who seem like they'd be foreigners and experience them speaking almost fluent Finnish. But every time he speaks of these encounters, you can sense certain pride and admiration from him and he always tells how well the encounter went, even if Finnish in question was less than fluent. Just the effort is worthy of note. But still, despite having met couple of such people, he still shows some surprise when it happens, not having grown customed to it.
Where as a delightful encounter I had with my mother, as I helped her with her excersises, was when we were water running in a local outdoors swimming facility. We had couple of times taken notice that there had been a truly black fellow coming to the place at the same time as us. There had been fewer people of darker complexion in general, but this lad was truly dark. We especially noticed him because he was actually pretty hard to notice as he used stand in shade of nearby trees and take leisurely walks around the park surrounding the facility. Then for a while we had had different schedules and he had not been there. But I noticed a rare another such man swimming with us. He was just about to pass us and I was getting ready to tap my mom to point him out to her, when she suddenly said relatively loud (being hard of hearing as she was even then): "Haven't been seeing the black man lately!" (in Finnish)
Coming behind her, she couldn't see my face go absolutely Pikachu on her, but the man passing just us gave my mother a wide smile and said in just slightly accented Finnish: "Well here you have one!"
We all had a hearty laugh about it, mentioned him that we were talking about another person and just kept going with our day.
In many countries those alone could be seen as grounds for "racism". There has been even serious talk about it here that it should be seen as such. Being surprised at people's colour, finding it anyway fascinating, let alone mentioning it.
But to both of them, it is a new thing. It is a different thing. It is a noticeable thing. But it's not a bad thing. Yes, they both would figure that a person discint from the "general populace" is probably a foreigner. But if proven different, they make no mind of it. Might even be delighted to learn someone who's heritage is from somewhere else has liked our country enough to make a home in it.
Heck, I have more experience and I still have first taken contact to people "out of the norm" in English, only to learn a moment later they speak perfectly good Finnish. Granted, that boba-tee shop had zero indicators about Finnish. Even all the menus were in English only.
I have also met a lot of people who have lived here for years and still prefer to talk in English. And some of them in turn have looked outwardly like they were natives. So it's really not "assuming".
All in all it really boils down to how much different you are and how much different do you demand to remain. If you even dress completely different, have an accent and weird habits, but have bothered to learn few words Finnish... You'll get along just fine, but people will notice you.
You don't speak a word and have different customs, but want to give sauna, mämmi and salmiakki a hearty try? You'll get along just fine and people will still notice you.
Go around telling people how different you are and how you should be treated and demanding more coloured professors in our university, because of course there need be such? Yeah. You won't get along. And people will make a note of you.
And of course arseholes are just that everywhere. But you'd be surprised around here if a complete stranger might come to your aid, 'cose they don't like the arsehole either.
/essay
Finally someone with this sort of insight points out the actual issue.
Key word here is Try,, try again and again, never giving up , eventually youll be Finnishd 😊
In Finland: Mind your own business, don't harras and be honest. Quite simple but still some doesn't get it. Sometimes even natives doesn't understand.
Yeap Finns don't care about skin color they care about the content of your character. Cultural differences conflicting with Finnish tradition can cause grievance if the foreign culture is pushed on us and of course if a person is not contributing to society or is a criminal. Some people like to claim that is not so and it's really racism but those people generally just want there to be racism so they can oppose it and feel morally superior.
as a white finn it made me happy to hear your points of views about finland💜
we value respect and thats one reason why we dont wanna discriminate against people despite of their race or ethnicity, ofc we are not free from racist people but its not major problem, im kinda worried about the future tho due to our current government(they try to make poor people more poor and poverty sometimes increases hatred towards "outsiders")
my grandma was actually karelian(indigineous) and needed to left her home at 6yo due to the war and she was treated pretty shitty by finns in her youth because people thought she was russian when in reality she lost her home because of russia(she spoke finnish and karelia but im pretty sure she didnt speak nor understand russian)
i love finnish culture, music, nature and safety, but i have always struggled to fit in due to my adhd(got diagnosed at 19yo), being hyperactive and also insecure girl made people bully me harshly because i was always too much, i was speaking and laughing too much and expressed my emotions too much, in finland we value silence and it can undirectly lead to ableism imo, but its more common issues in small villages on country side and now when i live in helsinki i feel like people dont care if i cant fit into the standards of normality aka being stoic,
also our communication is kinda non-verbal which has been difficult for me to read,
we usually wont come say people if we dont like them but quietly judging is more common than people think but often foreigners might not notice it because its so subtle, we dont judge people so much but rather how theyre behaving in public places
You said outloud what I have thinked about finnish people and their mindset. I don't care what color anybody is, when they try to be part of Finnish sociaty and try to be part of the country! I really liked you thoughts a lot!
6:32 If you get into bus and look like a tourist, Finns are probably looking at you thinking "please, don't come to sit next to me". Not because of your skin color but native Finns know that you never ever go to sit next to somebody you don't know if there are any free seats elsewhere. That's because personal space is valued so high.
If you want to try to become friends with a Finn, it's totally okay to ask if it's okay to sit next to them in a bus but do not do that silently if there are other seats available.
under the skin we are all the same, only attitude matters
100% agreement!
yep, some just rrpe and mrrder 10x more, but no biggie
and some just write stupid shit like you do@@nahkaboltsi6315
Blah blah blah typical lefty bs
@nahkaboltsi6315
Well, you better stop and seek help then. No biggie
Thing is, in Finland dark skinned are few enough that they aren’t really a “group” in anyone’s minds. And when everyone is treated as an individual, it’s a lot less likely to get hate, because let’s face it, people are generally nice! There is some hard-core racism in Finland, but it is marginal and mostly imported.
i look at black people because i think they have very beautiful skin, not all but the ones i've seen it's like velvet
As I grew up, Finnish young men thought the more colourfull and extrovert men from the south would charm the wit out of the Finnish girls, and the young Finnish women felt they could never rival the beauty of darker southern girls, so a bit envy there was, and so Finnish girls colored their blonde hair *red* at least. Who on earth would/could love us pale and colourless Finns, with not a natural curl in thin hair, and even our eyelashes had no colour to mention!!! 😀 Growing older, self-confidence also grows, based on other aspects than looks, like values, personality, and actions.
I'm really glad to hear this. I guess you're living in the southern Finland? It might be a little different than for example here in the east. A great video!
Glad you enjoyed it! For sure, I might indeed be living in the Helsinki bubble. But I've travelled a bit around and I still feel the same!
Most of the bigger cities and the capital region are very nice and inclusive places.
In smaller rural towns, you'll still find old fashioned people who tend to be racist, and especially xenophobic.
I still would assume, or at least want to assume that most people think in a similar way as me, where it doesn't matter who you are, where you are from or what your skin colour is, but only care about you having decent morals and trying to respect our culture and social norms :)
Most people are in group oriented and out groups are only tolerated.
Nice words. Everywhere we have some rasist. Even in Finland Thats a fact. But can you see it really, I dont belive that. You said very well, that you are left alone as long as you do your job, youre good to go. Have a wonderful day. /Turku ;)
This makes me want to visit being a Black dude from Detroit. I always say racism is everywhere. Nowhere worst then America. Yet I never even worried about another race doing something to me. It was my own kind sad to say. So I definitely understand where you coming from. Kids just are curious an you can't blame them for asking questions. Shit we all have. I got love for people period no matter what you are. I like to go places an meet new people. So I think I want to visit for sure one day.
Finnish people have experience domination in history, swedes then russia Ruled Finland and it was not nice period in Finnish history. I think therefore Finnish people can understand how it feels and have more compassion.
Good video. As I see it, any foreigner will generally be accepted by fins if you take an effort to learn our ways, culture, social environment, language and so forth. It's especially important to respect our social boundaries regarding touch and distance, which you will find more reserved than anywhere else. We want to keep our space and enjoy our peace and quiet. However, once you befriend fins, you'll also find us quite warm and affectionate in our own ways.
Of course, any foreigner will be at a disadvantage to be more easily untrusted at first if you cause problems or screw up big time. There can be some forms of prejudice in some sectors when trying to get a job. Very blatant racism is hard to find outside, whereas some web forums and discussion pages can be cesspools of racist thoughts.
As a person who moved to US over 3 decades ago iv'e had a chance to meet people from many nationalities and with different skin colour many of them are good friends of mine now, what turns me away from some of the people are simply their behavior, some who behave rowdy, loud or does disrespect other cultures, i'm finally going back to my birth country Finland after over 30 years without crossing the oceans ,i left there when i was a young man and i have missed the quietness and the it don't bother me attitude a lot!
I hope you find your journey back fulfilling!!
No further comments but well said; as an "older finn male" this was so on point.
I'm almost 40 and grew up in a small town in Finland where we didn't really see any black people back then. So I remember quite clearly when I first saw a black person. I was really shocked but not because of the color of his skin but because he was driving a tiny old car in an underpass meant for cycklists and pedestrians blasting reggae music and smoking a cigarette with the window open 🚗📻🎶🚬 Imagine little seven year-old me walking home from school and encountering this sight in an underpass 😂
Thank you! So called Finland is combination of people come, go, or stay!
I like to think the same way, that Finns face a person rather than a race.
However, there are always narrow-minded people, regardless of where you live.
I didn't know there was so much racism in Africa.
In moments like these, you always realize how good it was for me to grow up in Finland.
All the best and blessings to you
Brilliant, thanks for the video! My (non-biological) daughter with Eastern African roots is still very young, but when she was about one we bumped into three kids, a brother and a sister who were African and a Finnish boy. The African boy stared at us intensely and asked very loudly ”are you her MUM??”. The Finnish boy began scolding him immediately: ”are you serious???! That is so rude!”. The black little boy was so embarrassed - ”I was only wondering since they’re so different in skin colour.” The Finnish boy went on and on: ”you don’t ask such PERSONAL questions!”. I was in a bit of a hurry so just walked on with my daughter. They walked by the car as I was packing us in and the little African boy looked so regretful. I smiled at him and told him to have a nice day.
My little anecdote seems to line up pretty neatly with your general experience. The little Finnish boy had been raised proper. 😂
I like your description of us. Yes, there are a-holes, but overall, we really don't care about the skin color. Things were certainly worse back when we weren't used to darker skin, but how bad it was, hard to really say. I'm pretty much as white as possible, so it's probably best to stay silent. With this attitude it's hard to see why anyone would care you being here? Welcome (5 years late, but still, this was my first vid I saw from you.) Peace.
As an African, I rarely think of my skin color unless it is a topic by itself. Ofcourse I had incidents of stares and even some confrontation with random drunk individuals. But in general, I know I am in a foreign country to study, work, and integrate to the society and the culture. There are difficulties in finding employment like any foreigner, regardless of skin color. But what I see as a gap from some immigrants is lack of will in integrating to the Finnish culture and learning the language. That's making the Finnish people to be suspicious of foreigners, asking Why do they come to us if they don't like us or our culture and language. That's a legit concern and it's not racism.
Many time people like to know people diffirent color or culture but pressure being mis understood and thos questions is it right or wrong so its just easy to back off and not even make slight eycontact born here i had such minimal contact to foreign people its ubeliveable mean finland is just finland
Hello, great video. I',m glad that you have good experience with Finland and Finnish people. I really liked your experience with kids, there is a Finnish saying that "Truth comes from kids mouth". Meaning that they do not yet have a filter and do not lie that much. I remember a incident when I was a kid and my sister saw a black person first time in her life, she said to my parents: "Look a Swedish person". Since she didnt know any other nationalities at the time and the guy definelty was not finnish LOL.
But yes the summary of this video, huge majority of Finns do not care where are you from or what you do, if you just obey laws and do your best to contribute to the society. We are very proud of our nation for free education and pretty much free health care etc. These are provided to all by the taxes etc.
@@Ross-pe8iq You are basing your argument based by something that my 2-3 year old sister said in early 90's. So sure if you want to interpret it like that sure. I couldn't care less
@@Ross-pe8iqFix your dyslexia
We are all black when the lights go out.
as long as you work normally and dont bother anyone, your good
Dude. Great vid. As you said, if you go looking for racism you're probably going to find it. The closest thing to racism in Finland that you will actually find is probably related to the local gypsy/rromani population. Xenophobia is more common and has become so with the increased immigration in past decades. I think it's worthwhile to separate the two ,racism and xenophobia even if they are closely related. I actually firmly believe the average finnish person has a hard time even grasping the idea of racism as it is in places like South Africa or the US. Finnish culture is very a much about "don't cause trouble and contribute to the society and you're ok by us", however with that said, a few bad apples can ruin the field for many others. And that has happened with immigrants and still is happening. And that gives birth to prejudice which again I think is abit different from racism. But I'm rambling by now. tldr Good vid, agree with your opinions. Cheers mate.
I worked with a dude from Gambia a few years back, Im a tradesman and i assumed on how they act that a lot of our older guys are very xenophobic, they are old, they make borderline jokes about everything, on an occasion use words that are dated to 1800s etc. so i thought the experience for the guy would be jarring at best, and i was very wrong, they did not care at all, and during Ramadan, once it was explained to them, helped out without a single word if the guy needed an extra break.
The most recent "racist" thing I can remember was like 3 years ago or something when german person of color saw our tabletop game Afrikan tähti which is a game about who gets lucky and finds the diamond "star of Africa" or the biggest amount of treasure. Well, she claimed that part of the game was that the losers would become slaves which is 100% wrong and she then decided to call basically everyone racist. In response we cleared the stores of that game. Must have been that years best seller. I don't know if that was racist or not but I can say that this was 100% deserved and most of us responded this way just for the lack of respect and understanding.
Hey fellow South African in Finland! Thanks for sharing :) My oddest experience in Finland is saying: I'm from South Africa and getting the response: No, you're not. I mean yes, I am. Sure, I'm pale, but I was still born in Africa. That is what it says on my birth certificate😂 Also agree, Finland is a great place to live (with some idiots).
0:24 i see a missed opportunity to use the vsauce soundtrack
Thank you❤️❤️. And also very well said about the massive immigration movement too❤️. Thank God for having clarity in our heart and mind, may God keep blessing you with kindness and respect ❤️
As a native Fin i think we have a lot of casual rasism that comes from the country being just lily white for so long hell when i was at school just 25 years ago from the grades 1-8 there was zero people of color other than one Somali girl and one Romani dude and they only came to our school when i was at 9th grade.
Mostly Finnish people i think just do not really care about skin color or where you are from if you obey the laws and do not act like a jackass then most people just won't care.
"for so long". What's wrong with that exactly, these are the native people there, they aren't just "white", their a unique ethnic minority in the world and deserve to exist just like others and not become a minority in their own homeland via the mass migration craze happening in Europe that aims to get rid of all of the unique peoples,cultures,languages etc of native Europeans via mixing, as seen before in places in the Americas etc.
How is the black community? Do we have places for us to be around each other?
To even think that way you are separating us based on our skin color.
Some Finns are reserved because of how they have been raised, and some might have their own bad experiences. Most of us want to give a good people a chance, and I have pretty good experiences myself...except of some Somalis and Middle-Eastern. When Finland started to have refugees from Somalia in the 90's, some of them did very bad things here, and it did a lot of damage for all the refugees to come. Same again 8-10 years ago, when we got middle-eastern. When there are enough of those who doesn't respect our culture and laws, it affects to everyone, not only refugees or immigrants. It makes both ends, far right and far left much stronger, and there is nothing good about it. Both ends are unable to accept any compromises, and ability to make compromises is a foundation to living in peace.
I grew up a white immigrant in a white country and have experienced xenophobia from my young childhood, before I even understood anything about different nationalities and races. I've had it in Finland too; not much, but it's there. I have been lucky to live in different countries around the world and what it's taught me is that people are not really that different. It's frustrating because it feels so unnecessary to have all this hostility between people for completely superficial reasons.
We all are only human after all 👍👍✌️
I live in a such a small town that i think i never seen a black guy here. So i might give you that childish, curious look of "what's that dude doing here?" but then i would carry on my day without thinking further.
As i've grown up i see people more as individuals rather than groups. So these individuals will gain my respect depending on their actions rather than existing features.
Fins also have something in common with Hawaii/Zulu/Vikings.. They are nutters..
I will buy you a coffee and a korvapuusti next time I am in Finland.
I thought Finland was pretty good about stuff like this but obviously the title implies otherwise... Haven't watched the video yet but I will when I get home!
Your video VERY interesting. I hope you see this comment. What is really interesting is that here in the United States, it's the opposite of what you said regarding culture. In the US, if you expect foreigners to embrace our culture, you are seen as racist or bigoted. It seems so backwards to me. Many come here and never learn English, then get upset when you don't speak Spanish (although I do speak Spanish). If I were to move to a foreign country, I would NEVER expect the locals to cater to me. I would make every effort to learn thre language and assimilate into their culture as best I possibly could. But many in the US thibk that expectation is bigoted. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
I think you nailed it!
You are very wise man. This was a very good video.
I think there is some racism in Finland. It's more hidden, like people may not like you because of your color/origins etc... They just keep it to theirselves type of stuff. So in a sense it really doesn't affect anyone so to say.
My man has a long drink shirt 🗿💯
I was doing lunges at a gym in a weird spot next to a squat machine, a woman came to use the squat machine and I moved out of the way akwardly after looking at her. I feel like she may think I am racist, because from her point of view, I just looked at a black person and left.
Im sure there is alot of racism in finland, but it is not aimed towards anyone because of their skin colour. Its the immigrants that dont respect and follow the rules and manners and act arrogant that get the most hate from finnish people. If you are able to adapt to the culuture and integrate into society, everyone will accept you no matter your skin colour. I think you nailed it in your analogy
I'm a Dane, and I do have a set of stereotypes on mind... but nothing bad actually... no racism (as in thinking I'm superior) or xenophobia (not afraid of people with a different skin colour)...
It's more like I'm amazed how much of the black population seem to always be in a good mood, I live in a community with quite a mix of colours from around the world... the darkest are always the most cheerful... and it puzzles me a bit...
It's fricking cold at times, and if you're first generation immigrant, I know that our system tries to stress you out. Yet the ones smiling, whistling or singing on their way to work are the ones that look like they just arrived from Africa.
Perhaps it's just because I'm more used to the Danish mentality, complaining about everything and trying to only mind your own business.
It's just so colourful on the spectrum of moods. With that attitude, I don't care about the colour of your skin.
Because of aging population, Finland has been going in a worse financial situation and that has caused tension between people who receive benefits and people who pay taxes. European populism has also been on the rise for a while, which uses xenophobia for scapegoating immigrants for our financial struggles. They use rhetoric like, 'they don't want to work / they take our jobs'. There's a bigger picture hidden behind that: entry-level job employers discriminate based on race and gender (there was a study that proved this), making it harder for non-white immigrants to become employed. Immigrants are also in a more vulnerable position and less experienced with unions, so immigrant-majority jobs keep salaries low on some fields. Hence it looks like immigrants don't work or some employers prefer them over Finns (saying things like, 'they work much harder and complain less'). The truth is, immigration can alleviate the problem from aging population and we need it. There are also problems associated with immigrant employment that we need to solve.
Something I have noticed is that there can be alot of racism between different groups of immigrants. I have heard people from countries like Iraq or Syria talk down on black people, immigrants from the Balkan who don´t like anyone outside Europe or South east asians that don´t like people from the middle east. Being the victim of racism or xenophobia in a new country doesn´t have to come from the native population
You could have shortened the title to "Finland - how bad is it?"
Also.. just because we dont look the same.. we are.. or at least should be .. humans
My man.
Hmm.. Not sure ... It seems they don't like it ..
Yes we finns mind our own business. Couldn't care less if you're black, green or purple. Has absolutely nothing to do with anything.
Of course Finland is white majority country. You're talking about ethnicity. Racism is wrong and there is not excuse for it but sadly it occurs everywhere. Being black in Europe isn't such a big issue these days. It's nothing new or exceptional. No one should be ashamed for their ethnicity or colour. Finland is not South Africa and making comparisons between them could be complicated but that would depend on your and others' mindset and how you decide to agree or disagree. No one should every apologise for who they are. Ask Finns about emigrating to Sweden.
Do you speak finnish? How was the process of finding a job? What’s your Field?