THE LIFE WE CANNOT SEE

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In this section, microbiologists will guide you to the world of tiny life.

Prime minister Sanna Marin recently stated that the Finns Party is a racist party. The discourse continued on Twitter. Some described the Finns Party as racist for speaking of non-white people in a derogatory manner. To this, someone commented that although slurs such as “darky” may be thrown around on the internet in a half-joking manner, in real life people know how to behave themselves.

As someone with a higher education degree, I’ve always thought that those who use the n-word are as trashy as those who say swear words beside their grandmother’s deathbed. I’m aware of structural racism existing in addition to racial slurs: those with non-Finnish names don’t get invited to job interviews. I’ve thought of my awareness of everyone being a little bit racist as my “get out of jail free” -card, as if the mere awareness of evil would prevent me from committing evil acts.

Recently, I interviewed member of parliament Anna Kontula on sex work in Thailand. When I sent her my writeup for feedback, she pointed out the racist thinking behind it. Kontula emphasised that although Thailand is known for child prostitution and other such problems, this does not mean that all sex workers in Thailand are victims. It was racist to assume such a thing. Did I feel as if I had committed an act of injustice towards Thai people? No. I felt embarrassed due to Kontula catching me in the act. I responded via email, ingratiatingly letting her know that I had made the corrections.

In anti-racism, a performative ally refers to a person who speaks in support of anti-racism mainly due to it being a current trend. Such a person may be a shallow ally only because they’re a part of a social segment that opposes racism, in addition to having attended university and buying oat milk for their coffee.

I was raised in a town where dark-skinned people were nowhere to be seen in the streets. I grew up on Finnish comedy shows which now have warning labels attached to them on Yle Areena: this content may not abide by currently prevailing values in society. Even today I don’t really know immigrants. Back when I was cleaning factory halls, I had a Bosnian co-worker.

What makes practising anti-racism more difficult even for those who wish to do the right thing is the lack of deeper interactions with other cultures. I have no friends whose mere existence would remind me of anti-racism being more than just trendy wokeness. I’ve primarily been able to relate to a group of other white people with whom to oppose racism together. And closeness with likeminded people creates relatability, which doesn’t necessarily serve anti-racism. Therefore, after getting caught for racism my first thought was to convince Kontula that I wasn’t a racist. I was taught to be house clean while studying among people like me in the very white art history programme, until Kontula burst my bubble.

An improvable racist understands that racist behaviour doesn’t prevent being able to identify with white people, but rather it prevents allyship among different people. The anti-racism movement doesn’t care about how you’ve built yourself a white bubble, but how you can practise anti-racism in spite of that. If you don’t have any immigrant friends, you can educate yourself by reading about other cultures. When I got caught for racism, my first thought was to save face in front of Kontula, even though that would have been a perfect opportunity to think about what to learn from this incident.

The anti-racism movement doesn’t belittle the power of books in bringing people closer together. To quote Cheyenne Mallinson who wrote about allyship: Educate yourself. The learning never ends. Thus I’ve read about escorts in Bangkok who offer western tourists relationship fantasies for several nights while liking their jobs. Allyship unlocked. •

The writer has been acting as a free journalist since 2016. She aims to improve the world by being a better version of herself.

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