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‘We can talk about multiculturalism without devolving into hatred’

OPINION: I don't want my love for Sweden, and feeling of being loved, to get stolen by far-right politics.

Published: 20 December 2016 06:59 CET
'We can talk about multiculturalism without devolving into hatred'
'Sweden is home for me and it is where my heart is.' Photo: Christine Olsson/TT

Earlier this month, I wrote an article which came across as very angry. It was angry and yes, I am angry at racism, but my anger is not a reflection of how I feel towards Sweden. It is rather a reflection of how I feel about a mentality held by a certain clique of people; one which dehumanizes other people based on their appearance or their origin. However, we cannot ignore the fact that there is now a heightened sense of race because of far-right politics.

Sweden, as part of Europe, today, is grappling with the rise of extreme right-wing politics thriving on feigning hate because of the refugee crisis.

Finding a balance between being an open society and embracing immigrants and their diverse cultures can be challenging. But it can be done without sowing hate.

The problem with the race conversation is that it has been hijacked for political gain. Far-right politics is gaining ground by incensing genuine concerns that citizens may have regarding refugees and turning them into negative energy which then spirals into hate in no time. Therefore, people have to take a position on race rather than get an understanding on the complexities that come with increased inward immigration.

But as history shows, if we listen to, and take political rhetoric literally, things do not always end well because politicians use extreme positions to tap into our emotions in order to coerce our votes. Politicians cannot just be taken at their word because, more often than not, they charm or lie their way into office. That is just the nature of political campaigning. And that is why exclusionary rhetoric has become an appealing narrative and distorted the conversation on immigration, and its implications on racism in Sweden in particular and Europe in general. Far-right politicians are exploiting people's vulnerabilities and turning them into anger and hate. They are offering immigrants as sacrificial lambs in order to gain popularity.

So if the rate of employment goes down because the population has increased why talk economics when you can talk race and say it's the immigrants stealing your jobs. But my wish is, as a people, we have to interrogate the politics that we are offered before we get cheated out of our humanity for political gain.

Political polarization on immigration has paved the way for political grandstanding and now makes it difficult for politicians on the left to talk objectively about the challenges which arise when there is a surge in immigration because that can be seen as aligning with the far-right. Simultaneously, far right-wingers will feign hate and convince their supporters that immigration-related challenges cannot be addressed any other way but by hating refugees or foreigners.

But the truth is we can talk about – and address objectively – the challenges that arise as a result of multiculturalism and diverse ethnicity without devolving into hatred. The European society, with its rich history of fighting for open societies and democracy, is being driven towards the destruction of the values that it stands for by the greed of far-right politics.

Having said that, it's not enough to talk about how people hate and not talk about how they also love. The sporadic racially hateful incidences that I encounter get drowned in the sea of love that I also swim in every day. So for me to just write vociferously about the bad and not scream loudly the good that I experience is to blindly contribute to negativity and can be used as a dishonest representation of the values that Sweden stands for. The values which I enjoy unreservedly. The values which make my life so much better, differently good, enjoyable and worth living. I am grateful for that and I cherish it every day with all my heart.

The first question I normally get when I meet new people is “where do you come from?” To which I always reply “Söderhamn”, even though I am aware they will be asking about my homeland (the last word should really read country of origin but writing it as homeland is a beloved contagion effect of the Swedish language on my English).

I say I am from Söderhamn because home isn't where I was born. Home – to me – is the place where I am free to go at the end of a long day. Home is where I am allowed to criticize, contribute, thrive and enjoy unlimited freedom of expression. Home is where I write an article to critique and contribute to a much-needed discourse on race and still be able to go about my life without fearing the police will come and snatch me in the thick of the night.

In Söderhamn, I have seen the ugly side of racism but I have also largely felt the overwhelming power of love. I have known what it means to be home and felt the joy that comes with it. So for that, Sweden is home for me and it is where my heart is. This feeling of love, and being loved, must not be allowed to be stolen by far-right politics.

Edinah Masanga is a Zimbabwean journalist living in Sweden. Follow her on Twitter or read her blog here.

For members

INSIDE SWEDEN

Inside Sweden: Why troll factory won’t spark a government crisis

The Local's editor Emma Löfgren rounds up the biggest stories of the week in our Inside Sweden newsletter.

Published: 18 May 2024 09:22 CEST
Inside Sweden: Why troll factory won't spark a government crisis

Hej,

News that the Sweden Democrats are operating a far-right troll factory – which among other things the party uses to smear political opponents as well as its supposed allies – has caused probably the biggest rift yet between them and the three other parties that make up Sweden’s ruling coalition.

The leaders of the Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals all strongly criticised the Sweden Democrats’ blatant violation of the so-called “respect clause” in their Tidö collaboration agreement – the clause that states that the four parties should speak respectfully of each other in the media.

But after crisis talks held on Thursday, the conflict appears to be dying down.

The Sweden Democrats hit out strongly at the TV4 Kalla Fakta documentary where the troll factory was revealed, calling it a smear campaign and disinformation, but simultaneously went as far as to confirm that they do run anonymous social media accounts for which they refused to apologise.

They did say sorry to the Tidö parties for including them in the smear campaigns, and promised to remove some of the posts that had offended the other three parties, plus reassign a couple of members of staff to other duties until they’ve been given training on the Tidö “respect clause”.

But that doesn’t remove the fact that they vowed to continue the anonymous social media accounts whose existence they had prior to the documentary consistently denied, or the fact that some of the social media posts shared not only vague anti-immigration content, but white power propaganda.

The Liberals took the row the furthest, with Liberal leader Johan Pehrson describing people in his party as skitförbannade – pissed off as hell. He said ahead of the crisis meeting that they would demand that the Sweden Democrats cease all anonymous posting, which the latter rejected.

The party had two choices: walk out of the government collaboration and possibly spark a snap election, or walk back its strong words ahead of the meeting and wait for it to blow over.

They chose a kind of middle way, and called for an inquiry to be launched into banning political parties from operating anonymous social media accounts. The Social Democrats immediately accused the Liberals of trying to “bury the issue in an inquiry” – a classic Swedish political method of indecisive conflict avoidance which the Social Democrats themselves are well familiar with.

The Christian Democrats and Moderates both said that the Sweden Democrats had accepted their criticism and welcomed the party’s reshuffling of staff within its communications department, adding that it still had to prove its commitment to the Tidö agreement going forward.

So why isn’t this causing a bigger government crisis?

We asked Evelyn Jones, a politics reporter for the Dagens Nyheter daily, to come on the Sweden in Focus podcast to explain it to us:

“The Sweden Democrats are the biggest party in this coalition, even though they’re not part of the government. So the government really needs them. It’s hard for them to just stop cooperating with the Sweden Democrats,” she said.

“The cooperation between the government parties and the Sweden Democrats has been going pretty smoothly since the last election – more smoothly than a lot of people thought. This is probably the biggest crisis so far, but how big it is, is hard to say.”

You can listen to the full interview with her and the rest of the Sweden in Focus podcast here. 

In other news

If you are a descendant of a Sweden-born person and would like to find out more about them, there are ways to do that. I wrote this week about how to research your Swedish ancestry.

That guide was prompted by my interview with the chair of a community history group in a small parish in north-central Sweden, which has tried to get to the bottom of rumours that US mega star Taylor Swift’s ancestors hail from their village. I had so much fun writing this article.

The EU elections will be held on June 9th, but advance voting begins next week in Sweden. And poll cards are already being sent out, so if you’re eligible to vote you should receive yours soon.

Sweden’s consumer price index fell to 3.9 percent in April, below 4.0 percent for the first time in two years, reinforcing predictions that the central bank will keep lowering interest rates.

Sweden’s four-party government bloc has broken with the other parties in a parliamentary committee on public service broadcasting, adding what the opposition complains are “radically changed” proposals. How shocking are they?

Many people move to Sweden because of their partner’s career. Perhaps you’re one of these so-called “trailing spouses”. I’ve been asking readers in this situation how they’re settling in, and will have an article for you next week. There’s still time to answer our survey to share your experience.

Thanks for reading.

Have a good weekend,

Emma

Inside Sweden is our weekly newsletter for members which gives you news, analysis and, sometimes, takes you behind the scenes at The Local. It’s published each Saturday and with Membership+ you can also receive it directly to your inbox.

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