Hey folks,
I've got a bit of an apology to make. I'm Finnish and we've got a Somali diaspora of around 16,000. I will not lie that public opinion of Somalians tends to be on the negative side and I at least used to share this opinion. As a result, I've made a few nasty comments about Somalians online that are now knocking on my conscience. Currently all I want is a peace of mind, so I've come to confess.
These are the comments I've made that come to mind:
"I know which group of people can be blamed for this", in response to a sex crime that took place in a city with a relatively high Somali population
"They're known for being up there in sex crime statistics while receiving disproportionate benefits that make sure they never work or integrate" this one is partially true, as Somali employment levels are really low, but again, I feel crappy for generalizing an entire group of people like that.
"they do not even try, and neither does the native population in return" in response to problems with integration. This one hurts me the most.
"I'm sure they want to, since Somalia is known to have welfare as good as ours" in response to a newspiece about Somalians wanting to move back to Somalia.
These comments I find are very unfair. I've already made a donation to a local Somali fund and personally apologized to a Somali person, but I feel that is still not enough, so I've come here. I hope you folks accept my sincerest apologies. I really should have known better from the start and never said anything bad about any group of people in the first place, but alas.
Kind regards,
Mete
