SFI-teacher: "Please, open your eyes"

Hello from Sweden

So I work as a teacher and I teach Swedish to immigrants. Many of my participants are muslim women from Somalia or the Middle East.

They tell me som horrific stories about how they are treated by white Swedes, elderly women in particular. These little grandmas push them, pull their clothes, grab their arms and correct them as were they children. The grandmas grab their children – something they’d NEVER dare to do to white women’s children… - and tell them off. Some of my participant say that their children have developed fear of elderly white people ☹

I hear stories of Somali women being PUNCHED in the street by elderly women with curly, blueish hair. Well-dressed women who when questioned just continue down the street with their eyes staring blindly in the distance.

I hear stories of Somali women being punched on their ribs and arms on crowded buses.

They are being told to go home, they are spat at and they are called the Swedish equivalent to the n-word. All by white senior citizens.

My own grandma talked about those “n-s” and Roma people in a derogatory way. When I tried to explain to her that it is racist and people actually might talk about me the same way, I was told – “Oh, but you’re Swedish! You are adopted!

People need to pay attention to how other people behave, especially those who tend to get away thanks to age and social class.

When my participants at school tell med this, I feel sad, angry, disappointed and hateful. I feel a lot of things but one thing I do not feel is the feeling of surprise. Unfortunately.