Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.03.2008, Page 6

Dane Magnússon immigrated to Iceland from Jamai-
ca in 1991 when he was 12 years old. Over the years,
he has experienced increased prejudice against im-
migrants in Iceland and wants to see a more open
discussion on immigrant issues. He took matters
into his own hands and is today the chairman and
one of five founders of the Anti-Racist Movement, an
independent organisation set to fight against racism,
discrimination and, in particular, physical violence
directed against foreigners living in Iceland.
For how long has the Anti-Racist Movement
been operating?
Since September 2006. That’s when we got permis-
sion to found the organisation and decided to try
and see how people would respond to the idea. We
had talked about it for over a year and, before we
promoted it to the public, approximately 100 peo-
ple had joined the organisation, which has grown
steadily ever since. Today we have about 350 mem-
bers and we still have lots of applications to look at.
[To become a member, one has to fill out an appli-
cation and have an interview]. Many people think
the majority of members are foreigners, but that’s
not the case. About 30% are immigrants and 70%
Icelanders, many of whom have lived abroad and
know how it is to be a foreigner.
What encouraged you to start the organisa-
tion?
Our goal is to fight against racism and prejudice in
society and while prejudice increases we will be
there to protest things we find unjust and discrimi-
nating. We want to see how we can improve the
situation before it gets even worse. What we have
aimed at mostly is to offer our support. Foreigners
who’ve experienced injustice come to us because
they don’t know where to get help. These are peo-
ple who have been victims of racist attacks out on
the streets or harassment in the workplace. Many
of them are also afraid to go to the police because
they feel that they can’t trust the police. Therefore,
many violent acts are never reported. What we are
trying to do is to change this way of thinking. We
try to build up trust, give advice and urge people
to report crimes.
We also try to get people’s stories told in
the media so the public can be more aware of
the things happening in society. We have worked
mostly with the newspapers DV and 24 stundir and
although the media coverage is improving, many
news media could do much better. If I name one
example, a foreigner was stabbed downtown re-
cently. It happened on a Sunday morning and we
wrote about the attack on our website but the story
wasn’t published in the papers before Wednesday, I
think. We found this remarkable, because we know
that if it had been the other way around, the story
would probably have been on the cover the next
day. The media coverage needs to be fair.
Many people think racism is not a real prob-
lem in Iceland, but it is quite obvious that there are
groups out there that go around town and attack
foreigners without any motive. We know of plenty
of incidents but, as I said, most of them are never
reported to the police.
You’ve lived in Iceland for the past 17 years.
Do you sense that racism in Iceland is increas-
ing?
Yes. When I moved to Iceland, I first lived in a small
country town where people quickly learned to rec-
ognise me and got to know me. When I moved to
Reykjavík eleven years ago, the experience was
quite different. I’ve been called all sorts of degrad-
ing names, often because people think I don’t un-
derstand the language. I used to answer back but
don’t really bother anymore. Sometimes I even
wish I didn’t know the language so I wouldn’t have
to listen to all the things people have to say about
foreigners. But I’m glad I learned Icelandic, be-
cause then I can understand what’s going on and I
encourage people to learn the language.
Over the past 10 years, things have changed
for the worse. Iceland has many more immigrants
today than it had 10 years ago. There are more rich
people today than before but at the same time infla-
tion has gone up and living in Iceland has become
more expensive. People get angry and immigrants
become easy targets. I can understand, in a way,
that Icelanders are worried, and I know many peo-
ple think that if too many foreigners come to the
country it could lead to unemployment. But that’s
not how things work. Foreigners can’t just come
and take their jobs. There has rather been a short-
age of workforce. Also, it doesn’t solve anything to
attack one or two immigrants downtown.
One thing that some people tend to point out
is that many companies look at immigrants as
cheap labour and pay them low salaries be-
cause they can get away with it. They are con-
cerned that by being willing to work for a low-
er pay, immigrants keep the salaries down.
Yeah, I’ve heard this before and think it is impor-
tant to keep an eye on it. It’s true that many foreign-
ers are willing to work for less pay. They come to
Iceland, with perhaps nothing, so they are always
making a profit. To fix a problem like this, the
government, the Immigration Office and the Di-
rectorate of Labour need to work together. But the
society has changed in recent years. Today, there
are mostly immigrants who work the poorly paid
jobs, such as in fish processing or janitorial work.
There aren’t that many Icelanders who want these
jobs anymore, but someone has to do it. There are
around 20,000 immigrants living in Iceland and
they sure don’t come here for the snow. They come
here to create a life for themselves and also to assist
Icelanders with various projects. I contacted Statis-
tics Iceland to inquire about the number of con-
struction companies and found out that in 1999,
there were around 900 companies but in 2007 the
number had gone up to almost 2,500. Many of these
companies rely heavily on foreign workers.
People need to ask themselves how things
would be if 20,000 foreigners packed up and left
tomorrow. How would the situation be then? How
much tax do they pay? These are important ques-
tions to think about. It is easy to say “fucking for-
eigner, go home” but how would the society cope
if everyone did just that? Icelanders are intelligent
people so I’m really surprised that some are so
short sighted.
Racist groups like ‘Iceland against Poles’ and
‘Iceland for Icelanders’ have been popping up
recently. Many young people are joining or
even starting these groups and aren’t afraid
to express their hatred, especially on the In-
ternet. What do you feel about this develop-
ment?
It’s really sad to see that young people think like
this and it is important to do something now before
this becomes a more serious problem. Many teach-
ers have contacted us and asked us how to handle
issues like these. What I think the schools lack the
most is educational material to help children get to
know different cultures. We are working on a pro-
gramme to use in the classrooms, which we hope
to get approved. But as it is with everything in Ice-
land, things take time and cost money.
Are you satisfied with the way the government
has dealt with issues like violence and preju-
dice against immigrants? What would you like
to see change?
No, not at all. Although Paul F. Nikolov [of the Left-
ist Green Movement] has tried to do his best, it is
important that the authorities intervene right away.
The Ministry of Education needs to intervene.
The government needs to discuss this problem
seriously and, while doing so, they should look to
neighbouring countries, see how they have dealt
with the issue and learn from their mistakes before
things get out of hand. The most important thing is
to look at the big picture: stop saying that Iceland
doesn’t need immigrants because that’s just not
true. The numbers don’t lie. I think everyone needs
to be more open and try to get to know one another
without judging beforehand. It seems everyone has
an opinion on the matter but instead of spending
the time on hatred, people should try to find posi-
tive solutions so everyone can be satisfied.
The Anti-Racist Movement has a meeting facility at
the Intercultural Centre. The easiest way to contact
them is through their website, www.antirasista.net.
By Steinunn Jakobsdóttir
Anti-racists Unite
“Many people think rac-
ism is not a real problem
in Iceland, but it is quite
obvious that there are
groups out there that
go around town and at-
tack foreigners without
any motive. We know of
plenty of incidents but,
as I said, most of them
are never reported to the
police.”
“Over the past 10 years, things have changed for the
worse,” says Dane Magnússon, founder of the The
Anti-Racist Movement. Photo by GAS
06 | Reykjavík Grapevine | Issue 03 2008 | Interview