The Local: 'Swedishness must be split from being white'

Despite most Swedes today distancing themselves from racism, we still meet stereotypical images and descriptions of non-white minorities and non-Western cultures in contemporary Swedish culture. Comparatively, Sweden has established some of the strongest laws against discrimination, and therefore gets top grades in the Migrant Integration Policy Index for creating the best preconditions for integration of new citizens. This isn't what needs improving. We see a segmented labour market, and we see housing segregation - even when we compare with other countries that are much more cautious towards people who are not seen to belong to the majority population. Taken together, this should prompt us to pause for reflection. We want a new Swedish story better equipped to deal with and include today's demographic diversity and to create a new Swedishness for the future. That new story's main task is to separate whiteness from Swedishness in order to be a socially sustainable future Swedishness...Read more