Who is a real Swede? (And who can steal your girlfriend?)

Note: This is based on an old blog post from 2021 that I wrote in Swedish. Now, with election year again and an increase (AGAIN; WHAT THE HELL!) in racism and hateful rhetoric towards People of Color, I rewrote it and translated it into English.

Okay, election year 2026 in Sweden is coming up. So, here are my thoughts about the over all shift in attitude towards immigrants and People of Color (in this text referenced to as PoC)  from our government.

Since 2014,  the tone has gone from being “racism is absolutely unacceptable” to “ Let’s just turn a blind eye AND let’s encourage it more”  and now, it’s completely okay to express racist statements without having the slightest analysis behind what this has to do with what structures or what it does to people and citizens of color in Sweden.

Hell, I’m so tired and angry about this.

And here there are probably several of you who want to say… ”Hey Anna, you are adopted, it is not YOU that the statement applies to. Why are you making it about you when you are not an immigrant?”

Correct, I am adopted, a Swedish citizen and have lived in Sweden 98% of my life (with short breaks for Denmark and now Norway).

I can still react and think that it is wrong and racist with the current attitude towards immigrants and PoC. 

Maybe I react a bit more since I am a PoC and this actually impacts me. Because who can say that I’m adopted and a Swedish citizen when they see me on the bus or out for a walk? How do we distinguish between PoC:s that, according to our government, have “the right to be here” and the ones that apparently do not?

The answer is that we cannot and we should not divide people simply on something like a racist rhetoric. 

With that, we only end up in an impossible spiral that turns the debate into ”who are real Swedes?” (Spoiler,  it can never be PoC:s, it’s white people only and I will elaborate more about why down below.)

It’s not great to have a debate around who is a real Swede plus the statements from the current government that immigration is a burden on the Swedish society (and blatantly ignore that immigration is one of the pillars for a lot of jobs in Sweden plus a HUGE help for smaller cities in getting populated again).

Because it does something with how we and Sweden are viewing people with non-Nordic backgrounds.

The first is that all PoC:s in Sweden, despite our status as citizens or immigrants, are all perceived as less worthy, no matter how much we work, contribute or do for Sweden. (Again, this view has become a widely accepted notion, increasing over the years since 2014.) This does something to how we behave and act and also how we present ourselves. Not only good or equal to white citizens but we need to be twice as good or great to even be accepted as a Swede.

Note, accepted, not applauded.

It’s so tiresome and draining to always have to perform like this and to always feel like we no matter how much we try to defend our place in Sweden, as citizens and people that have lived and contributed for years - it’s just never enough. Sometimes, we are even getting hate for having a job, knowing the language, having an exam and being married.

Because then, we are taking jobs, education and partners away from real Swedes.

We cannot continue to have a conversation based on the concepts of “The talented immigrant/PoC” VS “The lazy immigrant/PoC”. Simply because the debate will be about who does enough not to be a burden. And those of us who do not look Swedish (white) enough will NEVER be able to do enough to not be a burden. Because even when we are over performing, learn everything and do our best - we are just barely being accepted, not applauded.

The bar is so different for us that it is simply impossible to win. For me personally, I get so angry over this. I should not have to defend myself, nor should I have to be perfect and have to over perform to keep on earning my place in Sweden

I should be able to be on sick leave, have a bad day at my job, speak English once in a while on the phone with my friends from Denmark, steal your awesome girlfriend and still feel that I am no more of a burden on society or get judged harder just because I’m a PoC.

The current racist debate climate in Sweden tries to divide PoC:s into those two camps, “The talented immigrant/PoC” VS “The lazy immigrant/PoC”. 

And some fall for this argument and support it because “Of course, we only want good people here".

But all that argumentation does is to create a fake safety and a fake goal that can never ever be won.

It also shifts the focus to us instead of where it should be: namely, that the racist climate in Sweden has increased immensely and our government is backing it up. That is not okay. 

We need to stop with the racist rhetoric and start to view the whole image.

Immigrants and PoC have the right to be in Sweden on the same terms as everyone else, and we have the right to do exactly as much or as little as we can without being shouted at about deportation or laziness.

The racist climate right now creates an impossible situation where PoC:s feel stuck in a fox-scissors situation where we cannot do the right thing. 

We cannot be good enough not to be a burden because we must always be a THOUSAND times better than white Swedes. But if we are good enough, then we are too good and then we should know our place and it is not in the white rooms or jobs.

Feel grateful to the country that has accepted you. Feel guilty if you don't contribute. But don't do too much because then you'll steal the jobs, girlfriends, and livelihoods of real Swedes.

If you are a PoC parent and your underage child does something wrong, then your WHOLE family is threatened with deportation. And you as a parent, should be ashamed because you worked three jobs to keep your family afloat but could not keep track of who your kid was hanging out with.

But if you are a white parent and your underage child is part of an active nazi organisation, then it is just “bad luck” and “kids will be kids.” And you as a parent, can get away with looking sad on TV and saying that you talked with your kid and that you simply missed checking their social media.

Again, the bars are so different depending on your skin color that it is insane.

Ultimately, I feel enormous anger that our current government has chosen to embrace racist rhetoric to such a degree that they now see this as a completely okay way to express themselves and to make a difference between white Swedes and PoC Swedes.

No one should feel like a burden because they live here and have a different skin color, and no one should feel like they have to defend their existence against a rhetoric that is built on racism.