Public figures must shoulder role-model responsibility to say explicit 'no' to racism

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's public apology to East Asian countries over racist behavior by Sarah Dzafce — this year's Finnish contender to the Miss Universe pageant in Thailand last month — is a responsible response. It recognizes not only the immediate harm caused by offensive gestures, but also a deeper malaise that Western societies must address: the persistence of racism targeting people of Asian origin, often trivialized as "jokes" or cultural ignorance.

The incident itself was disturbing. A photograph of Sarah in which she is seen pulling the corners of her eyes went viral with the caption "eating with a Chinese". While Sarah has been stripped of her Miss Finland crown, lawmakers from a far-right Finnish party repeated similar gestures in an apparent show of solidarity, revealing how anti-Asian stereotypes are often normalized in parts of Western public discourse. In this context, Orpo's acknowledgment that such behavior "does not reflect Finland's values of equality and inclusion" sends an important signal, both domestically and internationally.

Racism against Asians in Western societies has a long and complex history. From colonial-era depictions of Asians as inferior or exotic, to Cold War narratives that framed East Asia through ideological hostility, stereotypes have been passed down, reshaped and amplified as "the yellow peril" in popular culture and mass media. These prejudices often surface in the form of caricatures and coded language that "legitimize" exclusion and discrimination.