Hate speech and racialised discrimination of the norwegian sámi: Legal responses and responsibility

Abstract

This article discusses the racialised discrimination of the Sámi people and how the Norwegian judiciary deals with it. It draws historical lines to social Darwinism as practised in Norway, where comparisons of the Sámi’s physical characteristics to the Norwegian majority population were commonplace. The official Norwegian position was that the Sámi were not an indigenous people and therefore lacked inalienable rights. The racialised understanding of the Sámi as an untrustworthy and lazy people of the past, reverberates in today’s hate speech that builds on similar stereotypes. Norway has come a long way since racial hygiene was a mainstream scientific approach. Yet, still today, the Sámi are statistically overrepresented with experiences of discrimination. This article examines the legal responses and responsibility of Norway to tackle hate speech and discriminatory utterances that manifest a racial understanding of Norway’s indigenous people. In the discussion, special emphasis is placed on Norway’s international treaty obligations.