In the wake of the Swedish election that resulted in a peerless advance by the national-conservative Sweden Democrats and a possible right-wing government, award-winning Swedish rapper Jason Diakité, also known as Timbuktu, has urged immigrants in the Scandinavian country to be “extra vigilant”.
He also tried to console fellow “blacks and browns” by saying that soon ethnic Swedes would become the minority and the problem would have solved itself.
“To all black and brown people in Sweden. Be extra vigilant now. This election result will undoubtedly embolden even more extreme forces than those that have existed in this country for nearly 100 years. Violence will come,” Timbuktu wrote on Instagram*. “Be careful but don't be afraid. It doesn't matter how much wind they have in their sails now. Time, goodness and demographics are on our side,” he added.
His post sparked controversy on social media.
“Why does the rapper Timbuktu spread far-right myths about an ongoing population replacement? 'To all black and brown people in Sweden […] time and demographics are on our side',” right-wing journalist Ivar Arpi tweeted.
Screenshot of tweet discussing rapper Timbuktu's Instagram post
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Hanif Bali, an MP in the Moderate party and a native of Iran, also expressed doubt.
“Award-winning artist and BMW advertiser Timbuktu claims that 'time and demographics' are on the side of 'black and brown' people. Would be exciting to hear him elaborate on how time and demographics are not on white people's side,” the 35-year-old tweeted.
Screenshot of tweet discussing rapper Timbuktu's Instagram post
© Photo
Diakité is a Swedish rapper, reggae artist and presenter. He took his stage name from the city in Mali - a country where his father has roots.
The Sweden Democrats, often dismissed by mainstream media as racists and borderline Nazis, have run on the platform of stopping mass immigration and launching a crackdown on related problems including ethnic gangs and deportation of criminal migrants.
In Swedish politics and mainstream media, just as much of the western world, criticism of immigration based on the notion that ethnically homogeneous populations in European nations are being demographically “replaced” by people of non-European origin is dismissed as a myth and a fringe conspiracy theory.
However, since adopting mass immigration several decades ago, Sweden has become one of Europe's most ethnically diverse countries, taking in asylum seekers and economic migrants from all continents. Combined with demographic trends such as a low birthrate among ethnic Swedes, the share of the population with a foreign background has soared.
According to Statistics Sweden, more than a quarter of the country's registered inhabitants have a foreign background, compared with only 15 percent in 2000. If gauged using the method, now considered outdated, where having at least one foreign-born parent means you are of foreign descent, the proportion rises to a third of the population.
Numerous forecasts have envisaged Swedes becoming a minority in their own country in a matter of a few decades, depending on the level of immigration.
* Instagram is banned in Russia