Student learns lesson from behind bars

A study abroad trip for one WSSU student ended in three nights of jail time, and a dismal perception of the Finnish culture.Tiffanie Adams, a 20-year-old junior molecular biology major from Charlotte, said that because of racism and a poor justice system, she spent time in jail in Finland while studying abroad.Adams, along with four other WSSU students, Alethea Barrino, Camilla Stanley, Portia Garner and Vonda Meeks, were chosen by the university as Minority International Research Training, or MIRT, scholars to conduct biological research in Helsinki. They each received stipends to cover housing and food expenses. Adams and Barrino,who is also a junior molecular biology major, left for the program on May 15 and were roommates. They both said the racism they experienced in the European country was unbearable.”All we heard was Nikkiri!, which is Finnish for nigger,” Adams said. “It was like 1940. All they needed were ‘colored only’ and ‘white only’ bathrooms.”Barrino said that on several occasions was pushed and grabbed by Finnish citizens while on city streets, buses and trains, because she didn’t give them the right-of-way.According to Adams the racism didn’t end on the street. She worked at the Biotechnician Institute, while Barrino researched neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses at the Biomedical Institute of Helsinki University. Adams said her Finnish supervisor was looking for a way to bring her down when she saw her research efforts were successful.”Imagine a black person that’s supposedly inferior to you, moving around freely in the lab, doing experiments and getting good results,” Adams said. “She was mad, and she felt like I should’ve been working under Finnish scientists. But I wanted to continue working individually.”According to Adams, Finnish police came to arrest her under allegations that she had stolen ten mobile European phones and one digital camera from Holland three days after a verbal disagreement concerning her research with her supervisor.”I was there (in jail) for three nights. My parents didn’t know where I was. Neither did my friends,” Adams said.Adams said that in Finland, the idea of innocent until proven guilty is not a necessary pretense to arrest. The Finnish police were able to keep her in jail for a maximum of three days under accusation only. Barrino said she had heard through word-of-mouth that Adams was in jail, and Adams said that her mother had to hire a lawyer and keep in contact with the US embassy in Finland to ensure she was released. Adams said she never had any type of trial, and that the charges were later dropped, but she did have to pay a “service” fine to the Finnish police for occupying jail space. Shortly after her release, on July 15, Adams made her way back to the U.S. without Barrino. Barrino returned on July 31, the scheduled ending date of the research program.While Barrino said her study abroad experience made her a more mature and rounded person, and had highlights such as trip to Sweden, Paris and Rome, the downside of the racism she experienced will always haunt her. “Even now we still get asked about our trip to Europe, and it brings up bad memories,” Barrino said. “We are scarred. We were degraded tremendously.” Both women say they were disappointed that they were not briefed on race relations in Finland prior to their departure. Adams said the university has offered them an apology for the racial tensions they experienced in Finland. However, there will be an investigation to ensure Adams did not violate the University’s Code of Conduct regulations while studying abroad.