Do we need a new Maori uprising?

By
Martyn Bradbury
-
16
56

The front cover of last months racism issue by MANA magazine says it all.

Maori are 380% more likely to be convicted of a crime and 200% more likely to die from heart disease and suicide. Maori are paid 18% less and 34% leave school without a qualification. Maori die earlier and suffer more. It’s not fair

No, it’s beyond ‘not fair’ it is a morally reprehensible obscenity in a country that pretends that it is egalitarian.

I believe that the majority of white New Zealanders live in a constant state of wilful ignorance when it comes to racism in this country. The facts of how racist our system really is are glaring in the statistical outcomes, but still we have the Don Brash’s of this country screaming Maori privilege.

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They are Trump like in their denial.

As we collectively wept the late, late, late, late, late, late, late, late empty worded apology last week for the atrocity at Parihaka, can we look upon the current state of Maori with any less sorrow?

It took 136 years to get an apology for Parihaka, who will apologise for the racist failures of NZ since the Treaty?

I do not believe that there is enough courage within white New Zealand to start holding the NZ system to account.

I believe we need to be confronted by the racism of our country by a new Maori uprising.

The horror of those statistics of failure on the front cover of MANA magazine won’t change if we wait for white NZ to acknowledge them.

Imagine if one day a month, every month, Maori from across New Zealand went on strike and marched in the main streets demanding a response to the racism of our country.

If every month , Maori from across the nation stopped work and went on strike to protest the racism of this nation, white NZ would be forced to confront the truth of the culture of unconscious bias that has become institutionalised racism.

White NZ won’t change unless it is forced to change. The fact it took 136 years to apologise for Parihaka is proof positive of that.

 

 

First published on Waatea News.

16 COMMENTS

  1. Right on as usual Bomber.-Sadly the stats say it all. The pittance Maori are compensated with through treaty settlements are really only pakeha trying to rid themselves of guilt for atrocities they have perpetrated ,committed & visited upon us such as Parihaka ,Maungapohatu, etc. Pakeha will only treat Maori as true & equal partners in Aotearoa when they are forced to.- i.e.- when Maori economy becomes a powerhouse of financial domination through the likes of Tainui & Nga Tahu etc ,and when the redneck “Old boy club” realise that their mokopuna are not only hungry to but are also proud to embrace any Maori heritage that forecast stats tell us of the lineage they are likely to have.

  2. For God’s sake move on and dump the begging bowl,Maori are a proud and industrious people I feel embarrassed by the constant begging and victim culture.

    • I presume this comment was created by automated trolling software, not a human being. Two sentences, badly concatenated, only vaguely related to this article its replying to. I’m a beginner programmers but I’m pretty sure I could write a script to automatically post comments like this on any article on the web that mentioned Māori and a few other keywords.

      If you are a real person David, and not a sock puppet, I suggest you make a bit more effort. Start with reading the article and making some attempt to respond to its contents.

  3. 100% Martyn,

    Or Maori cousins are so badly treated by this government even though we hear of some settlements which are punitive and poultry by the years Maori have endured as being relegated to cheap labour and 2nd class citizens.

    I have always tried to offer to work alongside our Maori cousins and if they organise any action I will join in there cause as a willing 73yr old pakeha.

  4. Sadly, it would make no difference in my work – a global IT company – as we have no Maori working for us. Discrimination you say…not really as I interview most candidates and I can say that none apply. So there’s the rub….no Maori applying because they are not putting themselves into a position to apply. The focus has to be on education and identifying why Maori aren’t educationally successful.

    • Rotorua has three private IT training schemes for Maori students but none if them receive Government funding so their intake is limited to a dozen or so students each.

      In a couple of years or so some of them may come knocking at your door.

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