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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
When Maori begin to help themselves, we will support them wholeheartedly.
Who is “we”, Andrew?
Anyway, we are helping them to compensate for the land that was stolen from them by the colonial government. You can’t have economic development without a base and it’s time to put that right.
And not only that but treaty settlement money often has to get used fighting treaty breaches or helping to deal with the Auckland housing crisis
Who is the we and what support would “we” give Andrew.
And what would you call “helping themselves”. Who sits in judgement.
The suffering and inequity is very plain. Shocking statistics are ignored by those in judgement.
Its a cop out.
Believe me Andrew, if “Māori helped themselves” – helped themselves back to the land stolen,
helped themselves back to kaitiakitanga of the moana,
helped themselves back to rongoa Māori,
helped themselves back to kura kaupapa Maori,
helped themselves back to their own understanding of paremata whakahaumutu… you’d be the first one rocking in a corner, sucking his thumb and crying like a little bitch. It would never suit you if “Māori helped themselves” because demanding equality is soooo inconvenient and unfair for you. Sit down.
Guys, you really need to face facts on this:
NZ is the land of opportunity…Well it is for immigrants who come here from Asia with no money, yet within a generation their children are working at the commanding heights of science, medicine and engineering.
So how do the sons and daughters of Indian taxi drivers do it?
Work ethic
Self discipline
Close and supportive family structure
Respect for education
No drugs or alcohol abuse
No smoking
Maori need to learn to focus on the present, not the perceived ills of the past. Sure bad things were done to some of their ancestors (yet many thousands of others were released from slavery by other Maori upon the signing of the Treaty).
I’m sure if I looked back to the 18th and 19th century I too could find some bad things done to my ancestors back in Europe by the nobility but I chose not to dwell on it. Instead I work in the present, for myself and my family.
You should try it.
So… if I took your land and hung onto it for a few years, that automatically makes it ok? You’ll “move on”, Andrew?
Nice to know.
Of course it doesn’t. That’s a foolish argument Frank.
It would not be OK for me or probably for my children but I’m sure my great, great grandchildren would have gotten over it by then.
I wholeheartedly believe that Maori are potentially as smart and capable as the rest of us. The only thing that is holding them down is this oppressed/oppressor worldview that Mana and the Left push on them.
They need a reason to succeed not an excuse to fail.
As the statistics Mana published make clear, this is not about the past, it’s about the present, so the whole “get over it” sentiment doesn’t fit the reality. If these statistics were about effort, you would expect the statistics for kiwis of Maori heritage to have roughly the same ranges as those for non-Māori (ie some individuals making more effort and/or having more luck than others). If Pākeha were more likely than Māori to be question, arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned, in the same circumstances, would you just shrug you shoulders and say Pākeha “need a reason to succeed not an excuse to fail”? Somehow I doubt it.
For Pākeha who really want to understand the history of Aotearoa and the NZ state, rather than just making excuses for their own privilege, I highly recommend the short film ‘Te Whare’ by Richard Green:
http://www.trc.org.nz/te-whare-online
Comments are closed.