Doc Ferris comments the same pure temple politics of the middle class identity politics woke

17 Comments

1. If Takuta Ferris can’t see that his mad utterances are essentially handing Seymour and friends great, bloody gobbets of red meat to toss to their frothing redneck base, then he’s just thick. ACT must be laughing themselves sick over this. “See?! We told you those Maaaris were a bunch of unhinged racists who want to steal your silverware and ban you from going to the beach!”

   The guy’s basically punching himself in the face at this point. I hope Te Pati Maori can get him to see that throwing his toys out of the pram like this is helping no one but their enemies.

2. John Tamihere said ““It is wrong for other folk to politic in Māori seats because I don’t go over to their country, like the British Raj and destroy India. I don’t rage the Opium War as the British did with the Chinese. I don’t place all people from Africa into slavery like white Europe did.”
   I can throw some light on that statement by paraphrasing. “Maori did not colonize India. Maori did not try to force opium upon the Chinese people. Maori did not enslave the peoples of Africa. The British did all that. Therefore, people from those nations should not allow themselves to be used by colonialists to intrude into Maori political affairs. They should respect Maori independence and dignity in the same way that Maori have respected the independence and dignity of Chinese, Indian and African peoples”.
   I don’t totally agree with John’s position, but to me the argument above is irrefutable. I would just go a step further than John and say that the only people who should have been actively engaged in the Tamaki makarau by-election were the people of Tamaki makaurau electorate themselves. Not many people would agree with me on that, but in the future Aotearoa it will be recognised as a basic political principle. The perverse phenomenon of foreign or outside interference will be completely eliminated from the political system under rangatiratanga.

   1. So all those ethnicities should have marched with Maori in the treaties principles bill protest, all those dam pakeha shouldn’t have written submissions and should have spoken at parliament

      1. In Aotearoa there should be respect and solidarity between all iwi, all peoples and all ethnicities. That means we don’t interfere in the domestic affairs of other iwi, but we do come together to make common cause when we are facing threats from the colonialist regime. So I can confidently confirm that people from every ethnic group residing in New Zealand joined in Te Hikoi mo te Tiriti. That shows the strength of our solidarity. The blow up over the Tamaki makaurau by-election was the result of a political error by the Labour Party. It was wrong of the NZLP to push multiculturalism into a by-election for a Maori seat. Everyone has learned something from the consequent raruraru and it won’t have a negative impact on race relations in this country over the long term. It might even have positive outcomes as Te Pati Maori have suggested.

3. Let’s have a look at what Takuta Ferris said in his second public statement, the so-called “doubling down” statement.
   “Ferris also didn’t believe anyone would have had a problem with his comments had he made them in te reo Māori. He said the English language had been an “oppressor” of other ethnicities”
   I think Takuta is right. He would know. If he had made the statement in te reo it would have come across differently. Why? Because speaking in te reo is not just a case of translating word for word from English. When one speaks English one speaks with the whole weight of English culture shaping the discourse. One thinks one is speaking one’s own thoughts, and of course in a sense one is, but in another sense one is articulating the ideas common to an entire culture. Te reo is informed by a different cultural understanding, and Maori speaking in te reo are more likely to tend towards the magnanimity of manaakitanga, not necessarily because they become any kinder, but because the language gives a confidence of their position in the system of things, and they are more aware of how their tipuna would receive their thoughts, even when they may not be overly confident in the language itself.
   “They’re trying to make us vanish. They’re trying to make us disappear into just a small minority in our own country, whilst we fight for the damn seats that are there for us, expressly for us, and they’re there for us because the Pākehā at the time, and currently, know that Māori have unique rights as opposed to everyone else.”
   Ferris said ““They’re doing it in plain daylight. This is why I say it blows my mind. They’re homogenising Māori.”
   This idea of homogenisation is vitally important. It has been debated more sympathetically and at greater length on e-tangata https://e-tangata.co.nz/comment-and-analysis/two-takes-on-takuta/ but to be brief: It is questionable whether any ethnic minority wants to be homogenised, and it is a red line for Maori within their own country, Aotearoa. When “multiculturalism” becomes “Maori are just an ethnic minority in New Zealand like Brazilians or Sri Lankans or Iraqi” then Maori will not have a bar of it, because it really would amount to an erasure of Maori. Maori will keep their unique identity as first people of Aotearoa, just as all those other ethnicities will keep their unique identity as people that migrated to Aotearoa for all sorts of reasons bringing with them all sorts of cultural practices and values.
   The position of Maori is unique in Aotearoa. No one can deny that. It is a matter of fact, not of belief.
   There is more to be said on the subject of homogenisation, but I suggest that anyone interested goes to e-tangata and joins the discussion there.

   1. well put GF

   2. A long answer but it won’t solve the reality that his comments provide ammunition to the right to use as scare tactics. I prefer the advice to “speak the truth in love” as a common-sense way to avoid major conflict. It’s pretty much impossible to keep all people happy but it is daft to deliberately inflame situations that can cause you harm.

4. Yes, TMP need to get on board the MMP train with the Greens and Labour and learn the appropriate PR skills to make it work. The last thing we need is division that will be exploited to create fear among the uninformed electorate that allows the current disaster of a government to get in again.

5. My sour feeling is oh no another entitled Maori in a position of responsibility to their Party and its aims which are not simply one person’s viewpoint, but this Doc person opening his trap and being provocative and hostile willing to throw out any good achieved by workers within the political system. English is bad huh, it’s as malleable as Maori; it is you Doc who chooses the racist word and meaning. Race itself is good, to know where you are from. looking different, thinking different – it’s all part of the human kaleidoscope we live in. Fascinating getting to know each other and forget about the boofheads.

   But like Marama Davidson getting to be a woman, Maori leader. in the Greens and fussing about ‘language’ again. Some rude, common, male language which is eternal, and minor compared to our obstacles in this century. Then too, not forgetting Erica Standup wanting to make those short Maori words that add Kiwiness to our converse, diverse, discourse.

   Can’t Maori pollies govern themselves towards getting the whole waka moving? All you smart Maori in power, just be aware of the hard work all the other smart Maori in the background, quietly creating a NZAO good enough for furthering good lives in the future which presents climate difficulties plus warmongers fighting for technical advantages not people’s betterment. Don’t let us end up like that but let’s get young people together and out living, empty all the jails and the universities because they just teach people how to be self-centred materialists and isolationists, to fit into the present unfair system.

6. JT knows if they got into any sort of power they would soon lose support like happened before when the TPM went with Key.
   They love the drama and the salary they get .

7. Agree 100%. Ferris has outed himself as a middle class wonking prig who is beginning to look like he cares more about his own er fragile sense of Māori identity that he is prepared to throw the baby out with the bath water. He protests too much and he is trying too hard …. to be a ‘radical’ Māori even tho he looks like a whitey from here up north, with a big dose of born again thrown in. Just another inauthentic fanatic that needs to be told what’s what by the leadership. But he doesn’t seem to be being disciplined into line. The next election is really important so I hope they get their shit together and shut him the fuck up. As for JT he should know better, what the hell is going on in their little mutual echo chamber. Look, NZ is relying on a working coalition between TPM who have great tax policy, the Greens and Labour if Chippy and the likes of Ferris can have the vision to allow it. Unfortunately, it’s doubtful. Egos. Middle class (mostly)white men. Axes to grind.

8. DOC should have been celebrating all of the other different races being involved in helping out at the election .If he was not so for up himself he too might have been able to engage some of those same people to help out .This is the problem with the current NZ we have forgotten to work together as a nation instead everyone is in silos and hating everyone else .

9. I agree I quite like Ferris but as you say JT is the trouble maker here, unfortunately he can’t help himself .if they carry on we will be saddled with this awful government for the next 3 years . Just imagine that yuk yuk yuk

10. In real life if Ferris had a Kiwi Indian or Chinese mate who offered to help him campaign for parliament would he turn down his mates help?

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