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So, fellow pākehā here in New Zealand, let's have a word.
If you're watching the violence, rage, & protest in the US atm, and rightly support #BlackLivesMatter
(tho I really don't care to hear "I support protest but not riots or looting") we need to talk about our racial system.
If you're watching the violence, rage, & protest in the US atm, and rightly support #BlackLivesMatter
(tho I really don't care to hear "I support protest but not riots or looting") we need to talk about our racial system.
Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand are overrepresented in basically all the socio-economic markers of oppression & inequality. They're also over-represented in law enforcement & prison statistics, as well as violence towards their communities & whānau. So as pākehā, look at yourself.
Why are you so quick to support Black America in rightly striking back at the hatred & violence they have been living under for literal centuries, and yet equivocate over when Māori in Aotearoa N push back in even a fraction of a similar manner? Is it only as it's not here?
Yes, our racial systems are different, but we are still a racially stratified society, where those who are not white are excluded from so many institutions in our society via violence, whether the everyday or the overt & horrific kind.
And if you haven't witnessed this? Well.
And if you haven't witnessed this? Well.
We as pākehā are insulated, protected, in a society that is quite literally designed for us, to reflect our selves back to us, to make it easy for us in terms of our skin colour, to move through society with minimal friction.
You haven't witnessed it as that's how it's designed.
You haven't witnessed it as that's how it's designed.
So in such a society, it's not enough to merely be non-racist as pākehā, because then you're just going along with the status quo, the unequal stratification of our society, safe & protected.
Rather, we must be anti-racist, to put our finger on the scale of justice & rebalance.
Rather, we must be anti-racist, to put our finger on the scale of justice & rebalance.
You want to know what you would have done in historical moments of racial injustice? What you're doing now, is the answer.
So, as you look at America, and the screaming to push back just an inch, ask yourself, fellow pākehā, what are you doing here? Whose voices do you hear?
So, as you look at America, and the screaming to push back just an inch, ask yourself, fellow pākehā, what are you doing here? Whose voices do you hear?
And yes, that means making people uncomfortable. At a bare bloody minimum. It means being uncomfortable ourselves as pākehā, as our society makes us comfortable in order to maintain itself as is.
Because you know what? Māori ain't comfortable. Not at all.
Because you know what? Māori ain't comfortable. Not at all.
