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1/Thks to @NZDoctor_news & @MaudeJourno for making our issues more visible.Racism in NZ has not gone away since the first Chinese NZer arrived in 1853.Subtle or outright it affects both healthcare workers and patients. We should remember that all groups deserve to be seen& heard.
2/Wong Ah Poo Hoc Ting arrived in 1842 as a ship's boy kidnapped by English sailors years earlier. He found home, love &family in Nelson but was forever separated from his family, and his anglicised name (Appo Hocton) was the first part of becoming invisible.
3/Unlike later migrants, Wong was allowed to naturalise in 1853.From 1850s onwards men from Seeyip, Poon Yue and Jung Sung village clusters in Southern Chinese came at the invitation of Otago Chamber of Commerce, initially to dig gold,moving on to market gardens & small business.
4/ Although Chinese were welcome initially in NZ as skilled labourers, and happily traded cultural habits with others, racism soon intervened - and media and politicians responded in their familiar ugly ways.
5/ The poll tax act in 1881 sought to keep out Chinese by making them pay 10 pds,later increased to 100 pds (approx 22 K in today's money).Chinese were the only migrant group to suffer this discrimination though 'King Dick' Seddon was happy to enact laws against other groups too.
6/ Despite popular belief in our pākeha population, not much has changed in terms of racist media headlines as seen by this 2019 @nzherald cartoon....
7/ nor simple (offensive, reductive) stereotypes as seen in this @NZStuff headline from a few days ago.
8/ We are visible as caricatures and stereotypes, but the real diversity and complexity of Asian NZers is invisible. When politicians including @jacindaardern speak about marginalised groups that need more voice, we are forgotten. We are barely seen in media, arts, science.
9/ When it comes to healthcare, we know there is a lot of unmet need-lots of barriers for Asian pts in accessing care. But there's also very little funded resource- @WaitemataDHB is the only DHB in the country to invest in an Asian Health Service despite us now making up 15% pop.
10/ As a doctor trained in and serving across Aotearoa, I have experienced bullying, exclusion and subtle exclusion from my colleagues.Racism from patients is unfortunately a normal part of the workday for many colleagues. But not everyone is in a position to speak out.
11/ We would like to advocate for our patients too as we know there are lots of unseen and largely unrecorded health issues, esp mental health. But Asian communities are seen as 'model minority', non complainers, park em' in the corner and they'll be fine.
12/ With research, it's rare to be given funding to look at intersectional and Asian health needs. Cynics would say it's a case of 'no data, then there's no problem.' But underinvestment in research and resource is a false saving.
13/ We've become experts at assimilating, and by 'blending in', become invisible. We might even be criticised for 'choosing' to remain quiet. But this ultimately doesn't break the cycle of racism (bias, discrimination, call it what you will) that continues from 1842.
14/ It is time to recognise that we have to see the problem & acknowledge it before we can do something. We have lots of allies with understanding and knowledge and who are prepared to stand beside us. By working together & acknowledging all experiences, we can make a difference.
