Dr Melissa Derby has explained how Benevolent racism is still racism and why it harms Maori instead of helping them.
‘Racism’ is a term we hear often these days, […] the debate over the meaning of the term seems to rest on the issue of power, and who has it. This, it is often argued, determines who is able to ‘be racist’ or not: for example, it is sometimes claimed that because M?ori do not ‘have power’, they cannot be racist.
Labelling an entire race as powerless sounds really racist to me.
In recent times, and for very good reason, many New Zealanders have engaged in serious and long overdue conversations about ‘casual racism’, and the impact it has on those groups on the receiving end of it. This blog post aims to shed light on a lesser-known, and arguably more insidious phenomenon – that of ‘benevolent racism’ – and in particular, how I observe this form of racism impacting on Maori students and their quality of education.
Dr Melissa Derby defines ‘benevolent racism’ as a phenomenon, where well-meaning members of the dominant culture seek to help “marginalised groups.” She explains that there is not necessarily a deliberate intention to do harm even though harm results from it.
One example of the harm that she gives is that the “help” can reinforce stereotypical assumptions about the marginalised group’s ability to achieve on their own accord and merit. Secondly, it can entrench a message that marginalised groups cannot achieve without the help of the dominant group. Thirdly it can create a culture of dependency where the marginalised group becomes reliant on the dominant group for the help that they provide.
She provides the following example of benevolent racism in the NZ education sector.
Recently, it was suggested by a Maori academic that Maori students at university need to “be awhi-ed [helped]” and not “taught how to write and reference” in a coherent, sophisticated, and accurate manner. The implication was that Maori learners were incapable of meeting standards of academic rigor on their own merits, and that therefore they should be given an A-grade in order to make them “feel awhi-ed”, whether they met an A-grade standard or not.
When some colleagues tried to insist that Maori students should be expected to adhere to the same basic academic conventions as other students, it was further suggested that “our Maori students would find it too hard, and would be put off learning”. Those of us who are committed to encouraging Maori students to reach as high a standard as possible in their academic pursuits were labelled “Pakeha in our thinking”, as if to be concerned about quality and excellence is not a Maori trait. To put the final nail in the benevolent racism coffin, the academic insisted Maori students should not be made to hand work in on time, because “Maori students come to university disadvantaged, and asking them to hand work in on time isn’t fair”.
The racism in such statements is extraordinary, and it alarms me to see acts of benevolent racism committed by our own; that is, by Maori, to Maori. While there is value in understanding the circumstances that have influenced the lives of students, it is not acceptable to assume that a student’s ethnicity necessarily defines their past experiences, nor their ability to achieve in education.
The notion of benevolent racism can do a lot of damage to those on the receiving end of it. To adopt these sentiments would see Maori students short-changed on a decent education […]
Excellence is a Maori trait […] At whare wananga, systems of knowledge transfer and skills acquisition were refined over generations. Students had to have the mental aptitude and diligence to retain vast amounts of information, transmitted in oral form. Accuracy was paramount. To alter or question the knowledge was viewed as an affront to Tane, the god whom Maori contend obtained knowledge for humankind.
In wider traditional Maori society, it was crucial to the survival and success of the tribal group that children developed a positive attitude to work. […]
In contemporary times, research indicates that Maori students continue to value high expectations and standards. […]
[…] why are some Maori suggesting we must discard high standards and expectations for our Maori students?
[…] Maori students are just as capable of achieving in their education as anybody else, and to suggest otherwise is racist, plain and simple.
nzareblog.wordpress.com/2019/07/01/benevolent-racism/