Dear Editor
I always laugh when I hear the Maori party talk about racism in New Zealand because as a non-Maori 72-year old I have lived with many racial issues.
When I was at school a Maori student could be the Dux of the school but I couldn’t be a Maori Dux so that was racial bias against me. I could be an All Black and so could a Maori sportsman but I could not be a Maori All Black so again, that was racism against me.
We have a Maori party in government yet if I were to start a White or Asian party there would be a cry of “racism” so fast I would be drawn and quartered.
I have listened to the Willie Jacksons and the Mahutas of this country for years and they use racism every time they don’t get their way. If they looked at themselves in a mirror they would realise that there is a racist staring back at them.
Growing up I lived on a farm and next door was a very nice Maori family that we were great friends with. While I helped dad milk the cows their kids would be playing the guitar. I would come in from milking and do my homework. If I went to school and didn’t hand in my homework I would get strapped but if the Maori kids didn’t do their homework it was OK as it would be racial to strap them. And so it’s gone on all my life.
Now in New Zealand, there is what they call positive discrimination which allows employers to discriminate against people in order to favour applicants from the favoured race. A very good non-Maori friend of mine’s daughter with amazing grades applied to go to Law school but wasn’t accepted even though Maori and Pacific Islander students with much lower grades were.
From my understanding 25 per cent of law school was opened for the favoured races and again in my understanding, they are only 17 per cent of our population. Why is it that racial bias and blatant discrimination are considered okay in this circumstance? Surely in an unbiased/non-racist system, people would be chosen solely on their grades and ability? Again this is an example of racism against non-Maori. The funny part of this is that I learnt to play guitar from my Maori friends and we always had a laugh about how they could use the system to get their way and I couldn’t.
At my age in life I can be honest and look at how life is and see the bias against non-Maori but obviously, the Jacksons and the Mahutas can’t. Will anything be done to stop racism in this country? Sadly I think it will only get worse for non-Maori.
Don T