Racism is real, raw and working in Aotearoa

Thursday, 19 April 2018

Emile Grey is pictured on his wedding day.

OPINION: After reading the opinion piece titled Don't blame the whole country for your experiences, Taika, I think it's about time the truth came out.

For many of us 'brown' folk know deep inside we have had our lands, heritage and future ripped from under us.

Many nations that were 'discovered' by the English and the French were not discovered.

These lands already had civilisation, culture, children and tradition. Yet the Caucasians referred to us as savages, uncivilised, scary, pagan worshippers and more.

* Taika Waititi responds to being labelled 'treasonous' by Duncan Garner

* Taika Waititi labelled 'treasonous' for saying he isn't proud of New Zealand**

I am a New Zealand-born Samoan, happily married to a Caucasian for more than 20 years and we have four blended daughters.

My wife sees the racist attitudes, and how the education system fails to present the whole truth.

One positive is that the younger generation is changing the way things were 15 years ago. Why? They're not listening to pompous old farts who believe the white man saved all the 'savage' countries.

Racism is real, raw and working, when you look at it in the context of colonisation.

I don't go out much because of the shoves from white old men, the stares from white women, the expectation they get served before me.

My lovely wife and I have even tried an experiment at a national furniture retailer. I walked in first, she walked in half an hour later. I had been there for an hour and no-one served me. When my wife was served, she asked 'Has that man been served?'. The reply: 'He'll be right'.

After spending more than 20 years working in the education sector. I conducted a survey regarding treatment in school.

Both Maori, Pacific and others were p….. off at having to be lumped into one group. Their second bug bear was name pronunciation - Taika Waititi is factually correct.

Brown people of any persuasion are treated second class. I remember when I first moved to Nelson, I walked into a real estate agency. I told them I wanted to buy a house. The person who served me turned her back and I got ignored. Now we are two years from being mortgage-free on our quarter acre section.

There is so much denial and hiding behind an education system that never told the truth.

Did you know the Waikato was going to have the first Maori bank? It couldn't. Did you know Maori were trading with the world before Cook the crook arrived. I only deal in fact and the truth. Racism is rife in Aotearoa and discrimination is rife in Aotearoa.

Stick to the truth.

Soifua