Article - https://www.newsroom.co.nz/racism-is-endogenous-to-new-zealand
Racism In New Zealand
This article is so powerful to me, as it’s such a perfect example of a victim of racism speaking out about her experiences, and doing something about it. I think that Satra
Browne is so brave to have done this, as many haven’t, purely out of fear, and I feel as
though she has spoken on behalf of every Kiwi who has witnessed these atrocities.
One thing that really shocked me incredibly, was when she talked about one of her
trainees being chosen for a presentation by her professor, by an extremely rude rhyme
being aimed at her. I found this so appalling, the fact that she had been called the n-slur
by someone who she may have previously looked up to. I knew that it was quite a
common thing, but I never realised how easy it was for other people to say it so blatantly,
and with such purposeful aggression.
I have only ever witnessed one occasion where a white person has said the n-slur, and
I immediately did everything in my power to let him realise what he had just said. In the process, I got called a lot of extremely rude names and slurs, just because he truly
believed that black people, African Americans in particular, were below him and that me, defending them, put myself below him as well. I think that moment was when I started
to realise how completely ignorant people can be.
Another thing that stood out to me, was when she began talking about the different types
of racism, particularly in New Zealand. She spoke a lot about how in the U.S, people
tended to be very upfront about things and spoke without any fear of being confronted whatsoever, which just shows how common racism really is.
However, Satra referred to racism in New Zealand as ‘microaggression’, and after hearing what she had to say, I completely agree. People in New Zealand are just as bad as the
U.S, however, the racism here is expressed through statements, and they tend to be very
much on the down-low. Sometimes it’s actually quite hard to distinguish whether the
statement was just that, a statement, or whether it was a blatant attack on people of
colour. One example of this, was when she was quoting some of the statements she had heard from living in New Zealand, such as ‘you can’t put a comb through your hair’ or
‘I know where you’re from … Rwanda’.
A lot of people hear these things, and just brush them aside, purely because they think
it was meant as a joke, but a second glance at the person who the comment which was
‘meant to be funny’ was aimed at would usually answer the question of whether or not it
was actually a joke.
I admire Dr Browne for writing this article, and I agree with her 100%. People need to
realise that racism is a real thing, and it’s so easily ignored because it’s just so incredibly common that people have started to become numb to its effects.
