History has shown us time and again how atrocity begins with cheap opportunistic hate speech against minorities. It has to stop in New Zealand, now, said refugee and MP Golriz Ghahraman in a speech at the Aotea Square rally on Saturday. Below, an edited transcript E nga mana, e nga reo, e nga karangatanga maha. … Read more
‘We need someone asking what is being done about racist hatred’, says head of African Communities Forum. An African community group is redoubling demands for the urgent appointment of a Race Relations Commissioner following the terrorist attack in Christchurch that has left 50 people dead. The position has been empty for over nine months since … Read more
The terrorist attacks that tore through the Muslim community in Christchurch also exposed ugly truths about New Zealand. By Toby Morris
Faisal Halabi – an Arab, a Muslim, and a New Zealander – reckons with what all those identities mean for him. I’m sitting in my London flat, thinking about the distance between myself and New Zealand. It’s just over 18,000km. I’m also thinking about the distances between the different identities I’ve balanced growing up in New Zealand: … Read more
Thousands across the country have been gathering this weekend for the victims and families of the Christchurch terror attacks. At Auckland’s Aotea Square vigil on Saturday, words of love and triumph were preached, as were reminders of New Zealand’s xenophobic past. “Look at this place, it’s completely empty,” my taxi driver remarks as we drive … Read more
The People’s Harassment Report, a study undertaken by ActionStation and UMR, found one in three Māori online faced racial abuse in 2018. Here we look a bit closer at the methodology of the research. From August to October 2018, ActionStation ran a pilot project called Tauiwi Tautoko where 20 volunteers were trained and supported to … Read more
Research points towards an unconscious, cognitive basis for racism and other forms of discrimination, suggesting that even the super-woke can be secret and subconscious racists, writes Danyl Mclauchlan I thought about this story a lot over the summer break. It wasn’t one of the huge scandals or rolling controversies from last year, or even one … Read more
Are we missing the rise of the far right? Marc Daalder speaks to the angry middle-aged men who want to see nationalism rise in New Zealand. Hundreds of Kiwis have pledged to march today against an obscure UN migration pact today under the guise of a brand-new organisation calling itself NZ Sovereignty. The central issue emphasised … Read more
I had the privilege to stand alongside Mātua Nathan and his daughter Alethea in New York last year, writes Julia Amua Whaipooti. Now is a moment of progressive global outrage. It will pass, but his work will not. On April 20 last year I was sitting in the General Assembly at the United Nations when I … Read more
A ‘Christmas tradition’ featuring photos of urology consultants in dark brown makeup and afro wigs has angered members of the public. It’s at Christmastime that New Zealanders buy more mince pies and glazed cherries. It’s at Christmastime that New Zealand’s spirit lifts. And it’s at Christmastime, apparently, that New Zealanders get back into blackface. Zwarte … Read more
British Caribbean documentary maker Jay Hall — who sat down with the owner of Dutch Delights and convinced him to do away with the blackface tradition — talks about Zwarte Piet, or Black Pete, and its racist history. In November 2016, I was out in Birkenhead where I was living at the time when a vintage … Read more
New Zealand hops are hot property in the beer world, but some overseas breweries’ tone-deaf homages to Aotearoa are causing offence. Worldwide, the beer industry is coming under increasing pressure to be more inclusive. In many parts of the world, breweries are dominated by white males, and the industry has a history of sexism — … Read more
The Single Object is a series exploring our material culture, examining the meaning and influence of objects that surround us in everyday life. In the third piece in the series Emma Ng examines the once lost Chinese typeface used to print the New Zealand Chinese Growers’ Monthly Journal. Consider the kiwifruit. The sweet and fuzzy berry has … Read more
The Side Eye is a monthly non-fiction comic by Toby Morris, supported by NZ On Air. Read the rest of the series here.
A glaring lack of representation in Hollywood means Crazy Rich Asians still feels quietly revolutionary in a #woke 2018, writes Keren Sim. The year was 2000 and the movie was Charlie’s Angels. Watching Lucy Liu kicking ass alongside Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore, I sat up a little straighter, feeling a jolt of recognition that … Read more
Whanganui High School invited only Māori and Pasifika boys to a Joseph Parker speaking event, which some believed to be racism in action. Hint: it wasn’t. Here we go again. On Tuesday, news broke that Whanganui High School had limited a Joseph Parker speaking event to Māori and Pasifika boys and their fathers. Some parents … Read more
The ghosts of the 1981 Springbok Tour still haunt Auckland’s inner-suburb streets.
Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux are in New Zealand to preach their alt-right message in Auckland. But should the media just ignore them, asks Hayden Donnell for The Spinoff TV. “Their visit has excited both racists and people who are racist adjacent,” says Hayden Donnell. But as the Canadian visitor appear to perversely use even … Read more
‘The Powerstation is a blank canvas,’ says owner after organisers reveal alt-right duo Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux will appear at beloved music venue in Auckland this evening. The owner and manager of Auckland live music venue The Powerstation has cancelled the appearance this evening of Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern. Peter Campbell initially defended … Read more
Detachment is a luxury only some enjoy. For women, non-whites or any of the subjects of Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern’s rants, looking the other way is rarely possible, writes Morgan Godfery White nationalism is, for the basement dwelling 4chaners, mouth breathing Redditors, and Youtube philosopher kings, nothing more than a desperate search for an … Read more
The performance of Kendrick Lamar’s hip-hop carries special meaning for New Zealand’s minorities, Tamsyn Matchett writes. Kendrick Lamar has been on his DAMN. tour for more than a year. He will finish the 12 month marathon next week in Australia. Such a gruelling, brutal schedule is warranted given the huge mainstream success of DAMN., and its … Read more
The latest Broadcasting Standards Authority survey on offensive language is out, and it shows as a nation we’re becoming more progressive and nuanced about how and why we take offence. Some strong language to follow. Alas for broadcasters, that the word considered most offensive by the general public is also one of the easiest to … Read more
When the n-word slipped out of former National MP Tau Henare’s mouth on national television last Sunday, Ātea editor Leonie Hayden realised she’d been harbouring a guilty secret. I saw a video on Twitter a couple of weeks ago where Kendrick Lamar, who is playing here this week, stopped a white fan from rapping along … Read more
These are cruel days for white old men who feel silenced. We scour the country to find the last remaining safe spaces for these struggling titans. It’s hard out here for a pimp. But it’s even harder out here for those who don’t know what song or movie that’s referencing. In other words, it’s hard … Read more
Ever wanted to make an unfunny joke and be deeply offensive at the same time? Harcourts has all the answers you need. As time moves forward with irreverence, being progressive can sometimes mean merely trying to stay afloat in an ocean of acronyms, causes, and political correctness. Luckily there’s one thing we can all agree belongs in … Read more
He showed up to a voice over job and was asked to mispronounce a Māori place name. Dave Ward explains why he chose to speak up instead. Taika Waititi was right on the money. We have a race issue in Aotearoa and it’s not going away. Last week I refused to deliberately mispronounce a Māori … Read more
The NZ International Comedy Festival is here, and last night it kicked off with its traditional opener, the NZ Comedy Gala. But this year, among the local and international comedians, there was a whole lot of racism. Julie Zhu writes. As a Chinese woman, I’m used to surface racism. My brain has almost developed an … Read more
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, and yet here we are at the end of another week of being asked to prove racism exists. I have reason to believe the recent gale-force winds were caused by all the people of colour in New Zealand sighing at the … Read more
NZ filmmaker Taika Waititi has raised hackles by diagnosing racism in New Zealand in a sweary simile. But good news! Turns out he’s totally incorrect, and all you need to do is scroll down the pages of NZ news sites and social media to find out. Late last week Dazed published an interview with Taika Waititi and … Read more