The ironic thing about people who send me letters about how useless I am and that our race relations are OK, is that most of them are from Pakeha men: as Duncan Garner proved in his latest opinion piece.
I get many letters and emails: some polite, many abusive or threatening. The personal attacks aren’t new and I’ve got pretty thick skin, for a simple squash player.
But as well as the haters I also get the opposite: messages of thanks and support from people who are grateful I stood up for their right to live in peace and dignity.
They aren’t powerful or famous people but their voices mean more to me than those who think it’s PC gone mad to actively work at peaceful race relations.
Super Diversity isn’t coming, it’s already here. We are home to more than 200 ethnicities – more cultures than the UN has member states. More than one million of us were born overseas and these trends will continue.
New Zealand is one of the most ethnically diverse nations on the planet, to ignore our differences is a naïve and hopeless response to an issue the entire world is grappling with.
Race relations in our country are far from OK. A third of all complaints we receive are about racial discrimination but we know many people never bother complaining. If we aren’t careful the future we leave our children will be vastly different from the peaceful New Zealand we grew up in.
It’s not OK for Muslim Kiwis to be singled out, abused and discriminated against because of violent extremists. Neither is it OK to blame Jewish Kiwis for an unfolding tragedy thousands of miles away.
It’s not OK for Maori New Zealanders to be racially profiled shopping at their supermarket or walking down the street. Continue reading
- Dame Susan Devoy is New Zealand’s Race Relations Commissioner.
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