How Racist are we?

Kia Ora,

About 30 years ago there was an international prediction that New Zealand could be one of four countries where internal strife or civil war could break out in the South Pacific region. From memory it was Fiji, New Zealand & PNG with strife likely in Western Samoa.

Comment though was that in New Zealand it would not be a racial split, more on ideological grounds. For anyone that has been in the military in particular the NZ army(though I hear it is changing) we were all green. We used to (& still do when we meet) call each other by racist slang in particular around the US military who always had a problem with it. At least until they realized we never actually meant it.

Though as my faux pas in the Presidentail Palace car park in Baghdad shows you just have to be mindful of where you are. On exiting vehicle I was in, spied a large muscular Maori Gentleman(sure that is first time he has been called that) or a mate & yelled "So & so you bl..k c..t" when I was suddenly aware the whole place was frozen as everyone looked then waited for his reaction. He looked up seen me then just reacted like he would of any other time. "Bro ...".

One person is well known for showing up to meetings with a pillow case over their head with eyes cut out & a cross on his shoulder when he was the only pakeha(of European descent) in that unit. As far as I know no one ever took offence at it. It was just our sense of humour that something like that was accepted.

Why talk about this now?

Well it is Waitangi Day again(6th February) to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi & Professor Margaret Mutu has come out saying New Zealand has had racism since Pakeha arrived & that New Zealand will not move forward until that is addressed.

Now racism in Australia is quite open. So much so that Australians don't even realize they are doing it. But in some ways that is healthier.

It is quite openly racist both ways in the US too but it tends to be of the unhealthy kind. Australia though, as many of my mates have pointed out, is racist but if you do your job they just accept you for you & get on with things.
Pacific Migrant Labour, Class and Racism in New Zealand: Fresh Off the Boat (Research in Ethnic Relations)
In New Zealand it is very understated & not talked about or denied. If it is raised it is how racist all things are slanted towards Maori. Some of which can be quite amusing to hear as obviously the people involved have no idea what they are talking about.

Amusing in regards to the likes of the Maori seats in parliament. People often refer to these as been racist. They are & were formed on that basis so Maori could not be in control of the country as they would of been at the time been the majority land holders & in population.

So for now to have control beyond their populaton through entrenched Maori seats been called racist is quite ironic.
The Politics of Nostalgia: Racism and the Extreme Right in New Zealand
Now the Professors comments show an example of the different attitudes. The Australian channel Prime which shows here, had it as its first item. TV One news, the main news in New Zealand never even mentioned it. I am not sure what TV 3 thought of it.

But then it is not that simple either as there is these days obviously racism on both sides. Being of Maori descent but pale I get it from both sides. On the pakeha side because they only regard you as Maori if you are brown not by whakapapa which is the true identifier & so make comments(even after you point out you are Maori) that they would not make if my cousins were there.
Tauiwi: Racism and ethnicity in New Zealand
On the Maori side the comments directed at me because of my skin colour for which they are quickly pulled up & put right. The other area I see which some Maori play on is the perceived slight such as more arrests in the Christchurch CBD a few years back of Maori & Pacific Islanders.

Although I have it realiably from within police ranks about that time it was quite racist in thought(just reflecting the society they work in) in fact that issue had little to do with racism but more to do with wealth & costs.

Those figures changed once the police were ordered to arrest everyone causing issues. Suddenly 82% of those causing the mayhem were rich & white young males. Up to that stage(& I have both been told this by offenders as a security officer & heard the police told this)these same young males would state "I will get off, get dad's lawyer & ask for a jury trial" officers were just told to forget it by superiors as cost was too high. In the end police just stopped doing it as waste of time & paper work. So they just prosecuted the lower income group which tends to be high in proportion of Maori & Pacific Islanders.
Nga take: Ethnic relations and racism in Aotearoa/New Zealand
Not to mention there used to be an attitude amongst the low income groups of "do the crime do the time" & "the crime is getting caught". As any police officer is likely to tell you & it is the same with security you get more trouble with a person in a suit than a gang member in most situations. Many well dressed, well off people think they have the right to commit a crime or the rules don't apply to them & no one can touch them.

Where as a gang member will often once caught just think 'got caught not worth the hassle'.
Racism and Ethnicity (Critical Issues in New Zealand Society)
Racism in New Zealand though is another of those subjects like crime or our 'clean & green image' that are fallacies in this country & that need to be talked about.

But the New Zealand attitude is "this is a great country we don't have any of those problems & we will never have real bad crime or terrorism like overseas" yeah right they are already here.

Some will not like the use of the word Pakeha here as they find it offensive. That is because they are told it means 'white pig'. Actually it doesn't. No one is actually sure what it means anymore but it was once a term of great esteem.

At best it appears to have been a corruption of some Maori words such as those for Pa(fort) of white ghosts, or to do with the smell of the ship & its crew(you actually smell like the food you eat or its combination in the natural state) or the best I have heard is Maori at the time trying to get their tongue around the common expression they would of heard of bugger ya(you) which if you run together & say fast comes out like Pakeha.
Nga Patai : Racism and Ethnic Relations in Aotearoa/New Zealand
Of course on the other side there was the mistunderstanding that Maori was what people referred to themselves as. Maori means ordinary & no one would of identified as Maori but as Ngapuhi, Ngati Porou, Ngai Tahu, Waitaha or what ever Iwi(tribe) you came from. There was no such thing as Maori as a people.

Therein lies another issue the British thought they were signing with the Maori people, but Maori were only signing on behalf of their Iwi or more likely Hapu or whanau. Not all signed & some Iwi never signed at all, but the British attitude was once one person signed it was on behalf of all Maori people.

But then that is no different than the British identifying the language used in the court of the Emperor of China as Mandarin. There was no such dialect back then. What did happen was the officials across China for ease of communication used whatever the dialect of the Emperor at the time was.

The British termed these officials Mandarins so the language they spoke must be Mandarin or the official language. I think it was Jesuits tried to inform them other wise but being Catholics were dismissed as meddlers. From memory same group tried to assist in putting together of treaty here.
Disciplining the Savages
Like anything else the more we suppress them then at somestage they will come up & bite us on the rear. Both sides have to start talking & start listening. I think they will find in many instances they are actually on the same page just not listening or understanding. On others such as the Foreshore & Seabed as stated in a previous blog it might be very well the best option to ensure that area is in Maori hands with a caveat for all New Zealand citizes to use as the best way of protecting it for all.

But the politicians & those in power behind todays financial instituitions don't want us to understand each other. They would rather we are divided & arguing than trying to actually work together.

If a politician is giving you what you want look closely as they are probably doing quite the opposite & trouble will ensue.

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

Ignorance will increase physical violence!

Kia Ora,

It seems ignorance, that in many instances revealing itself as racism, is starting to impact world wide. By people remaining ignorant will only increase tension & physical violence.

This has been shown by the revelation that a growing number of Americans now beleive Barrack Obama is Muslim. There are a number of people since he was elected that have been clinging to any shred of talk against him as proof he is not good for the US.

Whilst here in New Zealand the current governments attempt to clean up the Foreshore Seabed Act has also drawn a reaction from an ignorant group that have little or no facts to back their claims, but they are drawing on the racist leanings of others to gain traction.

It is all highly emotive & a former army comrade called me racist for pointing out the facts & that I gained them as a member of a tribal ruling council.

Their reaction was based on my skin colour which immediately exposed his racist leanings. Been Maori is not about your skin colour but your whakapapa(geneology) & they are no different than the Maori who also judge me by my skin colour(been light skinned).

We all have prejudices, it is just part of human nature, but it goes too far when we start using it as an excuse for violence.
Racism: A Short History.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History
The fact both issues are so emotive will easily lead to violence & as the worlds economy is still looking to worsen so will the divides in communities become more noticeable.

That means the increased violence police & the security industry have been seeing (in NZ during the current calendar year) will only continue to increase.

The hardest part is getting the messages past the ignorance so people actually make considered decisions.

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

Jihad in New Zealand! Yeah Right! Or is it?

Kia Ora,

I was trying to work out how to use Youtube better last night when I came across two threads.

One was a person from Britain who immigrated to New Zealand & had re entered the area of door security. I aim to look more into his postings but seems good & professional, I would like to keep an eye on his take on issues.

The second was much more disturbing.



The initial post that caught my eye was "I used to work for the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service)" & it goes into how he was used undercover to identify Jihadists in Auckland.

Is he the real deal? Not sure but there were some things that made me take note & think maybe he is.

First his Arabic seems very good.

Though his letter to the Prime Minister is a bit of a ramble (something I have been accused of at times myself) there are a few parts in it that peaked my interest.

That is the part where he talks about his SIS handlers saying he didn't have to go fully into the role of a Muslim (since he now says he has converted to atheist & everything must be based on science). That is on the point I have been trying to make. If they don't really know or haven't experienced anything like a suicide bombing then Kiwi's will not understand.



Jihadists are not just nutters who take the Koran, as he calls them literalists (they exist in all religions & are generally the extremists), literally in their interpretation, but usually very good at counter surveillance & reconnaisance.

Through his chats though it emerges as he identifies himself at one point a picture of a young guy who was lost & his nature comes across as addictive, He now requires everything to be referrenced in a scientific nature. Time & experience will tell him that not everything is absolute. Alot is gut instinct & experience.

As my experience has shown along with some of the comments to his postings, the average Muslim is very accepting, in fact more accepting than most westerners. But it is not them you have to worry about.



There are a few comments though that seem to come within NZ that back up some of his claims with their rants against his postings on Islam.

Then there is the postings above & below which back up some recent comments on some Maori forums. I have even read one Maori convert say Islam is the black man's religion. Doesn't know his religion as well as he thinks.

NZ has issues mainly concerning the Treaty of Waitangi & racism that we need to sort through & to a great extent are. Neither side is fully happy, so we must be doing something right.



Islam may actually be good for many Maori unless they take up the radical side & there are already enough Maori advocating armed conflict that this could turn nasty.

Will mean that "you will have to give the pork bones a miss though bro. More for me".

These videos have been getting posted for a while. So is Jihad possible in New Zealand? Most definitely.

Are the authorities on top of things? I doubt it as they have never experienced this type of thing it will be hard for them to envisage it. When they speak to their foreign counterparts although the words used will be the same, they will mean different things.



The day after a TV programme to my way of thinking confirms what I already thought that a mass murderer was allowed to walk free, NZ has to look at the way it views the world & acts in it.

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

Racism & Security. How does it affect us?

Kia Ora,

In the last week or so there have being articles referring to racism often in our newspapers. So how does racism affect those in security?

First there is the racial abuse you get when carrying out your tasks. As a very pale Maori I probably hear it more than most as many will look at my skin colour & I either get confided in as to "those so & so's (of what ever colour)" or get abused as someone I am not.

But when dealing with drunks it is often the first thing that you hear.

Then you have the other side of the equation which I was surprised to hear from Sir Ian Mckellen's meeting (as outlined in an article in the Sunday Star-Times) with our former PM after he expressed the sentiments of how great we are intergrated in terms of race. I agree with the PM's sentiments that actually we are a very racist country.

Much of it only comes out at certain times as issues such as the Foreshore & Seabed legislation. It is just more understated than in most countries. Generally most people get on, but then an issue comes up & the most common words you hear are "I am not a racist but..."

I was aware a little of it after I left school, but then going in the army where overall everyone is green & we actually make it a bit of a joke to call each other by what would be regarded as racist remarks in civvy street, I just did not realize how bad it was until leaving.

As the world financial crisis bites & forecast to worsen then the acts of crime or violence in regards to race will increase.

Only on Friday night in Queenstown, two individuals from other cities within NZ were arrested for a series of attacks on tourists.

These attacks have racist overtones, just by the fact of the two cities these two individuals come from are considered the two main cities with white power connections & themselves often have attacks on tourists.

So in the security industry we will see this more & more as part of what we have to confront.

With the Rugby World Cup 2011 apparently going to be held in NZ, it is something that has to be confronted, but like everything else since NZ is spread out  with a low population, it doesn't appear that bad, so no one does anything.

But then as someone pointed out in an article recently when they did the math on a per capita basis NZ had a higher death toll due to car accidents than China.

We also have the second highest percentage of people in prison in the industrialized world.

The racial taunts we all generally develop a way to deal with it.

                                           http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz