“If the Maori get it, we want it too! No matter WHAT it is!”
The argument made against this slogan on the Pakeha Party page goes something like this:
Its supporters ask for all that Maori get, for Pakeha. Rightly, the question is asked whether these same people would like the higher crime rates, lower education completion rates, lower life expectancy, higher suicide rates, high rates of illness, and the variety of other negative social statistics that, sadly, are what so many Maori born in New Zealand have to contend with.
http://www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz/news/those-liking-pakeha-party-beware-what-you-wish-for/1944826/
However valid this point might seem at first glance, it is not a valid one at all. Let me explain. Pakeha are not at fault for poorer health and life expectancy for Maori. Pakeha are not at fault for higher crime rates, lower education completion, and other negative statistics. It has nothing to do with Pakeha oppression or historical injustices at all. It has everything to do with Maori themselves.
Can anyone prove that Maori had a higher life expectancy before Pakeha arrived in Aotearoa. Can anyone prove that Maori were healthier before Pakeha came to New Zealand. Did Maori have higher education levels before Pakeha arrived in New Zealand. In fact I would expect that most would think that Maori health, life expectancy, and education have increased since Pakeha came to these shores. But let’s imagine for a moment that Maori were healthier, lived longer, and had better education levels before the arrival of others to these shores.
Then how exactly do Pakeha oppress Maori today. Is it not their own choice as to what they eat, what kind of life they lead, and how much they value education. Of course it is their choice. New Zealand doesn’t deprive anyone of good food, regular exercise, and a decent education system. Such things are equally available to all. Sure you could say that healthy food might not be available to all because it is often priced higher, but that is true for all races, not just Maori. The false argument that Pakeha are somehow responsible for the state of Maori health is not a logical argument. Kiwis pay taxes to address such things and compared to other countries, we pay quite a bit more tax than many other countries including our neigbours across the Tasman.
So, this slogan cannot be attacked with this particular argument because it is really an issue of poverty, poor lifestyle, poor choices, and to some extent DNA. A Pakeha Party would not be against helping all who suffer from poor health or poverty. It would rightly support assistance for such issues. But the same help should be based on merit, not race. In other words, help people because they need it, not because they are Maori. Pacific Islanders for example have the same issues as Maori. They should receive equal treatment as citizens of New Zealand too.
Well said and unbiased . we don’t need aparteit in Godzone !
Well it’s good to see someone taking it all further – the persecution – it has draaaaained me
Well said, I have read and heard from white New Zealanders that they are fed up with Government privileges for Maori or people of Maori descent only. However, being a hard working 23y/o, female Maori myself who does not lounge about on the dole and drink my tax paid $170.00 away per week, I have not actually seen my people benefit from these so-called Government funded priveleges/funding/scholarships…Ever. Not one. Why? I do not know, and not that I care because I do believe in equality between races and to have these priveleges for ‘Maori Only’ or people such as Hone Harawira running his mouth off with racial rants is a shame upon my people . So, post well written and point welcomed with open arms 🙂
Kudos to you Isabel 🙂
Well said. Their most certainly does exist racism against Maori today. It may not be overt but it is felt. The oppression in the past has had a detrimental effect on the students and young people of today in regards to their education.
If a government and education system actively tries to strip your culture away, and the world around you is perceived through the lens of your own cutural context, then you will either get confused, angry, frustrated or lost. A person’s attitude toward the education system will become negative, resentful and untrusting and their own sense of identity and feelings of self-efficacy may be diminished. An entire generation of Maori has been told that they are not as important as Pakeha. Has anybody here though about the effect of intergenerational dysfunction as a result.
I hear the argument that people need to sort themselves out and that it was years ago. If I stole your house today, and gave it to my kids tomorrow, would you be ok with it in a week? It happened, and the consequences are real. How many pakeha would appreciate it if the government decided that only Maori language is to be spone in NZ schools? There’s a hell of a fuss if it is made to be a compulsory subject at school.
My point is that although these wrongs may have been made in the past, they are effecting all NZers in the present. Maori are aggrieved about the treatment that has been dealt to them in the past, and the effects of the mistreatment are shown in attitudes, education and social dysfunction. I believe it is a negative and fruitless exercise to blame others for your own misfortune if you are not actively trying to better yourself, and some Maori do blame Pakeha, but not many. The truth is, I just want my family land that was stolen give back, simple as that. But when the government says they can’t or won’t then it will be seen as some to be a handout.
Another point to raise, how about we make Maori education in schools compulsory?, as in teach every student the language, history and values of Maori culture, just as English and Maths is. Not deemed important enough? why?
ye I know it needs an edit but I can’t as I don’t want to sign up.