Post by Kiwi Frontline on Aug 14, 2021 14:28:40 GMT 12
HOW WE DEFINE OURSELVES – Karl du Fresne
I reckon New Zealand should stop describing itself as bi-cultural and instead use the term mixed-race.
This is more than a matter of mere semantics. Here’s my reasoning.
“Bi” is Latin for two. It therefore inevitably throws emphasis onto the differences, real and imagined, between Maori and Pakeha.
It’s this focus on separateness, rather than the things that draw us together, that has enabled a political culture to flourish in which people of Maori and Pakeha descent are increasingly at odds.
Politicians and activists who define themselves as Maori, but who in fact are a mixture of Maori and European, invariably focus on issues that divide us. They treat “Maori” and Pakeha as having interests that are inherently opposed and even impossible to reconcile.
This sets up a situation in which Maori and Pakeha view themselves as being in competition for resources and political power......
karldufresne.blogspot.com/2021/08/how-we-define-ourselves.html
I reckon New Zealand should stop describing itself as bi-cultural and instead use the term mixed-race.
This is more than a matter of mere semantics. Here’s my reasoning.
“Bi” is Latin for two. It therefore inevitably throws emphasis onto the differences, real and imagined, between Maori and Pakeha.
It’s this focus on separateness, rather than the things that draw us together, that has enabled a political culture to flourish in which people of Maori and Pakeha descent are increasingly at odds.
Politicians and activists who define themselves as Maori, but who in fact are a mixture of Maori and European, invariably focus on issues that divide us. They treat “Maori” and Pakeha as having interests that are inherently opposed and even impossible to reconcile.
This sets up a situation in which Maori and Pakeha view themselves as being in competition for resources and political power......
karldufresne.blogspot.com/2021/08/how-we-define-ourselves.html