7 minute read
16 Modern Racism (Feature
by Salient
PAST MODERN DAY RACISM
Tanumia Matega (she/her; Samoan Ti’avea & Lalovaea)
Content warning: Racism, Explicit Mentions of Racist Slurs
I attended my final year of high school at Wellington East Girls’ College in 2021. I was catching up on schoolwork and buying lunch from the canteen. It seemed like any other day. But it wasn’t.
The week of 11 October, videos and images surfaced online of Palagi Wellington East Girls’ College (WEGC) students yelling offensive and racist slurs at a party. They yelled, “Māori should go back to the bush.” They wrote Nazi imagery on their chest, yelling the n-word. Repeatedly and proudly. On Wednesday 20 October 2021, Māori students confronted the racist students. Videos of the incident had spread across the school by the next period.
On Friday, 22 October, the principal ‘addressed’ the situation, but it was more of a plea to stop spreading things online which would affect the College’s reputation. She had not mentioned “racism” in her four speeches to the different year groups. Did she not want to admit that racism and prejudice had yet to breathe their last breath within the walls of this institution?
The following week, the school was clearly divided. The friends of the offenders defended them online, while a petition asking for the offenders’ expulsion gathered strong support as eyewitness testimonies were shared hundreds of times. That week, those in support dressed in cultural attire. Those who were friends with the offenders were silent.
I had never thought racism could be so bold in a place that felt liberal. While this specific instance most directly impacted Māori students, Pasifika students supported and empathised with them as both communities are similarly subject to racism. This is reflected in common vernacular where the people of the Pacific are homogenised as ‘brown’. Communities are carelessly grouped to simplify the complex social issues they burden us with.
WEGC’s mission statement said students will “learn, lead and participate in an environment that reflects and values diversity while fostering personal excellence”. Their ‘Recognition of Cultural Diversity’ policy reads: “Wellington East Girls’ College celebrates New Zealand’s cultural diversity and strives to ensure that all students feel culturally safe and valued. We aim to create a learning environment that is caring, inclusive, cohesive, and supports the cultural and linguistic diversity of our students.” Was the College aware that their ideologies differed from the reality of their students?
Pasifika students only made up around 12% of WEGC when I was there, and staff consistently butchered the pronunciation of ethnic names. In 2021, the Poly group was prohibited from fundraising because it would seem ‘bad’ for the group to look for funding elsewhere. The school’s reputation seemed more important than support for POC, leaving our “brown” extracurriculars without proper resourcing.
More than half of our prefects were POC, and the Kapa Haka and Poly groups performed well, which enhanced the College’s reputation. Everything looked great on the surface, but it was obvious from the party that WEGC and our wider society still had a long way to go.
PRESENT
Now I am in my first year here at Victoria University of Wellington (VUW). I thoroughly enjoy my classes, don’t get me wrong, but when there was a presentation about a Māori framework and the only 2 POC students were chosen to present it, I did get that feeling. The same feeling I got when my Year 10 English teacher was surprised about the quality of work and my intelligence level—the same feeling when someone wanted a ‘brown’ perspective and looked straight at me.
With all honesty, I have not had the whole “university” experience. I didn’t stay in a hall and wasn’t involved in many groups. I interviewed Edwina Harris; a fellow student, a great leader, and President of the Pasifika Students’ Council.
I asked if she could recall a time she had faced any racism or microaggressions at VUW. Edwina said, “I experience, see, and hear of racism almost daily at VUW. I am often praised for how well I can articulate myself despite just speaking English, and often receive comments of ‘you are a great Pasifika leader’”.
Edwina could not disclose specific details in order to protect the privacy of students involved. However, a general issue that occurs for Pasifika students is the inquisition around the length of compassionate extensions for bereavement. After a VUW meeting, there had been discussion around a student lying about the need for an extension due to a funeral. Edwina has had to help educators understand that Pasifika funerals are more than a one day event and highlighted the inappropriateness of asking for a copy of a death certificate. Pasifka funerals compromise multiple services before, during and after the funeral (maliu). This open conversation led to further discussions where Edwina provided generalised answers of what many Pasifika students go through. These educators apologised and expressed they “had no idea this is what our students experience”.
So what about the rest of VUW? How does it deal with racism within the university? Edwina expressed, “I want to preface my answer by stating that racism is complex and does exist among people of colour. Therefore, there will always be room for improvement. In general, VUW could do much better. It is, at its core, an institution that favours Palagi. It does well with having many staff that believe in equity and strongly support decolonising the structures and policies that continue to discriminate. I would love to see more talanoa sessions where staff and members of our Pasifika community can sit down and have open discussions of what our cultural differences are and find solutions to the many barriers we Pasifika students face. To our Pasifika community, I recommend you never shy away from calling out racism or instances where you feel discriminated against. Calm, educated responses will have more favourable outcomes. Aim to educate, not humiliate.”
FUTURE
People will claim Aotearoa is not racist and that we have changed for the better. People will argue that we have improved by implementing more Te Reo Māori in our education system and requiring cultural awareness training in workplaces. Yet, if you look at any news article about Pasifika or Māori, the comment section is still filled with entitled Palagi complaining that they have helped us enough. We’re on a trend towards greater cultural competency, but we are not satisfied. We require all academic institutions to now do the same.
Racism is complex. Many learn this behaviour from their upbringing and others are taught to normalise it from their environment. For example, the girls from my high school would have learnt their attitudes from their parents or environment. Staff members who are unaware of protocols have no idea that funerals in Pasifika culture take weeks rather than days, so a day-long extension isn’t going to help much.
Through educating people, we normalise a notolerance policy towards racism. Talanoa sessions for staff and the Pasifika community are key to creating change. Talanoa sessions provide a chance to have open discussions about our cultural differences, as well as discover answers to the barriers Pasifika students encounter. It’s a significant step any institution can take to better itself. As corny as it sounds, tomorrow is never promised. We can never predict what the future holds. So right now, in the present, all we can do to prevent racism is to take action.
Act in educating people about our cultures, so our tatau, food, and language aren’t seen as a trend, but as a treasure. We need to educate people on the pronunciation of names, so that our future nieces, nephews, or kids don’t face the same shame we had growing up when our teachers mispronounced our names. Educate people that we are more than just rugby players or good singers, but even better orators and astro-cartographers.
But for our non-Pacific readers, educate yourselves as well. Ask questions, challenge your own bias, take charge of your own learning. We have always held wealth beyond their understanding. It is their loss if they continue to limit themselves through hate, but it will no longer be our burden to carry.
It’s a wisdom that people before us have used to make a life in our homelands; a key that our parents and grandparents have used to immigrate to a new land of plenty in search of opportunity. Education is the key for us to use right now, in the present, and for a brighter future.
We invite you to combat the affects of racism and discrimination of our students. sign this petition in support of requiring cultural competency training for Staff, as well as facilitated Talanoa sessions at Victoria University of Wellington.
