Nelson outed for racial abuse

Boulder Bank

This story is disturbing to say the least.

"More than 90 percent of non-Europeans in Nelson have experienced some form of racial abuse, a survey has found.

The survey was part of a report into racist incidents in the Nelson and Tasman area."

90% - thats a lot.

"The survey was conducted in April and June, and 184 people of 48 ethnicities participated. It asked groups about being treated badly because of their ethnicity.

Some reports ranged from abuse directed at children as young as five, through to frequent comments shouted from cars."

Granted it's a pretty small sample but Nelson is a pretty small place.

"The survey was conducted by a visiting lawyer on holiday from Ireland, Debbie Kohner.

It was sad to hear that so many people had accepted racist abuse as simply being part of life in New Zealand, Ms Kohner said."

She means the people doing it not the people getting it. No one who has been subject to racism accepts it as part of life in this country. No right-minded person, of any race, accepts it.

The really disturbing aspect is how prevelant are these attitudes, actually. Is Nelson just an example of what you would find when you scratched any NZ town's surface. I think it could very well be.