deaker darkness
Murray Deaker is a racist plain and simple. On his Sky TV show he described someone as "working like a nigger" - yep that is what he said. The excuses from Sky TV are offensive - apparently "that's a phrase that's widely used" they say, and you know what? It may be a term widely used in some circles - the fearful, hateful circles of racists but it is not right - it is very wrong and must be dealt to every time it happens. In the last few weeks i have been told of at least 5 anti-Māori texts, jokes and emails doing the rounds. Sure it would be easy to put the racists on some antarctic island but that will not fix it really. It is ingrained because of the crooked foundation that this country is built upon. Lies and illusion, fear and privilege. The only real solution is to fix the foundations and actualise tino rangatiratanga. Believe it or not, it will make things better not worse. The racists will still be racists although some may change, but the difference will be that they will not be expousing their bile from a state of ascendency.
Another aspect of the report is the story told by Willie Lose
About six years ago Lose was playing golf with Deaker, alongside boxer David Tua and former rugby and league star Inga Tuigamala, when the broadcaster made several inflammatory comments regarding people with darkened skin. Shortly after the game, Deaker sought help for a mental illness. "He was in la-la land," Lose said.
There is a whole horrible industry dedicated to blaming everything on mental illness, from rape, murder, violence - whatever doesn't really matter - the blame has been sorted. Racism is being added to that list but Deaker made his statement simply because he is a racist. No one in our society is unaware of the offense of the word and the connotations. Deaker should go, he needs help.
Hat tip No Right Turn
4 comments:
Agreed, he's over-stepped the mark (again). On a tangent, how do we deal with the word 'nigger'? (Do young people, outside of TVNZ ;) even know what we're referring to when we say the 'N' word?!). We have a variety of taewa/riwai called 'ure nika', Nigger's penis. Also called 'Tutaekuri', it seems to originate with Maori transliteration of what Europeans called their African-American shipmates in the 18th and 19th Centuries, mixed with what may be our culturally-attuned sense of humour.
Then there is the powerful term of disdain: house-nigger (searching for examples I found one on a mars 2 earth post). We all know what it means (and can date it back to the Black protest movements in the US), and it recurs regularly in Maori political debate (albeit normally the 'informal' arena of community meetings).
I'm not comfortable with the word being a no-go-zone for rhetorical use. It comes down the skill of the orator. And let's accept Deaker has a significant following who may choose to identify themselves and what they stand for, highly valuable exposure for all concerned (Know. Your. Enemy).
Speaking of which, as Public Enemy rapped:
"Yo! ho! yo niga! yo niga! no niga!
Check it out
How can you say to me yo my niga
Cursin' up a storm with your finger on a trigger
Feelin' all the girls like a big gold digger
Take a small problem
Make a small problem bigger
Yo I ain't poor I got dough
Don't consider me your brother no more
Goddamn kilogram how do you figure
I don't want to be called yo niga
The N.I.G.G.E.R., nigger, nigger nigger, nigger, nigger..."
The scandal shows just what power words have, something our tipuna knew and took for granted.
I see nothing remotely acceptable about the "N" word in any sense. It is racist thru and thru and I am quite certain that young people from wherever know all too well what it means and implies. To suggest different is just a poor excuse by individuals who clearly have an underlying racist streak themselves, but haven't got the guts to admit to it. This word was used towards my friend just recently. He tried to claim afterwards it was a joke...sick joke from a twisted racist. He was arrested and charged and was also arrogant enough to resist arrest attempt to assault a police officer. Shows the mentality of these racists.
Kia ora Simon,
For me the word has been reappropriated by people of colour as a response to the negative historical connotations of it.
I'd be happy never to near the word again.
The power of words is something to remember and consider - very good point Simon.
Kia ora Zia,
I agree with your comment, sorry your friend was abused in that way, we still have a way to go in creating a fair and equal society there and here.
Post a Comment