comment about Māori not a joke

If you have lived in this country long enough you hear every vile, disgusting comment made against Māori - every low and slimey slur and put-down and even though we have heard it all, it still hurts to hear another.

Palmerston North city councillor Bruce Wilson has just uttered a disgusting one

Stuff

Councillor Bruce Wilson was speaking at the community wellbeing committee this week about a proposed smokefree policy covering the central city around and including The Square.

He said if the aim was to stop adults role-modelling smoking behaviour, and given 41 per cent of Maori women smoked, perhaps they should be sterilised.

 But wait - his defenders say it was all an attempt at humour, you know a bit of a laugh

City mayor Jono Naylor said he was surprised and incredibly disappointed, and thought the comment uncharacteristic. "If it was an attempt at humour, it was a poor attempt." 

Committee chairman Lew Findlay said "I don't think he meant it the way it came out. He tried to make out it was a joke, but he did say it in front of a crowd."

National Council of Women Manawatu branch president Audrey Jarvis said that it was "the stupidest joke I ever heard".

You see, just a fucking joke but think about this - what type of person makes an attempted joke about that. 

The joke line is often used when someone says something very offensive, they think they can weasel out by pretending they weren't serious, just having a lark, trying to lighten things up a bit. He said it in public - what do you think he says in private?

Only problem with the joke defence is that Wilson doesn't say it was a joke he says

Wilson said he would apologise to people at the meeting, and deeply regretted not thinking much harder before speaking.

"I'm publicly apologising, to anybody, anywhere who is offended, and I'm totally prepared to retract in public if the mayor allows me that opportunity."

Yep he should have 'thought harder' - that means keeping his private thoughts to himself rather than spewing them in public and he confirms this with

He also said it was not something he would say to the media.

Well too late, you have been outed and in any sane world you would resign or be sacked but that won't happen, oh know he will say sorry and then carry on undermining Māori and being a racist representative of the people that voted for him.

We let these people off too lightly - and trying to get out of it by using the 'joke' defence is as bad as using the 'should have thought harder' defence - they are not a defence they are just useless excuses.

rugby shame shame shame

Imagine you have worked your guts out to make the team – the all blacks, to be considered a hero, to be accepted by all who own everything and have all the power. You have accepted that sport is the great equaliser, that sport makes you feel accepted in this country of your ancestors. And then they say you can’t go, you aren’t white, you are maori and you think about the land and your whanau and your mates at the club and the little boys that come up and want to just be near you, and you think about the farm and your kids and you drop your head and walk on.

A lot of apologies are needed.

Equality for all.
Freedom for all.
Respect for all.

From Stuff

"South Africa's sport and recreation minister, Rev Makhenkesi Arnold Stofile, has officially apologised to Maori players left out of All Blacks tours to the republic in 1928, 1949 and 1960 because of their race.

Stofile also praises the Kiwi "heroes and heroines" who put their bodies on the line in the bloody protests against the 1981 Springbok tour.

NZRU said no comment - as usual they are as, if not more, guilty that SARU. That world cup is coming so I'd advise you to sort out your skeletons NZRU. I have to say that I have no time for rugby - the '84 tour was when we parted company and bugger all has changed since then.

the past, the present, the future

Part of the negotiation of the Tuhoe settlement is the position that if the crown apologises then the iwi that worked with the crown should also apologise. As you can imagine - this is problematic.

From NZH

"Tuhoe leaders say a Crown apology for 19th century injustices would be meaningless unless tribes, namely Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu and Te Arawa, who fought with colonial forces also say sorry."

"Te Arawa representative Toby Curtis would say only that the iwi-to-iwi matter was extremely sensitive."First and foremost this matter would have to be discussed by Te Arawa."

"AUT University pro vice-chancellor Maori Pare Keiha has Rongowhakaata tribal links to Te Kooti and had ancestors who were killed by the religious and guerrilla leader.

But he was wary of the concept of an apology.

"I have no doubt whatsoever that our own people were not all kind and caring - but that's also the history of humankind.

"I'm always very cautious to revise history because whether you call it civil wars or internecine fighting, none of us were there."

This question of apologies from iwi who worked with government forces to oust other iwi from their homelands is a complicated and senstive issue. I think that all iwi have come to the realisation that during those times the nature of the forces against maori meant that the divide approach worked and that the coloniser forces used maori for their own ends - to get the land.

All maori ultimately were victims - the ones that thought they could stall the taking of their lands by working against their traditional enemies were victims because as soon as they were not needed - their land was taken too and any mana that they thought they had aquired by hanging around pakeha was shown to be an illusion.

And other maori, like many Tuhoe, protected Te Kooti and paid for it very severely. These people resisted colonisation, they resisted the stealing of the land and they paid the price by having the land confiscated and stolen anyway. 

We cannot know the pressures on a people being swamped and losing everything - what would we do? What are we doing now?

Any sorting out of this issue should be done in the traditional way on the marae - not via law.