In New Zealand, a soul-searching question: 'Are we as open minded as we think we are?'
Local residents in New Zealand show their support and grief for the victims of the twin mosques shootings that left 50 people dead in Christchurch, New Zealand. By Anna Fifield Anna Fifield Beijing bureau chief. Email Bio Follow March 20 at 10:58 AM CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — New Zealanders like to think of themselves as an open, tolerant lot. And by many measures, they absolutely are.
“I think this is a really good opportunity for people to stop and say, ‘What do we need to do to become the country that we talk about ourselves as being?’” said Susan Devoy, who was the country’s race relations commissioner until last year. New Zealand has had a race relations problem ever since it was colonized by Britain as a settler colony in the early 1800s. The Maori population continues to suffer even today. Maori make up 15 percent of the New Zealand population but account for more than half the prison population. They are at the bottom of many health and economic statistical tables.
There are large and visible Chinese and Korean populations, thanks partly to the universities here, and many of them are thriving. Christchurch has also become home to increasing refugees and immigrants from other parts of the world, especially the Middle East and South Asia.For an illustration of the dichotomies that continue, look no further than the coalition government.
“New Zealanders like to think that everyone gets a fair go and that we’re not a racist society,” said David Small, an academic at the University of Canterbury. “Even the racists don’t like to be called racist.” “No one seemed to take the threats that Muslims were reporting to the government seriously,” Devoy said.
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