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This Listener chose not to print this letter. July 27, 2021 The Editor, New Zealand Listener As scientists ourselves we disagree with the attack on mātauranga Māori effected under the cloak provided by a claim to be writing ‘In defence of science’ (July 31, 2021). Central to the practice of the science, that the writers claim is universal, is the strict separation of the scientist from the object, topic or reality being studied. That disjunction between practitioners and what they studied contributed to an explosion of technological advances across Western Europe and those advances aided the exploitation and colonization of other countries and peoples. As if buoyed by those triumphs, the separation of the (would-be) knowers from what they sought to know about became the hallmark of a science expected to deliver universal truths about the natural world, its peoples and societies. Coupled with a readiness to constantly subdivide and isolate elements of the complex systems being studied t...

By Mitzi Nairn     I attended the opening day and the third day of the inquiry session in Auckland, along with several members of the Auckland Committee on Racism and Discrimination (ACORD), a group from the 1970-80s. We attended to support Oliver Sutherland, who was giving evidence based on ACORD’s work and his ongoing research.  At this stage the inquiry was developing the context so the commissioners would be better able to understand what survivors would be telling them. The inquiry is a response to repeated calls to make these experiences public, and ensure that such things never happen again. The first witness, Judge Carolyn Henwood, presented a summary based on her long experience of inquiring into state care, hearing from previous inmates and people in prison telling about their lives and the effects of their time in the care of the state. Children, especially Māori children, going into state care have entered a ‘pipeline’ leading to prison. I felt unutterably sad beca...

Recently the contributors of Treaty Blog received an email regarding a new educational resource. Called "Alternatives to anti-Maori themes in news media", it is a media booklet created and shared by The Treaty Resource Centre. It is available both online and, by request, in hard copy. " The news media are not neutral or objective. Studies   show that the news repeats and reinforces negative themes about Māori that date from the earliest days of colonisation." There are thirteen themes presented, flowing from " Pākehā as the norm" to "Ignorance and Insensivity" and " Māori success". It reveals the negative attitudes that prevail in our current climate and offers alternative actions and statements that can be used to counter these themes.    The Treaty Resource Centre says "These negative themes present Māori interests and what Māori do as problems, or as being on the margins. They also help make Pākehā control over institutions, re...

Institutional racism is defined as an entrenched pattern of differential access to material resources and power determined by race, which advantages one subpopulation while disadvantaging another. In short it is a form of structural violence that is a key enabler of health inequities. After a robust consultation process, this month the Public Health Association (a peak public health organisation) endorsed an institutional racism policy that had previously been ratified by the Health Promotion Forum (a peak health promotion organisation).  It would be great if it had been a Ministry of Health policy or one or all of the District Health Boards but it is a critical stepping stone. This policy sponsored by the PHA Special Interest Group on Institutional Racism will now be a lever to encourage public health/health promotion practitioners and organisations to consider what their contribution will be to ending racism in our sector. The endorsement of this policy puts anti-racism praxis back...

Editors note: I recently attended the Human Rights Commission's annual Diversity Forum and was shocked to learn of the conditions of Filipino workers involved in the Christchurch rebuild. In the session I attended it was compared to modern slavery. Although not the usual focus of this blog, we felt it was important to share this story of what is happening in our neighbourhood. New Zealand is a society that prides itself on its openness to ethnic diversity and its commitment to liberal democratic principles of freedom and equality. Many national and international surveys, including ones conducted by the Asia New Zealand Foundation, have noted a consistent theme: we are an open and inclusive nation in principle, but often fall short of our ideals in specific situations; and where particular immigrant groups are concerned, New Zealanders favour white immigrants over immigrants of other ethnic or racial origins. Asians are consistently received with less warmth than whites in New Zeala...

Given it is election season a group of committed public health practitioners asked all the political parties what their position was on addressing institutional racism. Below are the responses received in alphabetical order, note lengthy responses have been edited. We hope this information will help you make an informed choice about which political party to support this election. Let’s wipe out institutional racism! Click here  to read each party's position on institutional racism.

The Ministry of Health are currently consulting on how public health services are purchased. Provided within this blog post are a selection of informative links and the link to a submission template. Help challenge institutional racism within the administration of the public health sector by contributing your voice to the consultation process.- ed. There has been great consistency in how public health services have been purchased by the Ministry of Health over the last twenty years based around the  Public Health Service Handbook . [1] The Ministry of Health buy a range of health protection and health promotion services from environmental health, through to tobacco control services, problem gambling and health promoting schools. These services are traditionally brought from Public Health Units (based at District Health Boards), from Non-Governmental Organisations like Mental Health Foundation and the Heart Foundation, through to Primary Healthcare Organisations like Manaia Health and M...

In recent weeks it has become exposed that Ng ā Pae Māramatanga (New Zealand’s only Māori Centre for Research Excellence) has not been short-listed by the Royal Society for ongoing funding. Long-time anti-racism activist Mitzi Nairn had something to say about this and suspects this decision has something to do with institutional racism… The current funding crisis facing Ngā Pae Māramatanga seems to me a perfect example of how institutional racism is perpetuated. No malevolent intentions are involved, just the sort of group which is usually given the task using their usual criteria. The group, in this instance the Royal Society , seems to have no idea how culturally loaded their criteria are. No idea how culturally loaded their terms of reference are. I believe there is nothing in their terms of reference about the need to address racism, much less to balance out the long-term effects of racism; no responsibility to deliver on devolved obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

I recently stumbled upon a disturbing blog posted on  14th July 2013  by  Dr Muriel Newman  from the right-wing think tank New Zealand Centre for Political Research. It was about a subject I am passionate about - institutional racism. Her post is riddled with misinformation and factual inaccuracies that, in the interests of informed debate, I feel moved to unravel for the discerning reader. The following points address only a handful of the inaccuracies in her post.