Racism in New Zealand

wolly.green

wolly.green

Permanent Fixture
MBTI
ENTP
Enneagram
4w5
Hi,

I am indigenous to New Zealand. I am what you would call Maori. No, we do not dance around a fire or chant to our gods. We do not inhale sacred fumes and have shamans that foretell our future. We do, however, have a tribal dance called the Haka. Whether you have seen it during a rugby match, or from coming to New Zealand yourself, it is a war dance that our ancestors used to challenge their enemies.

Its a wonderful, energizing dance. But this is not why I am here today. As with many indigenous cultures around the world, we were invaded and conquered by British colonists. Now, I am not one to complain about this, usually. I absolutely love my country. Its so beautiful and rich with cultural diversity. However, recently, I have come head on with a lot of discrimination. And it has caused me to write about it now.

Usually I have a lot of difficulty moving from job to job. I thought it was normal for New Zealanders. It seems normal that when you have been made redundant, its hard to get anyone to take you seriously. However, what I have discovered recently is that this isn't exactly true.

I was recently made redundant due to the fact that the CEO of my company was charged with sexual assault and financial fraud. I am not sure the details, but it was awful news to me. Regardless, I have plenty of experience and applied to many jobs. I thought it was naturally difficult to find work. But what I did not realize is that my surname would have a substantial impact on whether an employee will consider me for a job.

See, I changed my surname. I am sorry, I will not give you that name. But I changed it from my indigenous name, to a white European name which happens to be the surname of my mother. Literally 15 hours later, I was flooded with phone calls about my credentials. When I used my indigenous name, I got about one call a month. But when I changed it to my mothers, the game changed completely.

I feel so discriminated against. So violated an disappointed I cannot explain my sadness. No one gave me a chance when they knew I was Maori, but as soon as they thought I was white, I got so many phone calls. And worse still, the same happened when looking for a new place to stay. I changed my surname and suddenly I received a flood of interest.

What do you think? I feel so upset by this I cannot even believe what I am experiencing. I thought we were so tolerant, so accepting. But as it turns out, we are not. This might be a bias report, I can only tell you what I have experienced. But am I wrong to feel so disappointed and upset?
 
Last edited:
I'm sorry @wolly.green. I know this happens and I don't want it to happen, either.
How can we give you support from afar, aside from commenting here? How can those of us in different countries help change things in New Zealand? – It isn't your responsibility to start a movement, but I'm just asking in case you have an idea.

Here is the US this happens, too. Some companies have a policy of hiding the names on resumes when looking at credentials.
 
Surprised that Maori would be considered an issue, the cultural background would be the opposite of boring.
But indeed, that's plain discrimination.

It happens everywhere, in Belgium as well. Belgian with Polish surname here.
Rarely discriminated but when I moved to the first location here I was talked/looked down upon the moment I was in the public office for registration. Until I opened my mouth and spoke fluent Belgian...they changed there tune.
I was annoyed/slightly enraged for an hour though as it felt as if you were seen as a lesser person without any proper reason. There are a lot of Polish people here in my neighbourhood so I assume it was just a general caricature people make
from a specific ethnicity, something Belgians in general do a lot.

Now having said that...what I know on job recruitment processes etc. is that a lot of the CV processing is done automatically nowadays. CV's getting scanned for specific words, etc. and then selected. Still doesn't
justify the discriminating factor though.
 
It’s indeed disappointing to talk about an issue that people insist on denying. Although, in some countries it is more evident than others, it’s not completely true to affirm that Racism doesn’t exist in other places anymore, even worse, it’s more of a “Camouflaged Racism”, in my point of view.

I do live in a country which that is a denied issue, although Racist situations are criminally condemned, we do see and even experience other acts in a less socially “impactful” manner, as it’s seen by some governments.

Even so, the mentality of a people it’s an elemental factor for a country’s development, and it’s really sad to even think about those who suffer with such unfair, unreasonable and degrading Racism.

It’s really admirable that you still keep that like and appreciation for your culture. Even though, it’s always a difficult situation to accept yourself when others do the opposite, even so, your stance means a respectful act towards your family, yourself and your indigenous culture, @wolly.green :)
 
Last edited:
wolly.green said:
Hi,

I am indigenous to New Zealand. I am what you would call Maori. No, we do not dance around a fire or chant to our gods. We do not inhale sacred fumes and have shamans that foretell our future. We do, however, have a tribal dance called the Haka. Whether you have seen it during a rugby match, or from coming to New Zealand yourself, it is a war dance that our ancestors used to challenge their enemies.

Its a wonderful, energizing dance. But this is not why I am here today. As with many indigenous cultures around the world, we were invaded and conquered by British colonists. Now, I am not one to complain about this, usually. I absolutely love my country. Its so beautiful and rich with cultural diversity. However, recently, I have come head on with a lot of discrimination. And it has caused me to write about it now.

Usually I have a lot of difficulty moving from job to job. I thought it was normal for New Zealanders. It seems normal that when you have been made redundant, its hard to get anyone to take you seriously. However, what I have discovered recently is that this isn't exactly true.

I was recently made redundant due to the fact that the CEO of my company was charged with sexual assault and financial fraud. I am not sure the details, but it was awful news to me. Regardless, I have plenty of experience and applied to many jobs. I thought it was naturally difficult to find work. But what I did not realize is that my surname would have a substantial impact on whether an employee will consider me for a job.

See, I changed my surname. I am sorry, I will not give you that name. But I changed it from my indigenous name, to a white European name which happens to be the surname of my mother. Literally 15 hours later, I was flooded with phone calls about my credentials. When I used my indigenous name, I got about one call a month. But when I changed it to my mothers, the game changed completely.

I feel so discriminated against. So violated an disappointed I cannot explain my sadness. No one gave me a chance when they knew I was Maori, but as soon as they thought I was white, I got so many phone calls. And worse still, the same happened when looking for a new place to stay. I changed my surname and suddenly I received a flood of interest.

What do you think? I feel so upset by this I cannot even believe what I am experiencing. I thought we were so tolerant, so accepting. But as it turns out, we are not. This might be a bias report, I can only tell you what I have experienced. But am I wrong to feel so disappointed and upset?
Click to expand...

I'm sorry to hear about that. It seems that it's a problem around the globe, unfortunately. I can only speak for experiences in America, but similar things happen to people in the African American community - people with "black" sounding names get called back less. Here's an article from the Harvard Business School talking about it in more detail: (https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/minorities-who-whiten-job-resumes-get-more-interviews).

I'm a minority myself, but I don't usually think of myself being defined by my race, as some people do. I just think I'm an American. The only time I'm reminded of my race is when OTHER people remind me, unfortunately. Just know that you''ll always have people supporting you : )
 
There were some studies done along these lines in the United States.

https://www.nber.org/digest/sep03/w9873.html

That link gives a summary. The gist of it is that teams of sociologists sent out resumes of people with equivalent credentials but different names, and what they found basically conforms to your experience: people with white sounding names were called more often. It is really horrible and messed up.
 
Faye said:
There were some studies done along these lines in the United States.

https://www.nber.org/digest/sep03/w9873.html

That link gives a summary. The gist of it is that teams of sociologists sent out resumes of people with equivalent credentials but different names, and what they found basically conforms to your experience: people with white sounding names were called more often. It is really horrible and messed up.
Click to expand...

Indeed.

In the UK the NHS has a blind Resume/CV policy. This should be the legal requirement globally.

All Resumes/CVs are passed from HR to the Interview board with all names/identifiers removed.

Admittedly you still have the interview so some racism can occur there, but rather than dismissing names out of hand without even seeing a face this gives people an even playing field based upon skill which is what it should always be.

Discrimination of any kind is horrific. People should be chosen based on their skill and their skill alone. That is all that matters to do a job.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top