Ki te whaiao, ki te ao Mārama The impact of global racism in Aotearoa Tangata Whenua think people need to have honest conversations about what race is, to achieve a racism-free Aotearoa. People need to understand that there is a long history of racism and white supremacy, which was developed through colonisation and globalisation. I think for a starting point… around a racism free Aotearoa, is to have a very frank conversation about what race is, and that in itself has a whakapapa that links back to white supremacy and beliefs from Europe, during the early days of colonisation. Histories of white supremacy, borne through colonisation and globalisation and the expansion of Europe, has a long whakapapa back into the doctrine of discovery and all that stuff, way back about 500 years ago. So, you can’t just dismiss it. I think it’s unhelpful to dismiss it, because then we’re ignoring the constitutive nature of the history of colonisation. Another participant commented that people are unable to differentiate between the different types of racism – interpersonal, institutional (systemic) and internalised – which makes it difficult to understand each other: We don’t have very clear understandings of what race and racism actually is. ... there is a tendency … to conflate structural racism, with instances of interpersonal racism... we keep having this quite destructive conversation, because we are mixing interpersonal and institutional racism, which are two very different things. ... So, there is a difference operating on that interpersonal level, and at a structural, systemic, institutional, all those terms to describe that happening at a higher level. If you don’t have really clear conversations about what those things are and what those things mean, that means we can’t have conversations. Te Kāhui Tika Tangata But rather, the way history has been designed in the service of particular people and particular ideologies. It was assumed that Māori would become the docile race. Participants believe that Aotearoa has not acknowledged its racist history and does not want to acknowledge racism today. They felt dismissing racism is unhelpful because we as a nation cannot address it unless it is acknowledged. Political leaders and educators are often looked on as the people who must make unequivocal statements about the unacceptable practice of racism in Aotearoa. However, it was noted that many people do not have clear understandings of racism other than what they themselves experience or witness daily. A discussion on racism cannot be had until the population is clear about the different levels of racism. This discussion is particularly difficult to have with Pākehā who can often feel personally attacked when racism is mentioned. Many participants felt that educating people about racism, its history and how it manifests, should be a priority in the Plan. This will require many different people to ‘come to the table’ with the single purpose of exposing and eliminating racism. This is not an easy task, particularly with institutions that deny or are not aware of their inherently racist structures and practices. Participants said there are very few spaces where Tangata Whenua and ethnic Tangata Tiriti feel safe to discuss racism without themselves being accused of being racist for raising the topic. Hence there is a belief that it is not appropriate for Tangata Whenua to reeducate white Aotearoa about racism. Such a task depends on Pākehā allies because Tangata Whenua have a hard enough task of holding on to te reo Māori, tikanga, mātauranga and Māori historical narratives. 50