In the courts there were two Pacific Island men and one Pākehā all going in for the same crime- who got sentenced? It was the Pacific Islanders for four years each. The Pākehā got months of detention. (Cook Islands focus group) 5.2. Personally mediated racism18 Experiences of personally mediated racism were commonly noted by providers and all tauiwi, Māori and Pākehā focus groups. Inter-ethnic19 overt and subtle forms of racism as well as double-marginalisation20 experiences of racism were described as frequent occurrences. 5.2.1. Experiences of overt racism - emotional, verbal and physical abuse Emotional abuse: Many participants described experiences of disregard, disrespect and negative stereotypes and judgement of their culture, religion, ethnicity, traditional taonga and treasures. There were two or three students, they were girls wearing scarves. So other students they took off the scarves from them. (Former refugees focus group) What is that Māori shit around your neck? I said what is that tie for around your neck?... (Te Waipounamu Māori focus group) Judgements made by others about ethnicity and culture were described as demeaning, demoralising and disempowering. Māori participants described an example of overt racism regarding town planning and the location of marae. This example illustrated a mana-diminishing experience that minimised the wairua and sacredness associated with tangata whenua and Aotearoa New Zealand. When I was a single teenage mum. They just looked at me and said I wouldn’t amount to anything and my kids would not amount to anything. (Te Waipounamu Māori focus group) I remember the inception of the marae. We had a meeting with the town planner…he said that the site was not suitable…you should build the marae somewhere else. And I said where would that be? And I am not shitting you, he said the dump. (Te Waipounamu Māori focus group) Young participants across several tauiwi focus groups noted experiences within the education system such as favouritism among teachers toward non-migrant students, ignorance and ineptness in generic classrooms for ESOL students, setting low standards and expectations for migrant students, unfair questioning of 18 Prejudice (assumptions about others based on race) and discrimination (differential treatment based on race), both intentional and non-intentional, acts of commission and omission. (Jones, 2000) 19 Between ethnic groups. 20 Marginalisation by one’s own racial group as well as by the white majority www.malatest-intl.com Drivers of racism – March 2021 53