•
Feeling intimidated by the success and skills of others.
Filipinos work so hard and I've heard it in relation to building sites, their work ethic is
quite different. And I also wonder if your average Kiwi worker is intimidated by the
international experience of many skilled Filipino workers, that could be a reason for
racism. If you have people feeling uncertain and jealous, then it could lead to racism.
(Filipino focus group)
It is important to understand these latter two points within the context of
neoliberalism, immigration and inequality. For example, valuing migrants
based on economic worth can lead to racial diversity within a country (as
exemplified above). In this light, inequality may be seen as the cause of racial
diversity rather than neoliberalism which remains the root cause of this
phenomena.
7.5.
White privilege
European tauiwi commonly acknowledged differences and white privilege compared
with other tauiwi populations in Aotearoa New Zealand. Pākehā focus group
participants were also conscious of privilege and preferential treatment received
from others.
I am aware I'm a privileged immigrant. I feel guilty about that. I feel guilty about having a
different lifestyle. (European migrant focus group)
Definitely more now than ever. Especially with what is going on in America (BLM). It has
made me sit back and realise my white privilege. And I have never really thought about it
before. There was another instance, we were in Paris right after the Christchurch attacks
happened and we were going through the [airport] and this guy…was Muslim and he said
we love your country. Thank you for everything you have done. And we skipped the line,
got to skip a two-hour line and we thought what the hell? (Pākehā 1 focus group)
Māori and tauiwi participants described white privilege as unconscious privilege and
entitlement, having little to no experience of racism and judgement because of
ethnicity or skin colour and denial and/or minimising the extent of racism that exists
in Aotearoa New Zealand.
I'm not surprised that the mosque attack happened. I'm horrified and it breaks my heart
but I'm not surprised, just because we get calls here sometimes, there's something in the
newspaper, something advertised and you get people coming out of the woodwork
ringing or abusing us because we're trying to do things…“Why should these people coming
into New Zealand get these special things?" (Provider)
I think in New Zealand there has been that sort of oh, there's not a problem here. And it’s
usually people who have never experienced racism in their lives. (Provider)
Yes, you want to help but you also don't want to learn, just coming into this situation with
your Pākehā middle-class privileged view and don't actually see that you're still part of
that systemic racism. That's not going to change unless you give that person equal
opportunities. (Provider)
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Drivers of racism – March 2021
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