that historical racism toward Māori and current racism toward both Māori and tauiwi migrant populations exists within Aotearoa New Zealand. Participants also commonly noted that racism existed both within (intra) and between (inter) different ethnic populations and provided examples of inter-ethnic minority racism, or lateral violence, shown by all ethnic groups toward their own. I have an issue suggesting only white people can be racist to black people because then immediately you’re putting white people above me and that they can do this thing to me…As black people…I can be very racist towards another person from a different country in Africa. (African focus group) Some Pākehā participants described experiences that reflected reverse racism which obfuscates power relationships between groups – a crucial aspect of racism. I've even seen Māori being racist towards Kiwis, non-Māori people, saying “Oh you're a white girl, you're not Māori” kind of thing. Which is weird. (Pākehā 3 focus group) Many Pacific participants (who belonged to dominant groups within their country of origin) considered racism a novel Western construct experienced in a multi-cultural society. Prior to migrating to Aotearoa New Zealand many said they had not experienced racism in their homelands because everyone was the same. However, immersion in a Western multi-cultural society raised their awareness of looking and being different. In general, this meant a lack of understanding about racism, its impacts and in turn how to react, respond and seek support. My upbringing in Tonga we never talked about racism because everyone is the same colour, there were hardly any white people…When [racism] happened to me in New Zealand I asked questions but no one knew what racism was and I didn’t know what the answer was, so I had to find what the answer was. (Tongan focus group) 4.4. Levels of racism differ across regions Many participants described that racism existed on a continuum while others noted that those uncomfortable with the term ‘racism’ used multiple other terms such as discrimination, unconscious bias, prejudice and xenophobia. These terms were ultimately perceived to fall under the auspices of racism to make it more palatable. If they were unconscious, now they’re conscious and now they’re conscious racists. It’s just a palatable way of saying racist. (Te Ika-a-Māui Māori focus group) It’s about a power imbalance. Us talking about them is called discrimination because there is no power imbalance. Me saying “Oh you dirty white person” isn’t going to strip away their privilege, its already been established. But for us brown people because they have established that we are below them, that’s created the power imbalance. (Tokelauan focus group) Overt forms of racism were considered more prevalent across different parts of Aotearoa New Zealand. For example, some migrant and one Pākehā focus group www.malatest-intl.com Drivers of racism – March 2021 44