Dreams for the future shared on Race Relations Day New Zealanders shared their dreams for the future of Aotearoa New Zealand during this year’s Race Relations Day commemorations. Race Relations Day, held each year on 21 March, is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. In Aotearoa New Zealand it has become a key date in the calendar for recognising and celebrating cultural diversity and taking a stand against racism and racial inequality. This year’s theme was My dream for Aotearoa New Zealand. The Commission recorded 57 separate community events taking place in the days around Race Relations Day. Events included multicultural festivals, food and music events, concerts, symposiums and panel discussions, displays at libraries and museums, street art, sporting tournaments, and friendship events between different ethnic societies and faith groups. In addition, many schools participated through special assemblies, multicultural dress or food days and classroom activities. Naomi’s dream: “I want to live amid a diversity of sight, sound and colour” This is the hope of Naomi Kumar, the winner of the Race Unity Speech Contest 2013. 2013 was the thirteenth year of the Race Unity Speech Contest which offers senior high school students the opportunity to share their views on racial harmony in Aotearoa New Zealand. The contest is organised by the New Zealand Baha’i Community and supported by the New Zealand Police, the Office of Ethnic Affairs and the Human Rights Commission. © Tom Mackintosh Photography This year students were invited to reflect on the theme for Race Relations Day 2013 and speak about “My Dream for Aotearoa New Zealand”. One hundred and thirty-five students entered with heats held in 12 regions across New Zealand and included speeches delivered in te reo Mäori and English. Naomi, a 17-year-old student at Hillcrest High School, Hamilton, spoke about her dreams for a more inclusive Aotearoa, a place where “difference need not be feared, but embraced”. ‘’In the future I envision we are not defined by our ethnicity. We are enriched by it, certainly. But it is never a measure of our value as individuals. We are instead defined by our responsibilities to this world as persons, by our shared convictions and dreams of happiness, and how well we can work together to achieve that.’’ You can view Naomi’s winning speech at : www.hrc.co.nz/race-relations/raceunity. Tüi Tüi Tuituiä | Race Relations in 2013 19 19