Community Engagement Report for developing a National Action Plan Against Racism
Racism uses race as the basis for prejudice
and power at interpersonal, institutional and
internalised levels.
•
Interpersonal racism relates to
omissions, remarks, and actions
toward someone based on unfounded
assumptions about their perceived race.
•
Institutional racism refers to society’s
structures and institutions advantaging
one group at the expense of others,
based on race. In Aotearoa our structures
and institutions work for the collective
benefit of Pākehā rather than Māori,
or the ethnic minorities. This manifests
in the inequities across sectors such
as education, health, justice, housing,
employment, and wellbeing.
•
Internalised racism refers to people,
stigmatised because of their race,
accepting those negative ideas and
messages about themselves.
Tangata Whenua means ‘people of the land’
in te reo Māori and recognises Māori as the
Indigenous first peoples of Aotearoa.
Tangata whenuatanga relates to
whakapapa connections, cultural identity,
language, cultural awareness and
knowledge of the whenua, or distinct
boundaries of land that Māori come from.
New Zealand Human Rights Commission
Tangata Tiriti means ‘people of the Treaty
of Waitangi’ in te reo Māori. It refers to all
people who have migrated to Aotearoa
and are not Tangata Whenua. This term
recognises that te Tiriti provides people
who are not Tangata Whenua with a
‘place to stand’ in Aotearoa. Because this
term includes Pākehā, we have also used
the umbrella term ‘ethnic Tangata Tiriti’
to distinguish the experiences of ethnic
minorities, including Pacific peoples.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the text of the Treaty of
Waitangi in te reo Māori. It differs in significant
ways to the English-language version. We
have referred to te Tiriti throughout this
report, as this is the version that the majority
of Tangata Whenua signed and understood.
The Waitangi Tribunal has recognised the te
reo Māori version as the principal text.
White privilege is the inter-generational
political, economic, social, and cultural
benefits and advantages that colonial settlers
accumulated through the appropriation
of Indigenous lands, natural resources
and wealth. In the case of Aotearoa, white
privilege collectively benefits Pākehā as
a group while disadvantaging others,
particularly Tangata Whenua.
White supremacy is the presumed superiority
of whiteness, that is white culture and norms.
In the case of Aotearoa, this refers to the
presumed superiority of Pākehā norms
and values, e.g. the Westminster-based
government. It is a means of maintaining
institutional control of political, religious and
other systems.
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