Racism is Alive and well in New Zealand Today

“Racism is Alive and Well in New Zealand Today…” Some people agree, others disagree. In this essay I will explore racism being alive and well in New Zealand today and other points that back this up like how New Zealand’s diversity brings discrimination and racism, how serious racism really is in New Zealand and what it could become, immigrants who cause New Zealand’s society to have difference, what New Zealand classifies as being racist and how aware people are of racism in New Zealand.
Since the signing of the treaty of Waitangi in 1840, New Zealand today has become a very diverse nation. European, Asian, Pacific Islander and Maori are the main ethnic groups that make up New Zealand. With diversity comes discrimination and racism. Discrimination is in our everyday lives even though we may not realise it. People are discriminated against because of little things like their shape, size, hair colour, likes, dislikes, gender, disabilities, habits etc. Then people also get discriminated against because of more serious things like, nationality, beliefs, religion and skin colour. This brings us to racism. Although we don’t want to admit it, racism is alive in our society today and something needs to be done about it.
We are all born equal. We have equal rights and freedoms. Most importantly, we are all human. Why is there racism in our society? Why does the colour of our skin or nationality matter so much? It might seem like New Zealand accepts the immigrants that come over here, most New Zealanders do, but in my opinion racism is alive and well in New Zealand today but my question is why?
Some people think of themselves as better, more superior or more dominant towards other people because of their skin colour, nationality and race. They therefore think that people of other races deserve to be made fun of or harmed. It often depends on how a person is brought up. Often, people who are born into upper class families who think they are the best and show racism towards other cultures, end up becoming racist just like their families.

Although some people take racism as a joke, it is actually really serious. Studies show that even though people won’t always admit it, 95% of people find racist jokes or comments targeted towards their nationality offensive.
New Zealand’s racism issues are nothing compared to those in America. Over there, gangs like the KKK have become illegal because of serious actions towards black people.
My hope is that racism in New Zealand will never get that serious. People are trying to stop the racism that goes on at the moment; most of which is behind closed doors.
New Zealand is becoming more and more diverse because of over sea immigrants and with diversity, unintentionally come racism. Some New Zealanders are beginning to discriminate against other cultures that are being introduced into New Zealand. For example, of the people surveyed, most agree that Asians need to find ways to fit into the community. But in my opinion, our society is so diverse, what exactly is defined as fitting in?
Racism is also becoming more alive because people from other countries claim that Maoris get specific benefits which they don’t, because of their race.
So with the natives, and the new immigrants diversity is among us, which brings racism.
I think that this is very unnecessary. We should all be able to live together in a diverse and mixed culture society in peace with out people discriminating against skin colour and race. Its only a colour, it’s the inside that really counts.

Do people know and realise that racism is alive and well in New Zealand today? Studies have shown that the majority of people surveyed in Auckland in Christchurch agree that there is racism in our society.
Although it is not all over the news or in major headlines, there are also people out there who are protesting against racism an trying to stop it.

How do you classify a racist? If a person were to occasionally make racist comments or jokes, would they be classified as a racist? Or what if a person constantly made racist comments and jokes? Would they then be classified or described as a racist?
There are separate levels of which racism is expressed. There are the people who think about racist remarks, then there are the people who occasionally share racist jokes, then come the people who are constantly repeating and creating racist comments and joke and then there are the people who act on these racist thoughts by harming people of another race or colour.
Are all these people described as racists? Its up to you how seriously you take racism and how you define those types of people.
In conclusion, my overall opinion on wether or not racism is alive and well in New Zealand today is yes, it is definitely part of our society. This essay has explained about how diversity and discrimination are the two words which are associated with racism and how they really shouldn‘t be. I hope this essay has made you think twice and opened your eyes to racism in New Zealand and how it really is part of our everyday lives.

- By Natasha Rishworth