I naïvely had hoped anti-immigration rhetoric wouldn’t reach Aotearoa as it has in other countries. Over the past year I have been proven wrong. It’s hard to see hate winning over a country I once had so much pride in, at least a very vocal demographic make it seem that way. I was born in New Zealand, but my Dad was not. He was born in Madras (now Chennai), India, and immigrated to Wellington in 1967. My dad has lived in New Zealand longer than many people complaining about Indian Immigrants have been alive – not that it matters to them.
My family were privileged in a few ways when moving to New Zealand. There’s something unnerving about knowing what makes you different in a racist’s eyes is the fact your ancestors were colonised and assimilated into white culture, when you still originate from the same place that many being treated poorly are from. They were Anglo-Indian, so had partial English/Irish ancestry due to the British Raj, spoke English, and were Catholic, so integrating into New Zealand culture was easier. My Dad was also six when he arrived in New Zealand and lost his accent fairly quickly. Even before anti-immigration discussions became commonplace, Indian accents have always been made fun of. It was disguised as humor, seemingly harmless to some, but under the surface it was easy for this mockery to fuel the extremist views we see now. I feel guilt for worrying about myself and my family when we benefit from assimilating into western culture, but maybe that makes me even more determined to ensure no one else has to disconnect from their heritage to appeal to prejudiced standards.
A few months ago, Shane Jones opposed the new free trade policy with India via a comparison of potential Indian migration as a “butter chicken tsunami”. First, sir, is that really the only curry you can think of, and second of all, what makes Indian migration so much worse than other countries? Thousands of immigrants to New Zealand each year are South Africans and British residents, as well as majority of arrivals coming from Australia and the United States, but that doesn’t fit your racist rhetoric, does it? You turned what could have been a positive business agreement into an excuse to mock an entire demographic of people, shame on you.
Recently, Brian Tamaki of Destiny Church called for the ‘purging of Hindu’s, Sikh’s, and Muslims, and the burning of mosques and temples.’ I cannot describe this statement as anything but abhorrent. This goes beyond casual racism; it is pure violent hatred because others religion is viewed as less important. It’s claimed as a response to the Indian Prime minister’s treatment of Christian Indians, and while there is a whole history there that I don’t have time to unpack, I don’t give a crap. The idea of “tit for tat” is what school children use when their friend hits them. We don’t have to become killers just because certain people aren’t treating others right either. Anyway, point proven that racists only care about you if you appeal to their western standards and religion.
While I condemn anti-immigration and racist rhetoric, I also do not endorse the anti-Māori rhetoric being spread around by ACT MP Parmjeet Parmar. All this hate between communities is exactly what powerful racists want, for us to fight over division in our communities, while every citizen is affected by the bills being rushed under urgency through parliament that give more to private corporations. This is not the Aotearoa we are or should be. If these racists are going to continue to argue, we need to stand up and show them what real integrity and love in a multicultural society looks like.
