Home to hobbits, elves and racists

Off Topic
1

I saw this article on the first section of the NZ Herald paper on Christmas Eve.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=news&thesubsection=&storyID=3540896
(start reading after the 2nd letter)

Great way to spread Christmas cheer! I can’t believe the top New Zealand newspaper would print absurd racist material like this. Would this have been acceptable anywhere else?

What do you people think? (Perhaps it would help if a few people wrote to the Herald). I wrote in a complaint but it was not printed (I will post it here in a reply).

2

Just read the article, IMO it is hardly racist. I think you are being a little quick on the draw with the ‘racist’ brand. The opinions of some of the people quoted may arguably be racist but that does not make the article itself the culprit.

3

This is the main body of my email to them (it was not printed - I guess they didn’t find it PC enough!)

[i]I have never before seen an article in the New Zealand Herald with such a strong racist agenda. Instead of blasphemously calling the article ‘God save our filthy Queen St’, why don’t you just be honest and name it ‘White Power’?

Brent ‘the Bigot’ Becroft writes that he has moved out of Auckland to Perth so that he can live and raise his kids without ‘being beaten up by Islanders or being caught in gunfire from Asian triad gangs’. Right. I hope you don’t have too much trouble getting to your Klan meetings in Perth, buddy.

Margaret Howe is afraid to venture out on her lunch breaks due to those nasty Asians who congregate in large groups outside language schools and don’t have the courtesy to move aside. I didn’t realise lack of courtesy was genetically isolated to Asians. Have you ever tried saying ‘Excuse me’? If the said person is still blocking your way, s/he’s a prick. You find them in every race, honey.[/i]

Thoughts?

4

Same thing has happened in Sydney. I feel like i’m visiting the capital of Asia. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, they’re quite harmless. They don’t sound racist, just sound upset with the change in atmosphere. Probably just think they’ll take over their country.

5

I was at a party last night and someone quoted a statistic (have no idea if it’s true). Over 50% of all crime in America is perpetratd by young black males!

I was a bit taken aback by the statement and responded with: “That sounds a bit racist.” To which the person said that if he was quoting a true statistic then it’s merely a fact, neither racist or otherwise.

I simply walked away, but thought about it on and off the rest of the evening.

6

not racist??? haha… umm i dont think the title is a quote.

7

i could be wrong but i dont think i saw a single colored person in the lord of the rings trilogy… one that wasnt under some hideous mask.

haha… it seems hobbits and elves are racists too…

8

It’s simply that some people are unsettled by change in general.

I notice this a lot at my university in the summer, when almost all of the local students are not attending to work summer jobs so the entire university is filled with international students from China. I still take classes there, and when I had a friend visit me up at my university, she was taken aback by being surrounding by people only speaking Chinese and looked fairly nervous. She didn’t make any racist remarks or anything, just some minor culture shock.

Same with when I had to visit the Chinese embassy with my mother to pick up a visa. She felt real nervous surrounded by Chinese speakers and staff that spoke barely any English, which led to her stumbling a lot. Or the fact a random guy approached us and began a conversation out of the blue. Again, she wasn’t making any racist comments or feeling hatred, just slight culture shock as this was different for her.

Hell, you can even relate this to the gym. I forced a bicep curling friend to Zercher squat (I lied and told him it was a static bicep movement that really adds size) and he had a disturbed look on his face with doing semi-real squatting for once.

Of course, some people will react more harshly than others (“BAUH! Somebody ban that zercher squat!”), but I think it takes time in general for people to adapt. Even the U.S. is still feeling shock from the civil rights movement.

9

Well if that article ever got published in the UK (which i doubt) there would be a public outcry.

IMO it is borderline racist. IT is definitely xenophobic at the very least. I suspect if you really quizzed these people you would find there is definite streak of racism at the heart of their values.

They make it sound as though there is something wrong with being asian. What don’t they like about asians? Would it be different if they were scores of causcasian students milling around? Unfortunately I suspect so.

Is the paper wrong for publishing such views? Yes, because it doesn’t nothing but stir public resentment. What about the positives? The revenue that these ‘asians’ generate for NZ? The cultural values that these people bring? Surely the food?! What doesn’t proper NZ food taste like anyway?

10

I highly disagree creed.

The paper is not racist for publishing the results of its survey. And in fact, the publishing of these results is an important service, and is well within the traditional function of a newspaper.

Let me explain how this is an important service. The newspaper made public the fact that there seems to be some significant proportion of residents who hold views that you and others find repugnant and incorrect. Now, instead of having one’s head buried in the sand concerning the problem, positive steps can be taken to combat such views.

This is how free speech is supposed to work. Bad ideas are exposed to the light of the marketplace of ideas, and they are debated and debunked, instead of being allowed to fester underground and survive because no one will mention their existence in polite company.

11

Boston barrier
Yes you are right I should have been clearer with my words. The paper is not racist for publishing these views. What i meant was that the opinions expressed were or thereabouts.

But i stand by my view that the article was very one-sided. There is a risk that these opinions are seen as acceptable to society at large. Encouraging more people to develop such opinion. Where was the positive opinions of NZ people? Surely there must be some? Are we to take it that this is representative of the majority of NZ’s? I hope not!!

You said it was a survey well i must have missed the part when they published their results.

Yes the media does have a duty to bring light to such issues but surely it is required that they are reported objectively and not just for sensational effect?

12

Bostonbarrister
excuse my spelling that wasn’t a cheap dig!

13

You people are tad touchy, did the article describe the newspapers view of asians or anything like this?
no, they just quoted people off the street, doing what htey are legally allowed, Free speech.

NZ is a huge haven for asian students, as the government allows freedom of movement to study. There is massive amounts of trouble from them (and little the police seem to beable to do about it), and with the influx of asian gangs there are other problems as well.
Is this comment racist or just stating facts.
Hell, South Auckland should be the capital of Samoa as there is so many of Samoans there.

But Sydney, surfer paradise and most other places that have faced a culture change towards a increased asian population dislike the changes that take place. Its bound to happen, how many americans like to have arabs living next door?

14

Now THIS is something I find offensive. Pure unfounded rubbish. How dare you speak for an entire city? I have no problem whatsoever with the increasing asian population of australia. And no, I am not offering myself up as a universal example either - I am far from alone in my viewpoint.

Take note that I am not claiming everyone agrees with me either - there are of course plenty of people who might be troubled.

Whatever the case, it is not fair to generalise that the entire population of Sydney (or anywhere) uniformly “dislike[s] the changes”

15

cycomiko, there are massive amounts of trouble from Asians? Please specify. You very rarely hear of violent crimes from Asian students and I can’t even name one Asian gang here (although the news is littered with gang killings by Mongrel Mob, Black Power, etc which are old New Zealand based gangs). In the news, I can only remember a single murder committed by an Asian immigrant. Yet all the time you hear of the Steven Williams, Scott Watsons, Julian Mikus, etc. You never hear people talking about the rate of violent crimes commited by Caucasians and the problems they pose to society.

I don’t know what you’re trying to point out by saying that there are a lot of Samoans in South Auckland. So what? These people are all fully legal immigrants (or were born in NZ) and have every right to be here.

Perhaps calling it ‘racism’ is an overstatement (at least in comparison to how black people have been treated in places like South Africa for example) but at the very least, the opinions in the article show intolerance and a certain prejudice to other races and the Herald is not helping the situation by printing an article with opinions from only that viewpoint.

16

‘how many americans like to have arabs living next door?’

Whats wrong with Arabs?

Well I’m fed up with all you kiwis invading my country.

I wonder how the Maoris felt about the sudden influx of europeans? Must have felt like they were taking over the country. Oh, they did?

17

cycomiko, your post perfectly exemplifies the negative views of New Zealanders towards other races, as depicted in the article.

18

Winston Peters is a Maori. How do you explain/attack his views?

19

[quote]cycomiko, your post perfectly exemplifies the negative views of New Zealanders towards other races, as depicted in the article.
[/quote]Where did I say that it was my opinion? Its common sense, anyone within a small country with a large influx of differing cultures get ‘wary’ at best, some dislike it a lot more. I care not either way, as long as all behave decently.

[quote]cycomiko, there are massive amounts of trouble from Asians? Please specify. You very rarely hear of violent crimes from Asian students and I can’t even name one Asian gang here (although the news is littered with gang killings by Mongrel Mob, Black Power, etc which are old New Zealand based gangs)[/quote]How many asian immigrants are there, and how much newstime are they actually given? In terms of the main trouble is drug trafficing, localised violence, all typical shit etc - a quote about ‘asian’ crimes form Senior Constable Steve Lamb, also from the NZ herald complaining that he was too busy dealing with problems within the asian (students in this particular case) community to do other work “It is because I’m attending the results of what some of them study,” he wrote. “Theft, fraud, fighting, assault, intimidation, vehicle crashes, drunkenness, disorder, domestics, stabbings and a sideline of extortion and weapon- carrying.”

in terms of semi-racist commetns you only have to look at winston peters comments
?Auckland is fast becoming a lawless Asian colony and law abiding, decent New Zealanders in that city are paying the price for it."

a paper from the Uni of Canterbury covering gangs in NZ

http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/publish/research/97/A15.htm
including quotes of some of the first organised gangs in NZ being Mr Asia gang. And also note the comment of Asians having hte 2nd highest police apprehension rate behind Maori.

[quote]Perhaps calling it ‘racism’ is an overstatement (at least in comparison to how black people have been treated in places like South Africa for example) but at the very least, the opinions in the article show intolerance and a certain prejudice to other races and the Herald is not helping the situation by printing an article with opinions from only that viewpoint. [/quote]This is not racism, it is merely showing what the population feel. Hell, people are intolerant, people are ignorant about different cultures, sure the herald could be PC and not quote peoples views, but how is that helping anyone? covering up certain peoples feelings?

you only need to look at the quotes "Apart from the sea of Asians, it attracts the scruffy lowlife of the city. I feel safer walking the streets of Los Angeles, Sydney or Bangkok. - Simon Briggs. " this is not racist, only pointing out what he thinks of queenstreet.
this is closing in on racism "If I wanted to live in China, I would emigrate there. I am not alone in my thinking - although there are a lot of gutless people out there who say the reason they leave New Zealand is to pursue further opportunities abroad. Yeah, right. "but from his other comments, is obviously a NZFirst supporter.

"Some of these groups can be quite intimidating, and I’m no chicken"this isnt racism, its a concern. the remainder are just commentary about the massive amounts of shit shops and junk food on queenstreet, and we know the world doesnt need any more junk food.

So while some maybe offended by this, there is a certain freedom of hte press that is allowed, and this is nowhere near a ‘cheeky darkie’ comment

[quote]Whats wrong with Arabs? [/quote]Nothing, it was however quite interesting to see the reactions of groups of americans after 11/9 and iraq invasions. YOu only needed to log onto some of the forums around the web, including this one to see this.
Most countries had an increase in immagration from Arab countries post 9.11 n stuff, except for australia who seem to keep anyone trying to immegrate locked up (this is just a joke, so aussie get off your high horse)

[quote]Well I’m fed up with all you kiwis invading my country. [/quote]well maybe if the english didnt fuck around the world to ‘colonise’ everything, there wouldnt be as many problems as there is currently.

[quote]Oh, they did? [/quote]The Maori have a legally binding treaty, which is far better than the native americans or Aborigonies have.

PS The history of the English ‘colonisation’ of NZ is quite interesting. Something everyone should track, especially if they have Maori ancestry.

20

You see, that doesn’t offend me because it’s (at least partly) true. I’m really quite disgusted by the way my government has mistreated asylum seekers purely for political gain.

I must admit I haven’t looked into the waitangi treaty in any detail but I always assumed it was a fair arrangment, but one kiwi friend had very strong views on it and basically felt it was an awfully unfair scam.

Either way I’d imagine that even an unfair treaty would have been far preferable to australia’s (and other countries) treatment of their indigenous populations.