Core Belief

Paul Holmes talks about the disturbing double standard in the way Hone Harawira’s outburst has been treated. He does not add a lot to what has already been said in the blogosphere but he does make one intriguing remark.

“Could it be, in fact, that they cannot refute what he says because they share his beliefs? That is what we all began to wonder as the party leadership drifted through the week without emphatic denunciation of what Harawira expressed. What was sad about the week is that we did not really find out.”

Actually, Paul, we already know that Turia and Sharples have the same core beliefs as Harawira. Here is Turia failing to apologise for her “Maori Holocaust” speech. Although the furor was about her use of the word “Holocaust”, reading through her speech would tell you that she blames Maori problems squarely on Pakeha. Here is Sharples telling his gang-leader friends that they should stick together against the white man (His actual words were “Why are we fighting whakapapa against whakapapa? There’s so much enemy that is not brown.”). We also see the leadership of Harawira’s electorate and other Maori leaders defending him.

One can only conclude that the core belief of Maori leadership is that white people are to blame for the predicament of their people. Although this is true on a historical level, this is not the limit of that core belief. It is clear that the belief in white culpability extends to the current generation of Pakeha. This has all the hallmarks of racism – being an irrational prejudice based solely upon skin colour.

Not that I think that Turia and Sharples (or even Harawira, for that matter) are malignantly white-hating racists. What I am saying is they have an underlying belief that is race-based and irrational. Unless they confront this belief, it is unlikely that they will be of any use in nation-building. They may find some useful solutions for their people, but they will find themselves unable to partner with white New Zealanders.

You can already see this in Turia’s “Whanau Ora” brainchild. It is possible that this solution may well have benefit for Maori, but it should not have been a maori-only project. If it has benefit for the Maori people, then it will have benefit for all New Zealanders. All this does is emphasise the separate nature of Maoridom and enhance division.

If you truly wish to build a nation (and New Zealand is still very young in historical terms and still in the process of “becoming”), the only way to do this is to develop a nation-culture. This would not be a colonial culture (where Maori take on the Pakeha culture and lose their own) nor an indigenous culture (where Pakeha take on Maori culture and lose their own) but a synthesis of the two. Note that I am not suggesting that Maori give up their Maoriness or that a culture should be homogenous. What I am suggesting is that the underlying glue of society needs to be based on a uniform culture with pockets of multiculturalism. That uniform culture would mostly be a synthesis of Maori and European cultures.

I see signs of this happening as people become more willing to embrace aspects of other peoples cultures. However, Racism and prejudice block this synthesis. And while I would very much like to see the Maori party be part of the solution, if they persist in holding Pakeha responsible for their people’s problems, they will remain part of the problem. Turia and Sharples need to address this racist streak urgently, if they want to develop anything of lasting usefulness with National.

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