Tag: stereotypes

By Brooke Royal

Māori to me is whānau; iwi, my land, my ancestors and my blood connections. Māori to others are unemployed gang members who have a drug and alcohol problem, who live off the benefit and beat their Mrs. because she didn’t make him eggs. When I think of Māori, I think of my loving whānau who work their butts off and live good lives, but the next person may look at my whānau and think of them as nothing but a suspect off Police Ten 7, as the suspect was of Māori descent.

Most people living in Aotearoa will enjoy their Thursday evenings watching Police Ten 7 and laughing with disgrace. Yet, have we noticed that they are describing most suspects as of Māori descent? Is it because of their darker complexion, particular tattoos, bigger build or that they were wearing a hoodie that makes them Māori? If this hasn’t sparked a light bulb in your head, how about Jake the Muss from Once Were Warriors? I personally believe that this is an awesome movie however the picture it paints in the minds of non-Māori is the wrong way Māori need to be represented. Police Ten 7 and Once Were Warriors are extremely popular across Aotearoa, but they are representing Māori as nothing but criminals, gang members, unemployed alcoholics who have multiple children and live in poverty. Another example of this discrimination toward Māori is through news articles. A recent article written by NZ Herald (2019) discussed how tobacco, alcohol and gambling tax is costing Māori over $1 billion a year. Throughout the article, they continued to compare Māori to European New Zealanders, and each time Māori were portrayed as the minority between the two.

“The Māori adult (15 years and over) population of 517,000 was less than one fifth of the European/Other population of 2.8m, but Māori tobacco consumption made up just under half (45%) of European/Other tobacco expenditure” (NZ Herald, 2019). Representations of Māori, and our stories, remain under the control of Pākehā-owned television, radio, and print media (Aoake, 2017). Discrimination toward Māori through the media continues to happen time and time again, that so many of us have become blind to the intolerance.

It has been 179 years since Te Tiriti o Waitangi was created and signed, and to this day Māori are still discriminated against. The Ministry of Health (2012) identified that Māori adults were almost twice as likely as non-Māori adults to have experienced any type of racial discrimination. Following this, Māori adults were almost three times as likely as non-Māori adults to have experienced any unfair treatment on the basis of ethnicity. Within the social work profession Māori are the most dominant ethnicity group we will work with, and as a Māori myself I know that there is a lot of whakamā that comes with seeking help or being told that you need help. This whakamā that Māori feel is the baggage we hold realising that we are a minority in our own country and on our own land. On the other hand, the whakamā Māori are living with will also be what prevents them reaching out for support when they are vulnerable. As social workers, we need to take into consideration how this ethnic group is treated and also portrayed within our communities and through our media, and how this may impact their overall wellbeing. For Māori, mainstream media is mired in colonial framing, misrepresentation and exclusion – yet mainstream media continues to insist its coverage is non-partisan (Aoake, 2017). []

The representation of Māori being portrayed through media is only contributing to the racial discrimination this ethnic group already receives. The whakamā Māori carry due to being marginalised in their own country will only worsen if media continue to drag them through the mud. My concerns with this is around the future for our Māori whanau, and the racial discrimination and whakamā our people are holding, potentially preventing them from reaching out for help when they are vulnerable.

Naku te rourou nau te rourou ka ora ai te iwi.

With your basket and my basket, the people will live.

Aoake, M. (2017, 14 August) Metiria Turei and how the NZ media ignores its own prejudice. Vice. Retrieved from https://www.vice.com/en_nz/article/ywwdpv/metiria-turei-and-how-the-nz-media-ignores-its-own-prejudice

Ministry of Health. (2012). Racial discrimination. Retrieved June 2, 2019, from  https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/populations/maori-health/tatau-kahukura-maori-health-statistics/nga-awe-o-te-hauora-socioeconomic-determinants-health/racial-discrimination

Tobacco, alcohol and gambling tax costing māori over $1b a year (2019, May 13), New Zealand Herald, Retrieved from https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12230415