Where Marama went wrong …
"You’re proving Marama correct, white cis males are driving hatred of trans people" was levelled against someone on this forum who likes to troll … funnily enough Posie Parker (to my knowledge) isn't a "white cis-male", and neither do I have a problem with "LGBTQ and the whole bloody alphabet" people - and I'm white, male, and cis.
I once had a discussion with a black guy from the States who was quite racist in his comments, against both white and Asian people - and when challenged stated that "Only white people can be racist!" - oh the irony of that.
When I hear what Marama said and how others try to "protect" her then I have to think of that black guy. Marama didn't make a mistake, it wasn't due to the bike, she simply spoke unguarded from the heart - and what she said was racist.
It would have been better to own up to the fact that EVERYONE is SOMETHING based on our history and experiences. Racism is build in because it is the "fear of the unknown" - you will ALWAYS fear a stranger more than someone you know (just ask yourself if you would leave your wallet with them), whether it is justified or not (and the vast majority of sexual assaults is actually done by people you know).
The question is not whether someone is racist or not, the question is how they face it. For example in a small village in Germany the asylum seekers were treated with suspicion - so they organised a meeting in the town hall that was very well attended, broke the ice, and made "strangers" simply human. The more you understand other people and races, the less racist you become. When you realise that that nice guy you like to talk with is gay then homophobia starts looking silly.
Marama (and her supporters) had the chance to put this simple fact at the center of the discussion - instead they chose to dig their heels in, make excuses, and went on the attack. Not the mark of a leader, and not smart at all: the "vast majority" of abuse is committed by "white cis males"? First off: the murder statistic they showed as evidence is a 70% male, 30% female split - that's roughly 2:1. Not exactly what I would call a "vast majority" (especially as men seem to prefer bashing someone's head in or shooting them which is hard to pass off as a natural death, while poisoning which can be hard to detect is the favourite method used by women). And if you want to know how "white" males are doing - then you need to analyse it as a proportion of the population (eg compare the numbers of murders committed by white / black / Maori / Pacific / Asian etc men in proportion to their number in the population) - you might find something that isn't quite politically correct but puts the emphasis on the fact that social deprivation increases stress which causes more violence.
See for example www.stuff.co.nz...
Which brings me back to something that I noticed back in 1999 - New Zealanders like to put emphasis on "race" when they should simply deal with the problem. If back then they would have said "We need to help the poor get out of poverty" then nobody would have objected even if the policy would have helped Maori the most - instead they said "We need to help the Maori to get out of poverty" (eg free Health Mobile for Maori, allowed to study Medicine if 1/8th Maori, etc) which drove a wedge into New Zealand (instead of bringing them together as “Kiwis” with an appreciation of the different cultural contributions like it is in Europe) and made race a much more important factor. Unsurprisingly the Maori formed their own party, and nowadays you have election posters showing "Maori" with a check mark - should you really vote for someone because of his or her race? That has echoes of Apartheid in South Africa (I never thought I'd agree with Winston Peters but he lambasted that policy because it "stole" Maori pride and depicted them as people who can't do it on their own if just given a fair chance).
And what Marama is doing is exactly the same - put race into the discussion about violence against women. That is stupid and counter-productive. It detracts from what the problem is: abuse of others. And as Posie Parker and many religious groups ("conversion therapy" anyone?) show - it is not just males, never mind white or cis.
Stop abuse - and keep your “culture wars” to yourself.
P.S. Marama has history on that method: www.stuff.co.nz...
Christmas gifts stolen from parked car prompts warning over holiday break-ins
An Auckland man whose Christmas presents were stolen from his car on a quiet street is warning others not to repeat his mistake.
Police and the AA say opportunistic thieves are breaking into cars more frequently during the Christmas period.
Jeremy Rees, an RNZ staff member in Auckland, had packed his car full of gifts when he decided to visit a friend.
“Everyone had handed over presents and we had a couple of bags full of presents sitting in the back of the car,” he said.
“I decided it would be great to go around and see a friend, drop off some presents and say hello. My wife said to me, ‘Are you sure we should be taking this car?’ I said, ‘I’m sure it’ll be fine’.
“I think it was only 20 minutes outside their house, a very quiet street. It was light [outside]. We came out and my wife pointed out that someone had smashed the rear window, reached in and grabbed the presents, and headed away.
“It was a shock. It was a shock partly because of the Christmas presents and partly because my wife had been telling me, ‘Don’t do that’.”
AA Insurance head of motor claims Beau Paparoa said roadside staff were responding to smashed windows more often.
“We definitely see car break-ins starting to occur a lot more around this time of year. We’re often hearing from customers and some of our roadside teams that there’s definitely a bit more opportunistic theft happening,” he said.
“We’re putting that down to it being a busy time of year. Everyone’s out doing their Christmas shopping and there’s much more presence of gifts and valuables being visible in the car.”
He encouraged people to be careful and make sure valuables were hidden from view.
“In terms of any valuables, if you’ve done some Christmas shopping, or if generally you’ve got valuables in your car, try [to] keep them locked away or out of sight – in your boot if you can,” he said.
“Where you’re parking is possibly a good thing to think about. If you can afford to, don’t park on the street, but if you have to park on-street, make sure you park in well-lit areas.”
Police said it was not uncommon for Christmas presents to be stolen.
“The key is to remove any opportunity. This includes taking valuables or documents out of vehicles wherever possible,” a spokesperson said.
Rees said he wished he had followed that advice.
“I feel a bit stupid, to be absolutely honest. I read all of the things from police saying ‘don’t do this, don’t pack your car, don’t just leave it on the street’, and I did exactly the opposite and I paid the price.”
========================================================
Auckland Harbour Bridge summer works
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi is carrying out essential maintenance on the Auckland Harbour Bridge this December and January. The southbound clip-on lanes will be closed (24/7) from 26 December to 5 January for road resurfacing. Night-time lane restrictions will be in place throughout the summer for recoating work on the bridge. Traffic will still be able to travel in both directions at all times.
Poll: 🗑️ Would you be keen to switch to a fortnightly rubbish collection, or do you prefer things as they are?
Aucklanders, our weekly rubbish collections are staying after councillors voted to scrap a proposed trial of fortnightly pick-ups.
We want to hear from you: would you be keen to switch to a fortnightly rubbish collection, or do you prefer things as they are?
Keen for the details? Read up about the scrapped collection trial here.
-
82.6% Same!
-
17.4% Would have liked to try something different
Loading…
