New Zealand Exemplars of Anti-Racism Best Practice

Tāmaki Tiriti Workers recently responded to a request from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) to submit an exemplar of anti-racism best practice. The OHCHR works to promote and protect the human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.


Within our submission we highlighted a range of work carried out by Treaty workers across New Zealand including:



  • The activist scholarship work led by Dr Heather Came, investigating how institutional racism manifests within public health policy making and funding practices.  The findings of this work are now being used to inform a national campaign to address systemic racism within the public health sector by 2017.



  • Ngāpuhi Speaks - the independent parallel report on the Ngāpuhi nui tonu Waitangi Tribunal hearings, commissioned by the kaumātua and kuia (elders) of Ngāpuhi through Network Waitangi Whangarei. This report is a meticulous summation of the evidence presented at the initial hearings, exploring the background to He Wakaputunga o te Rangatiratanga o Nū Tireni (Declaration of Independence) and the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.



  • Peace Movement Aotearoa along with the Quaker Treaty Relationship Group and the Rowan Partnership developed Time for a Change as a framework for community discussion on what a values-bases Treaty-based constitutional arrangements might look like. This tool helped inform New Zealanders about our current constitutional arrangements and raised public awareness of the linkages between Te Tiriti o Waitangi and human rights.



  • Treaty workers have been running awareness programmes to improve racial climate within New Zealand since the 1960s and 1970s. They are often informed by adult education principles to strengthen critical consciousness.



  • Tangata Tiriti - Treaty People is a collaborative project lead by the Treaty Education Group working with the Auckland Regional Migrant Services, Auckland Workers Education Association, the Human Rights Commission and the Refugee Council of New Zealand to promote understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The education kit and programme particularly targets new migrants and is increasingly led by new migrant communities.



  • Kupu taea – is an action research project exploring the critical importance of the mass media in promoting human rights, supporting or combating racism, xenophobia and related intolerance. It has produced a range of academic articles and practical resources to support the public and the media itself unravel racism.



  •  A range of educational resources have been developed within New Zealand to enhance understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. These include:





    • Te Whare – an award-winning short film developed by Richard Green, presenting a modern day parable looking at the relationship between Māori and the British colonisers using the metaphor of a modern house to explore the treaty relationships.





    • Treaty Resource Centre operates under the auspices of the Auckland Workers Education Association and provides evidence-based information about Te Tiriti o Waitangi and anti-racism praxis to foster collaboration and awareness raising.



 

Popular posts from this blog

New Support for School Boards Around Te Tiriti o Waitangi Application

Image
School boards are accountable for the performance of their school and student achievement. This includes making decisions that support Māori learners to enjoy and achieve education success as Māori. Congratulations to the New Zealand School Trustees Association for their new publication and resources to support trustees in their efforts to implement Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The resources include i) Te Tiriti and school governance information booklet, ii) board activities and inquiry scenarios and iii) video clips offering inspirational stories of school and community change. The governance booklet focusses on supporting boards moving from rhetoric to practices which are evidence-based and culturally responsive. It provides support to embed Te Tiriti o Waitangi into strategic planning, explores honourable kāwanatanga (governance) and provides up-to-date evidence on Māori students’ achievement. For the busy board member, the clips share powerful stories of how different schools have been p
Read more

JOINING IN AS RADIO NZ DISCUSSES RACISM

I’d actually agree with people who say “I’m not racist”. I think racism is essentially the characteristic of the society we live in and all of us are caught up in it. Most of us are well adapted to living in a racist society. Of course, there are a few bigots who are enthusiastic and consciously participate rejoicing. Then there are lots of us who are uncritically accepting of how things are, or who have the luxury of putting it in the too hard basket. A growing number are trying to live in a resistant way.   It is good to have had a discussion on radio. If media would stop reinforcing the settler-coloniser mindset, I think the pace would pick up. However Jenny Rankine is doing a thesis about racism on social media, and at present that is a nightmare of prejudice where bigots romp and evangelise!   After focusing our energies on institutional racism, we haven't had much impact on personal prejudice as yet.  However there is some evidence that attitudes follow change rather than ini
Read more

Notes on the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care

Image
By Mitzi Nairn     I attended the opening day and the third day of the inquiry session in Auckland, along with several members of the Auckland Committee on Racism and Discrimination (ACORD), a group from the 1970-80s. We attended to support Oliver Sutherland, who was giving evidence based on ACORD’s work and his ongoing research.  At this stage the inquiry was developing the context so the commissioners would be better able to understand what survivors would be telling them. The inquiry is a response to repeated calls to make these experiences public, and ensure that such things never happen again. The first witness, Judge Carolyn Henwood, presented a summary based on her long experience of inquiring into state care, hearing from previous inmates and people in prison telling about their lives and the effects of their time in the care of the state. Children, especially Māori children, going into state care have entered a ‘pipeline’ leading to prison. I felt unutterably sad because it is
Read more