As I was casually trolling through the New Zealand Herald website this evening I stumbled across a headline that grabbed my attention "Far-right group plans Auckland Anti-Asian march". The initiator of this protest, Kyle Chapman, is a white supremacist from Christchurch who believes that there is an 'Asian Invasion' in Auckland, specifically suburbs of Howick, Pakuranga and Northcote. Chapman believes that there should be essentially lock downs on the amount of Asian immigrants coming into New Zealand because they are stealing jobs and destroying white New Zealand heritage and culture.
All I can say is what the heck is going on!! What makes someone think that it is OK to tell people of other ethnicities that they are not allowed into our country?
The first thing that springs to my mind is that every single person in this nation has descended from an immigrant. No one was just here, everyone arrived whether they came by plane, boat or waka- we are come from someone who immigrated to New Zealand at some point in time. So then HOW does someone take the stance that they have the right to control and dominate this country?
This semester at University we are looking at cultural diversity and how to plan for it now and in the future so that we create inclusive communities. This article screams out exclusivity to me and is such a deterrent for our nation. In the globalised world we live in today, should we not all be welcoming of every culture?
As a person who lives in Howick- supposedly under going an 'Asian Invasion' I don't see the problem. If anything having the vast range of different cultures at my door step makes my community so much more interesting and attractive. I am the first to admit that there are a lot of people from Asia in my nearby communities but there is also a lot of people from South Africa- but they are white so is this why its not a problem?
This is such an extreme form of racism and it may be a harsh comparison, but did Hitler not start off hating on the Jews because they stole jobs from the German people?
Planning for social aspects of communities and their development is such an important part of the planning profession especially in communities that are increasingly becoming more and more diverse in cultures and ethnicities. The system should work in a way that means no one is superior or inferior to anyone else and everyone is accepted. Is this just an ideal or is there a way that planners can tackle issues of racism in our communities to avoid disputes happening and allow us to live happily as one with one vision?
If you want to read the actual article here is the link:
No comments:
Post a Comment