I actually remember the reason why I got caught up in the Maori mana motuhake in the late eighties. A set of young Maori radicals had barricaded themselves in the Town Library at the time I was invalided out of my first year at the University of Canterbury (NZ) with a TBI. I had been reading a bit of progressive material, and had finally got my hands on a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, so I had an idea of what it was all about.
The police arrested the Maori (they had been demanding pace from the City Council and the national Government on their tribe's claims under the Treaty of Waitangi, the agreement that established the legality of the British colonials in New Zealand) and in the struggle, some of the radicals had spilt paint and paint thinner and such stuff on some of the books. The letters-to-the-editor column in the local paper went wild with denunciations - I got angry with the tone and pointed out that the radicals were entitled to a fair hearing, "not to be considered guilty until so proven", stuff like that. No, I'm a total nobody in the New Zealand political process, but I managed to help stem that racist rubbish, and somehow things got somewhat better. (My role in this is miniscule compared to the _real_ activists - but then, I'm Pakeha, a New Zealander of European descent - largely British, suspected Sephardic ancestor/s, and so forth.) I can't claim to speak for anyone else but myself - but what I could do was deflate some of the misinformation and insist on the Maori right to be heard. Start small, and whatever you do, don't feel guilty for being yourself. But make "being oneself" a weapon in the cause of justice. Kia kaha, e tu - be strong, stand tall. Wesley Parish On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 03:07, Matt - HOPE Caravan wrote: > Sorry I don't have some wonderfully written quotes for you but I will > attempt to get some quotes from the Bungalla people from here in South > Australia. You see you're not alone; Australia is another country built on > an imperialist dream of divide and conquer. > > Australia is yet another country that was not unoccupied; we even went so > far as to wipe out an entire race of Aboriginal people living on the island > of Tasmania. > > Later, in the 60s we even pretended to help these people by ripping their > children away and forced then to grow up under white man's law stealing > their culture and heritage. Our government to this very day will not > apologise and claims it did nothing wrong. > > Now we have disposed people who feel like foreigners in their own country, > much like the American Indians, the Palestinians and the list goes on. > > As a white person I feel much shame, only saving grace is that each time I > look in the mirror I see the white trash and it reminds me that I have a > duty to speak out. > > Peace, > > Matt > > > > > > ----- > / o o \ > ===OO=====OO============================================= > (4)Portals (2)News Wikis (2)Conferences - No BuSHIT! > Start here: http://pnews.org/ (On Internet since 1982) > http://pnews.org/PhpWiki/ (West Coast News Wiki) > http://g0lem.net/PhpWiki/ (East Coast News Wiki) > ========================================================= > FIGHT THE RIGHT! > ================== > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > -- Wesley Parish * * * Clinersterton beademung - in all of love. RIP James Blish * * * Mau e ki, "He aha te mea nui?" You ask, "What is the most important thing?" Maku e ki, "He tangata, he tangata, he tangata." I reply, "It is people, it is people, it is people." ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/XgSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ----- / o o \ ===OO=====OO============================================= (4)Portals (2)News Wikis (2)Conferences - No BuSHIT! Start here: http://pnews.org/ (On Internet since 1982) http://pnews.org/PhpWiki/ (West Coast News Wiki) http://g0lem.net/PhpWiki/ (East Coast News Wiki) ========================================================= FIGHT THE RIGHT! ================== Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rhetoric-list/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
