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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 36, Number 18. 26th July 1973

Ghetto Paranoia

Ghetto Paranoia

In the city the Maori has been exposed for perhaps the first time to the possibility of being assimilated by the dominant Pakeha. The Pakeha, who controls the decision making processes that affect the Maori suffers from what I call ghetto-paranoia. It is a state of mind that is peculiar to the majority group and stems from fear, suspicion, ignorance and intolerance about the Maori minority. Ghetto paranoia has its charter in the "We are one people" ideology enunciated by Governor Hobson at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. From this famous utterance Sir George Grey derived his assimilationist policy as the solution to the "Maori problem".

Through the education system the concept was translated into action by the exclusion of the Maori language. The effectiveness of this policy of cultural genocide is reflected in the retreat of the Maori language. In 1900 over 90% of Maori children spoke Maori as their first language. Today the number has fallen below 25%.

Since the 1960s we have become more introspective about our society. This, together with the availability of tertiary education to a wider range of the social spectrum has led to a flourishing of more liberal thought. The Hunn Report redefined the relationship between Maori and Pakeha as one of integration. Unfortunately, the adoption of integration as official policy has not altered the assimilative ethos of our society that continuously nourishes itself on the mythology of "We are one people." The policy has changed but the practice remains because of the powerful life-giving force of the mythology. Scant attention has been paid to Hunn's formulation 'that integration' means "to combine (not fuse) the Maori and Pakeha elements to form one nation wherein Maori culture remains distinct"5 Maoris of page 13 course have resisted the assimilative pressure from the Pakeha majority, and in accordance with Hunn's evolutionary model have discarded some elements of their indigenous culture while retaining others that are in harmony with the Pakeha culture that they have adopted. For instance, the tangi lasts three days instead of a week or more as in former times. The custom of hura kohatu, the unveiling of a memorial headstone has replaced the hahunga or exhumation of ancestral bones. The urban marae has been updated to comply with the building and health regulations of the Pakeha. Despite these adjustments the Maori is still subject to intensive assimilation pressures from the Pakeha. The Department of Maori Affairs for instance practices a policy of pepper-potting Maori houses in Pakeha neighbourhoods. Behind this policy is the naive assumption that Maoris will become brown Pakehas by blending in with the people of the neighbourhood. Integration, meaning assimilation, becomes complete when Maoris manifest bourgeois behaviour by trimming their hedges and mowing their lawns. The pepper-potting policy is an example of ghetto-paranoia par excellence on the part of Pakeha authorities.