Maori tour of Wales

Press, 17 November 1982, Page 16

Maori tour of Wales

Sir,—R. . Holmes’s letter (November 15) leads me to believe that he has the naivete to think that all laws enacted are in accord with that which is morally right and, therefore, people who break laws are wrong and those who do not are right. History has shown this not to be the case. Before 1865, slavery was legal in the United States; in the 1940 s antiSemitic laws were enforced in Germany; before the 1890 s, women were thought too insignificant to be allowed to vote. I assume Mr Holmes is not an

anti-Semitic, woman-hating, slave-owner; if this is correct, I really must question his assertion that people. convicted of offences (from the Springbok tour) were simply common law-breakers and further, must question who the “incredibly gullible or downright stupid” one really is; certainly not S. Clegg, in my mind.—Yours, etc < • •• \ •■ " KIM LOWELL. November 15, 1982.

Sir,—l am tired of the nonsense such correspondents as T. F. Cook and Ollie Ohlson write on this subject. It becomes obvious they are not interested in attacking racism, but in attacking HART. If my diagnosis is incorrect then I would suggest the following treatment to rectify their lack of common knowledge; read in a good dictionary the. difference between racist and racial. The Maori team cannot be called racist as it does not claim to represent New Zealand, only a. section, as New Zealand Universities or New Zealand Juniors do. I cannot see how Maoris can be called racist in their actions for Maoris, as they normally do not control the finance or deci-

sion-making of our institutions. The last racist rugby team New Zealand had would be that which was going to South Africa without Maoris until Mr Holyoake, forced by public outcry, told the Rugby Union its errors—Yours, etc., M. O’NEILL. November 7, 1982.