Maori reputation
Sir,—Today’s “Press” editorial (July 23) touches a very sensitive subject, putting a finger upon a very relevant factor in gauging Maori reputation. Is there a full-blooded Maori still living? When used as a statistical measure of prison occupancy, the quoted figure covers a multitude of sins (cliche only) and the degree of being “Maori" certainly is the key. If a genetic breakdown of offenders could be related to the offending, it would be found that the blood-lines were predominantly non-Maori. The conclusion then, if ethnics are argued, is that the majority of our crime is committed by non-Maoris of graduated skin colour, and, as the soup advertisement suggests, it takes “just a touch then.” Socialists and criminologists have virtually ignored these factors in explaining crime in New Zealand, and when social reform fails, there is the convenience of skin-colour, a handy scapegoat for failures of officialdom and criminals alike.—Yours, etc., DAN GOODER. Westport, July 23, 1986.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19860728.2.114.8
Bibliographic details
Press, 28 July 1986, Page 24
Word Count
158Maori reputation Press, 28 July 1986, Page 24
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.