RACE RELATIONSHIPS

Te Ao Hou, Winter 1954, Page 41

The Very Reverend J. G. Laughton, at the unveiling ceremony of the memorial to the late Sir Apirana Ngata, at Tikitiki in 1952, reads from one of the first copies of the new Maori Bible translation. (National Publicity Studios Photograph). RACE RELATIONSHIPS By The Rev. Dan Kaa Ko te mahi nui ma tatau inaianei ko te whakaae ki te rongo pai hei kaupapa mo te noho a tena tangata, a tena ropu; kahore hoki i hoki iho te nui, te whakaharahara o te ata whakatikatika i nga kereeme a te maori, a te pakeha—a te iwi hoki. Ko te whakaakoranga o te tauriteritetanga o te tangata, me te mea nei kua whakaae haeretia. Otira ki te ata tirohia kahore he whakaakoranga marama atu, marakerake atu, te he. Kahore tetahi tangata i rite tonu ki tetahi, no te mea i roto i te taupipiritanga me te rereketanga o te noho a te tangata, tena noa atu te rahi o te takiwa hei wehewehe, hei whakarereke i tetahi tangata i tetahi tangata! No reira ko te tauriteritetanga kaore i roto i te ahua o te noho a te tangata kei reira nei nga tini rereketanga o te tinana, o te hinengaro, o te tika, o te he; engari kei roto i te whakaaro pai, aroha; kei roto i te waimarie e taea ai te whakaputa nga mea ataahau kei roto e takoto ana; ko te whakaaro o ia tangata ki te mahi te hoa mahanga o tenei tauriteritetanga o te tangata. Kei tetahi iwi, kei tetahi iwi tonu te tikanga e pai ake ai te noho a te tangata i tenei whenua. E tika ana kia iriiria nga iwi e rua ki roto ki te noho hou kia tu ai he iwi hou: kahore ko etahi anake i konei i ko, engari ko te katoa tuturu o nga iwi e rua i roto i o raua rereketanga (e whaiti nei ki roto ki te maoritanga, The doctrine of human equality is tending to become more and more recognised. Literally, of course, no doctrine is more obviously and glaringly false. No two human beings are equal, for in the complexity of human conditions how wide is the scope for individual differences and variety! The equality is therefore not that of condition in which there are numberless inequalities, physical, mental and moral, but of consideration and regard, and of opportunity for developing innate capacity and latent worth: and personal responsibility is the correlative of this individual equality. Each race has its part to play in the social betterment of this country. The two races should be baptised into the new life to form one nation: not merely individuals here and there, but the whole life of the two peoples in all their variety (summed up in Maoritanga and pakehatanga), with all their manifold potentialities. If mankind is created in the image of God, his nature is corporate; there is in humanity a “togetherness”, a more than obvious physical interdependence, a spiritual bond which cannot be eliminated because it is a fact about human nature. This essential social nature within humanity cannot be denied. It has to be given outward expression in social form and social activity consistent with man's

ki roto ki te pakehatanga), me o ratou tini whakaputanga katoa a ona ra. Mehemea i hanga te tangata kia rite ki to te Atua ahua, kati he kotahi tonu ahua; kei roto i te tangatatanga tenei mea a te ‘whakapiripiri’, a te whakawhirinaki atu tetahi ki tetahi kei ko rawa atu i te kite tinana te kite, he paihere wairua e kore nei e taea te whakakahore no te mea he pono ko te ahua tenei o te tangata. Ko tenei tino ahua kotahitanga i roto i te tangata e mea nei kia whakatinanatia i roto i nga mahi me nga hikoi whakauru atu, whakauru mai rite tonu ki a ia ano; a i te mutunga iho ka tino kore i a ia tetahi momo kaupapa e mea ana ki te whakahe ia ia. Ko te nui me te rereke o te noho ropu he tohu no te momonatanga o te noho o te iwi nui tonu (pakeha, maori) a ko ona ahua pea enei, ko te ngakau tangatanga, ara ko te puta noa ake ki te whakatutuki i tetahi tino hiahiha; ko te ngakau hiahiha, ara ko te watea ki te tomo mai, ki te noho atu ranei i waho. He pai taua noho whakatopu mehemea e whakangako ana i te huihuinga katoa me te ahua o ona tangata. He tika kei te ahua mate haere te noho ropu o te iwi maori i roto i te noho tangata o Niu Tireni nei; a he tohu kei te pororaru, kei te ngaro te Maori i roto i te rohe o tona noho piri atu ki era. Ko ta tatau, ko ta nga karaitiana, awangawanga mo tenei mea taumaha, ehara anake itemea ka kite tatau e mate haere ana to tatau nei noho ropu i runga i tenei ahua, engari itemea ra ko tatau kaitiaki o te kotahitanga o te tangata; haunga te araitanga i te Maori, i te Pakeha ranei kia noho i te noho karaitiana i runga i tenei ahua, engari te araitanga i ia kia noho i te noho maori pai i roto i te huihuinga ko te kaupapa nei ia o te noho atua me te rangapu o te hunga tapu. nature. If this is denied it is bound eventually to destroy society itself. The multiplicity and variety of group life mark the richness of national life (pakeha and Maori) and its characteristics may be regarded as unforced and as coming into existence to fulfil a real need, and as voluntariness—the freedom to come in or stay out. The group life is good which serves to enrich the whole community and the personalities of its members. It is true that group life of the Maori is in danger of collapsing in our New Zealand civilization, and it is the sign that in the field of his social life the Maori is lost and confounded. Our concern as Christians with this problem is not only that through it we find our own community life seriously thwarted. It is also because we are the guardian of man's wholeness, not merely that through this breakdown the Maori or pakeha is hindered in living the Christian life, but because he is hindered from that satisfactory natural life in community which is the basis of the supernatural life in the company of the saints. The Very Rev. J. G. Laughton praised the address, and said that the Rev. Kaa had stated the only solution to the racial problem and broken down the middle wall of partition.