Race and Colour

Te Ao Hou, September 1965, Page 13

Race and Colour Racial and colour prejudices are probably the most prevalent ones in New Zealand, and are those with which we as Maoris are most concerned. Racial prejudice is the result of a gradual accumulation of biassed generalisations culminating in the development of a ‘stereotype’ of a particular race. We hear therefore of Italians who are all bad-tempered, of Australians who always swear and gamble, of spendthrift and lazy Maoris, of Jews who have crooked noses and hoard their money. Nor is such prejudice one-sided. Many whites are prejudiced towards coloured people, but at the same time they may be prejudiced towards people of their own colour, for instance European immigrants; many Maoris are prejudiced towards their coloured neighbours the Islanders, and vice-versa. Colour prejudice is not always as clear-cut as racial prejudice; often it is more refined and subtle. For instance, a ‘fair’ half-caste Maori may manage much more easily in European company than a darker half-caste. The latter would be more conspicuous than the former, and Europeans may be more tempted to avoid him, especially if other Europeans are around. At socials and gatherings many Europeans feel too self-conscious and scared to associate with a person of coloured skin; they feel themselves being singled out, and wonder what their European friends may be saying about them. European parents whom I once knew found it impossible to accept the idea of their daughter marrying me and bearing ‘throw-back’ children. Not that they had anything against me personally—in fact, they thought I was a ‘very nice chap’—it was just that, well, they had to protect their daughter (and themselves too, I suspected) from the gossip of neighbours, if we had dark children. This is colour prejudice.