It’s time for us to tackle all bigotry head-on
Far from being some inexplicable outburst of untethered rage, what happened in Christchurch on Friday afternoon was an intricately stage-managed, explicitly political act. Steeped in ideology, it was a horrifying fusion of ancient hatreds and modern means.
But it was not an attack against me or my family. We are not Muslim, nor immigrants. This violence – however much we wish it were not so – was carried out on our behalf.
Many have cast Friday’s events as an attack on New Zealand itself. In some senses, that’s true. An assault on our sense of security and wellbeing, certainly. On the ways we like to see ourselves, and to be seen. As with any atrocity of this nature, it was, without doubt, a crime against humanity.
But let’s not kid ourselves. This was a targeted and deliberate assault against our Muslim brothers and sisters. Because of their faith. Because most are immigrants. Because many are black or brown. Because, in the mind of the terrorist, their very existence is an affront.
‘‘White supremacy is at the root of what happened,’’ Anjum Rahman of the Islamic Women’s Council, and its media spokesperson, told me when we spoke by phone on Saturday. As I wondered aloud whether this is a time for white men like me to take a back seat, Rahman quickly countered: ‘‘Not at all. Now is the time for white guys to step up, and women too.
‘‘We’re busting a gut trying to reach out and be part of this country and part of society here – but we can’t solve racism for you. We see the vitriol, we see the hate speech. But it has no consequences for them; only for us,’’ Rahman says.
We can’t afford to ignore a climate in which hate speech prospers, and leaders across the spectrum must be unequivocal in its condemnation. ‘‘It’s easy to write the perpetrator of this evil act off as a fringe lunatic,’’ a friend and former colleague, Luke McMahon, wrote in a viral Facebook post over the weekend. ‘‘But our political leaders have always had a responsibility to stand up and confront the murderous ideas he espouses; not pander to them or quietly stoke them for perceived political advantage. That responsibility didn’t just start when words turned to bullets turned to blood.’’
Rahman says the Government’s response to the Muslim community’s concerns about the political climate has fallen short to date. ‘‘We’ve been engaging extensively with this and the previous government. The response has been less than adequate.
‘‘If you can spend all this money on surveilling Muslims, you should also be spending on prevention, as well as tackling other threats, including white supremacism.
‘‘In classrooms, we have concerns about how teachers deal with international events, so there’s a lot of scope for professional development. In the health system, too.
‘‘There’s a lot of research on hate speech, and into how best you empower communities to speak back. But you need to do the work. It requires investment, as well as the will to tackle the problem. The political climate is such that any attempt to do these things gets shouted down. Mainstream communities have a role to stop the shouting. This is not only about the Muslim community. The whole country would benefit.’’
The ‘‘Victorian. And Proud of It’’ campaign offers a decent case study for how the Government can proceed in a way that constructively harnesses the heightened emotions of the moment. Far-Right extremism is an acute, growing and underrated threat, increasingly global in nature. There needs to be a commensurate response, where New Zealand takes a lead.
But, as Rahman points out, enduring solutions must also be found at the local level. In schools and workplaces. Between families, community and faith groups. In our political sphere.
There’s not much we can do here to abate the pernicious influence of white nationalism coming out of Europe or the US. Our challenge, therefore, must be to find in mourning a path towards healing, love and a shared embrace of diversity between Kiwis of whatever origin, under whichever circumstances they arrive, whatever god they choose to worship.
As Anjum Rahman told me, it’s time to step up and tackle head-on the problem of bigotry wherever we find it. The philosopher Karl Popper – a Jew who himself sought refuge from the Nazis in New Zealand – said the hallmark of an open society is tolerance except with respect to intolerance. We should take that to heart.
Only by rejecting the zero-sum nihilism of extremists who seek gratification through the destruction of others can we continue to thrive as a modern, multicultural, pluralistic society. Decades before the prime minister powerfully said, ‘‘they are us’’, it was Dame Whina Cooper who said, ‘‘Kia kaha, ko tatou ano tatou’’. Be strong, together. As the outpouring of love and grief fades, it mustn’t diminish our will to put that wisdom into action.
... our political leaders have always had a responsibility to ... confront the murderous ideas the perpetrator espouses; ... That responsibility didn’t just start when words turned to bullets turned to blood.