Speaking for racial justice, unity
Denouncing racism is the overriding message in this year’s race unity speech competition.
Manukura student Shaye Witehira won the Manawatu¯ heat last week, making an impressive speech, and the event held extra meaning following last month’s Christchurch mosque shootings.
The speech topic was speaking for justice and working for unity, and Shaye, 16, spoke about the effect white privilege and white supremacy have in New Zealand.
‘‘The topic brought up was obviously the heart-breaking massacre in Christchurch and how we address that and call it what it is – it’s an act of terrorism.
‘‘That led to spreading of white supremacy and white privilege, and how the two intertwined in order to create this targeting against what they would call minority groups.’’
She said racism was happening in many different places in New Zealand . ‘‘What would happen if these actions were reconfigured towards Pa¯keha¯?’’
She said thousands of Ma¯ori were killed in the New Zealand Wars in the 1800s and those actions were still happening today, except now Muslims had replaced Ma¯ori.
‘‘I think we all could do with education on the effect this has on our country, but also the effect it’s having worldwide.
Shaye said the people attacked in the Christchurch shootings should have been safe in New Zealand.
This was the third year she had entered the speech competition and her win qualified her for the national final in Auckland next month.
She planned to make a couple of changes to her speech before the national finals, by coming up with more solutions and adding the perspective of tangata whenua.
Last year’s winner Zoha Shuaib, who was runner-up at the national finals last year, attended and read a moving poem about what happened in Christchurch.
There were seven entries, with three from Palmerston North Boys’ High School and three from Palmerston North Girls’ High School. Cornelia Sartie from Girls’ High was second.
Manawatu-whanganui coordinator Jo Wilson said about 70 people attended.
‘‘The speeches were outstanding,’’ she said.