All praise the defenders of te reo against racist drivel

Dame Susan Devoy punched back as hard as David Tua when Maori language came under fire.

IT’S never surprising that there are racist people in New Zealand.

As long as the world is full of people where not everyone has the same colour skin and speaks the same language – and last check, that was the case – these people are going to exist.

I’ve long ago stopped believing that everyone is nice and right on and understands what Martin Luther King was on about when he dreamed about a world where people were judged on the content of the their character, and not the colour of their skin.

But what is surprising is that in 2017 – after centuries of lessons on why there’s no future in racism – seemingly respectable platforms still push these views.

That happened this week after a newspaper column in the Otago Daily Times labelled supporters of te reo Maori as ‘‘boring bigots’’ and took the national broadcaster RNZ to task for speaking one of our national languages too much.

I was always a fan of this publication, which is the oldest newspaper in New Zealand.

I loved the fact they were independent of the main media organisations and served one of my favourite cities in the country. A city that in its recent history, had lengthy stints by mayors who were Indian and Chinese.

Perhaps I was naı¨ve to think they would be above publishing this sort of stuff but then again they’re hardly alone in this country, in doing that.

Still, I worked for a big city newspaper in the late 80s and, even then, when New Zealand was considerably less diverse, there didn’t seem to be this sort of drivel allowed on the pages.

In the 70s, sure – but I thought that we’d grown up a bit by the time the 90s turned up.

However, rather than feel depressed that what I would call a kind of hate speech still gets a platform, instead I take heart in the response of opinion pieces around our media which expressed utter disbelief at the column and ridiculed what it had to say.

I also take heart from the tweets from staffers of that same publication who felt compelled to declare their support and delight with te reo Maori along with the hastag #notmyopinion.

Those supportive views may not have been expressed had there not been the opposite view expressed first.

I was especially delighted with the response of Race Relations Conciliator Susan Devoy who has given her office real mana, and fast become one of the most formidable and staunch advocates to hold that office.

‘‘Anyone who complains about te reo Maori being used and celebrated in this country needs to get one thing straight: This is New Zealand. Aotearoa New Zealand – so get used to it,’’ Devoy said.

As comprehensive shut-downs go, it was up there with the way David Tua used to end fights in the first few seconds of the first round of a fight.

Devoy supported her view by revealing that the column’s writer was born in Ireland, a country that also celebrates its indigenous language.

Then she dropped the mic and got on with more important things.

I think I must be one of those ‘‘boring bigots’’ that the writer was talking about. Given that Maori has been an official language of New Zealand for the past 30 years, it’s probably high time that Maori Language Week was extended to a year and became a normal part of life in New Zealand. Aotearoa New Zealand.

This is New Zealand. Aotearoa New Zealand – so get used to it.’ DAME SUSAN DEVOY