(Critical Race Theory has gone mad)
This article was written before I went overseas a few weeks ago and subsequently got lost in that process until now. It may be a bit out of date, but it still holds relevance even well after the events outlined here, especially around the issue of Critical Race Theory and gender politics that sadly affect much of today’s political narratives.
In recent weeks, we have experienced some extreme attacks on white men in a poem and play by poet Tusiata Avia, the “Savage Coloniser.” There was the equally racist outburst by Green Minister Marama Davidson stating all white cis men cause violence. Naturally there has been outrage from many quarters on these two blatantly racist forms of literature and politically loaded comment. They also fall into the Critical Race Theory (CRT) narrative that all white men are racist.
I have tried to tackle the issue of CRT in my previous two articles. I was only going to address Avia’s poem, but Marama Davidson has added weight to how CRT and woke attitudes are dividing our society along the lines of race, and the potentially bad outcomes this will have on our society. Of course, the woke left will disagree with this point of view and would happily disregard my opinion because they do not agree with me or agree with free speech.
The critical part to Avia’s poem is that “It describes “brown girls” driving around in SUVs looking for Cook’s “descendants”… “white men like you”… to kill”.*1 Adams states, “Since Avia’s poem has been published by Stuff for a national audience in both print and online, you’d have to say “extreme violent language” and “violent rhetoric” have not only been “normalised” but have — thanks to Stuff’s promotion — gone far beyond the exclusive Arts Festival crowd to be completely mainstream.”*2
This is where woke ideology and CRT come into conflict. “Of course, people will say a poem is art and thus protected from the usual criticism. But that is clearly untenable at a time when Roald Dahl’s children’s books are being sanitized to remove words as innocuous as “mad,” “fat” and “black” (even when describing a tractor!).”*3
Further, Avia told Duff in the Stuff interview. ““It’s a universal truth about colonisation, which is basically it was rape and pillage and massacre. You know, that’s what it is. It’s a giant massacre. So, you gotta be honest about that.”*4 She is happy to tell the lie and Stuff are happy to propagate it. This is how CRT and woke ideology combine.
Ryan Bridge on the AM show stated that ACT’s position on this matter was wrong. “The problem I have with this is if you say you can’t have films and movies that depict white people being murdered then would you also not be able to have movies about historical events and slavery and Abraham Lincoln and stuff like that.” *5 I believe Ryan is missing the point here. One is “hate speech” and one is history. The two are mutually exclusive.
Let’s discuss the line about brown girls going round to find white men to kill. I have heard anecdotal stories of middle-aged white men being verbally attacked (I presume by brown girls) for just being white middle-aged men (the story I heard on ZB was a man was parking his car in town, and as he and his wife were getting out of the car, for no apparent reason, being verbally abused for being white). This is the natural outcome of CRT on society. It is aimed to divide and create division between people, not bring them together. The line of thought is that all white men are racist. When this is pushed into mainstream thinking as being true, and that brown girls have the right to go round trying to find a white man to kill, it will happen one day.
Marama Davidson’s recent outburst was called brain fade by some. In fact, it was deliberate, racist, and straight from the CRT playbook. Watching the video, Davidson was quite clear in her statement. All violence is caused by white cis men. Heather du Plessis tried to split hairs on this matter, that is, white men numerically cause more violence. Of course, they do, as they make up a large percentage of the population. Heather was wrong on this point.
Davidson’s comment was a deliberate political, racially charged comment, which she appeared to be very proud of. Further, while being challenged in parliament, she doubled down on this matter, refusing to apologise for the comment. She gave a clarification to her statement, which was hollow in the extreme. Even the Prime Minister accepted her clarification rather than disciplining her. For a minister of the crown, just not an MP, to make such biased and racist comment and not be held accountable, is a stain on the government.
Here are the facts as provided by David Farrar (yes Heather, more men do cause violence, but so do women):
“There are two issues here. The first is that she (Davidson) is wrong. In New Zealand here is the data for violent offending for 2022:
- Gender: 79% male, 21% female
- Ethnicity: 51% Māori, 29% European, 11% Pacific, 2% Indian, 1% Asian
Farrar adds, “So it is very clear the Minister is wrong. But that is not the biggest issue. It is her trying to stir up racial hatred.”*6
Jenna Lynch wrote the following, “Ministry of Justice data shows the ethnic breakdown of family violence convictions is 56 percent Māori and 35 percent European. When it comes to sexual violence it’s 46 percent European and 29 percent Māori.
“But family violence advocate Jackie Clark says often Pakeha males don’t show up in the stats because they’re not reported. From her experience, 95 percent of the women she deals with have been harmed by Pakeha men.
“She said aloud what everybody I know in the family violence field has been saying for a long, long time,” Clark said.”7
While I cannot clarify Jackie Clark’s statement, it flies completely in the face of the facts as reported. Why didn’t Lynch question Clark on her statement that white domestic violence is not reported? Also, is she only seeing white women? This statement is in complete defiance of official figures.
Even a Stuff article wrote, “Statistics show Māori women report higher rates of physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence than European, Pacific and Asian women. Overall, it’s known those from lower socio-economic status groups are at increased risk of violence.”*8
Over one hundred complaints have been filed with the Race Relations Office, although nothing will eventuate here. Conversely, all my male white friends of varying political persuasion have felt aggrieved in one way or another about Davidson’s statement. We all felt it was a politically and racially charged statement. We have seen it for what it was.
Therefore, on one hand, Tusiata Avia wants brown girls driving around in cars to kill all white men, while on the other hand Marama Davidson accuses all white cis men of violence. The disturbing paradox of the racial war that now sadly permutates through our society is that it will only create division and ill feeling between the races, with potentially dire consequences.
*1 Graham Adams – 28 February 2023
*2 Graham Adams – 28 February 2023
*3 Graham Adams – 28 February 2023
*4 Graham Adams – 28 February 2023
*5 NewsHub – 9 March 2023
*6 David Farrar – 27 March 2023
*7 Jenna Lynch – News hub, 27 March, 2023
*8 Katie Kenny – Stuff 30 March 2023