KAPAI: Life in the land of the Safe White Crowd

Last week I visited Bethlehem College to share a few yarns and hold a creative writing workshop with all of the junior classes.
I was amazed, firstly, at the cultural thirst students showed for culturally cool storylines and secondly there were more South African kids in the school than there were Maori.
In fact I could only count a handful of Maori tamariki, one of them being our own, but the awareness of Maori culture especially the language was equal to that of most other schools in the Tauranga area, even though it may be perceived that Bethlehem College is somewhat of a white elitist God-fearing education institution, especially by local Maori.
The South African influence by sheer student percentage gave me cause for some concern given my understanding of why so many have chosen to immigrate to the land of the Safe White Crowd.
I have worked and published children's books in South Africa so I have a relatively sound understanding of some of the cultural cringe between blacks and whites in light of the post-apartheid reconciliation that has and is taking place.
One of the things that stays fresh in my mind was the words of a respected Xhosa elder who warned me that I should be very aware of the motives for South Africans wanting to escape down under to New Zealand as they have no desire to be part of any bi-cultural society be it Durban or Dunedin, Capetown or Christchurch.
This was emphasised to me not long ago when I went into Tauranga Hospital for minor surgery and my man with the scalpel was a recent arrival from the home of the Natal Sharks.
Our conversation drifted toward where NZ was racially compared to South Africa and his true colours were revealed when he casually stated that the best thing this country could do was get rid of that kohanga reo kids schools.
He obviously felt on safe grounds given that my skin pigmentation is more whaka blonde than it is ace of spades mangu. The nurse who was assisting Doctor Footinhismouth in the operation was a friend I had grown up with and she just stood there, stunned like a beached whale, not knowing what direction to turn to for a safe exit from a stranded standoff.
All I could do was refresh my mind with the words of wisdom that the Madeeba rangatira Nelson Mandela gave to Maori when he visited our shores in the early nineties. He said, "They locked me up for 23 years and for the future of my people and my beloved country, I had to forgive them."
In comparison, my racial richter scale hadn't even registered so I farewelled him in Maori and gave my nurse mate a double raised eyebrow that left us both knowing we had filed and not forgot what was said. I believe no one is born a racist but they can be born into a racist environment and influenced by the attitudes of those around them.
We have come a long way and we have a ways to go to achieve racial reconciliation like no other country on the planet.
If not us then who can make this happen?
I hope with all my heart that the recent influx of attitudes such as the Soweto surgeon is never allowed to permeate the perimeters of our society let alone the schoolyard gates of our learning institutions. My concerns are lightened when I see and listen to the young hearts and minds of recent arrivals in schools such as Bethlehem College who have a solid understanding of the indigenous culture of their new-found home.
Hopefully this will give them the tools to build a bridge over the troubled waters that their parents left behind in the land of the Rainbow Nation.
Pai marire