Racism can cut deeply

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Hello, I am a 13 year old at Campion College. I'm here to spread awareness of the issue I am most concerned about — racism.

Racism in New Zealand is very bad because it affects peoples' mental and general health. Many people who are victims of racism suffer from depression and anxiety, or feel really insecure about their culture, religion or race.

One example of institutional racism in New Zealand is how many Maori are behind bars. The prison population is 52 percent Maori, 31 percent European, 11.5 percent Pacific and 5 percent “other”.

Arrest and prosecution statistics show that Maori people have been being treated differently from others.

Maori also face discrimination in health services.

Other cultures in New Zealand also experience racism — Asian and Pacific people all understand how it feels.

The Ministry of Health website health.govt.nz has a section on self-reported racial experience. It says Maori adults are almost twice as likely to have faced racial discrimination as non-Maori adults, and almost three times as likely to have experienced unfair treatment on the basis of ethnicity.

Anikate Bandral