Actually, Two Wongs Make For A Diverse And Multicultural Society
So, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that the media has been filled with the “farm sale debate”; with Labour recently taking a stance on the sale of commercial property to offshore investors (they’re threatening to block the sale of Lochniver Station to the Chinese company Shanghai Pengxin).
The backlash over the Lochinver sale has reignited the debate on foreign ownership of New Zealand property. Critics of Labour’s approach have labelled the party "racist" and "xenophobic", while Labour ministers and supporters counter with the argument that foreign ownership needs to be restricted out of pure economic necessity. The economic justification behind Labour’s policy is arguably defensible – profitable assets should remain in Kiwi hands so the benefits remain in the New Zealand economy. However, it appears that economic arguments have fallen by the wayside as people have become distracted by the use of the term "foreign buyers".
This publication ordinarily supports and encourages political debate and discussion. Considering the general apathy of many New Zealand citizens towards political issues, we should be relieved to see people deciding to give a fuck about what their government is doing; better yet, in the same year that they will be expected to cast a vote reflecting the direction in which said fucks are given. However, our hopes for a sophisticated voting public are still unrealised as much of the "discourse" that has arisen out of the foreign ownership debate can only be described as discrimination against a particular race. New Zealand, it’s time to look at your life, and look at your choices.
Regardless of what you think about the sales, you should be appalled with the way both politicians and members of the public have engaged with the debate. We have two pieces of evidence to back this claim.
Exhibit A: Putting the Racism in Economic Protectionism
There are no words for this fake billboard, unless those words are "racist", "disgusting" and "I give up on humanity". Aside from its highly offensive nature, it turns the debate about foreign ownership into one about race, not economics. We’ve already discussed the effect that certain types of language can have, and within the space of a week New Zealand has kindly provided us with enough material for another post. Nice work guys. In this case, the use of language with clear racial connotations is extremely harmful. It is true that Lochinver Station is being sold to a Chinese company; Crafar Farms were sold to the same Chinese company and many Chinese investors and families are buying residential properties. However, the fact that these groups are Chinese is, and must be, entirely irrelevant to any objections to foreign ownership. Images such as the one pictured above do not convey the message that acquisition of New Zealand property by offshore companies is bad. Instead, they tell us that acquisition of property by Chinese companies is bad; we don’t want the dirty Asians treading on our white man’s land.
Exhibit B: That's So Winston
The second culprit is NZ First leader Winston Peters, who has come under fire for remarking that "two Wongs don’t make a white". If you have even an ounce of cultural sensitivity, there are obvious concerns raised by the expression of clearly racist sentiments by a political leader who stands a very real chance of gaining representation in Parliament come September. However, cultural sensitivity is apparently as foreign to New Zealand as the Chinese themselves. Again, we’ve seen the rallying cries of “OMG guiyzzz learn to take a joke” and “everyone needs to stop being so PC." One online commenter has eloquently claimed that that "anyone that complains is a self-righteous pig with a brain the size of a pea and a penis to match." Again, our response is a firm no. Jokes that are racist are not okay New Zealand, no matter how funny you might think they are.
Peters’ comments cannot be ignored for the same reason that ENSOC’s blackface video should not have been ignored. While the motive may not be malicious, the fact is that we simply cannot sanction objectively racist behaviour by people in positions of leadership. Peters is not your offensive, yet harmless grandfather yelling obscenities from his armchair. He is a political leader who has a duty to act responsibly and should not be capitalising on the inherent racism of New Zealanders in order to get votes.
Adding to the problem is that our news media refuses to take a stance on these issues, preferring to put the question to the public to answer. Maybe next time a politician says something sexist or racist, it would be nice to see our media condemn them as opposed to asking “do you think this is racist?” It’s time to wake up and join the 21st Century, New Zealand - not the backwards world that the suits in Wellington seem to be living in.
