More than 800 commit to researching for anti-hate strategy
Friday, 5 March 2021
In his first job in New Zealand, Wellingtonian Andrés Proaño Valencia had to contend with a boss who thought it was hilarious to make references to Colombian drug-running when Proaño Valencia was around.
After the March 15 terror attack, the Latin American IT professional joined the Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono, and has become part of a group of more than 800 who are helping to strategise to combat hate.
The collective, led by Anjum Rahman, the spokeswoman of the Islamic Women’s Council, has spent more than a year travelling the country asking Kiwis what it means to belong, with the aim of creating a more cohesive society at a time of increasing polarisation. It will develop a programme of work based on themes established in the research, which will become a toolkit for any individuals or organisations looking to promote diversity and inclusion.
“I figured out there are still structures – whether government, school, workplaces – where there is still sort of privilege and supremacy for the main group here, in this case Pākehā,' Proaño Valencia says. 'It could be very harsh and discriminatory, homophobia, or jokes and put-downs, like I experienced. I found out that people need to get out of their cultural bubbles.”
**READ MORE:
* Anjum Rahman is searching for where we belong
* We thought, finally, the hate would stop
* Anti-discrimination movement Aotearoa Collective calls for Government-led strategy
**
Their research found experiences of discrimination, loneliness and exclusion were universal. Those spoken to by the collective had felt marginalised or belittled because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, age, size, place of residence, disability, class, or country of origin.
While some had experienced outright racism – “I went into a café and a woman went ‘you’re a Paki, you can’t live here, you have to go back, you can’t eat here’,” one person said – others felt smaller exclusions from society every day.
These ranged from people caring for ageing parents as their social networks disappeared, to being passed over for jobs due to appearance or feeling ostracised for their sexuality at church.
“So many people felt like that in different ways, whether they were young, old, Pākehā or not,” says Rahman. “This is about everybody’s wellbeing, bridging the divide and bringing people together, because we all have to live together.
“Do we want people to have happy lives? If we do, what needs to change for all the many people who don’t have that?”
The research revealed feelings of belonging could be sparked by something as little as being invited somewhere, being asked questions, or actively bought into the conversation. “People can be afraid to engage with someone who is different, of saying the wrong thing,” Rahman says. “They need to get outside their comfort zone and, without being intrusive, create a space for others.”
Rahman established the collective after the Christchurch mosque terror attacks. The Islamic Women's Council had been imploring the Government since at least 2017 to create a nationwide strategy for diversity and inclusion.
On March 15, 2019, the council’s worst fears were realised when a white supremacist terrorist killed 51 people at Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre.
Rahman says mobilising everyday Kiwis to make differences in their own social circles is a powerful tool to fight hate. “When you look at the people on the fringes where these extremists are recruited, we know they often feel lonely, isolated, bad about themselves, they feel like no-one values them, so they are really susceptible.
“You can have all the laws, you can have all the regulations, you can police people but that’s not going to prevent what happened. What will prevent it is strong communities, people who feel connected to each other, feel like they have a place and feel valued.”