Not so subtle racism in New Zealand universities

Mukesh Devrari

I came across four Indian students living together in a student accommodation provided by the University of Canterbury (UC). All four were living in one flat. It was extraordinary as thousands of students came to Christchurch to study at the University of Canterbury. And hundreds of them lived in the UC provided accommodation. How come four Indian students were put together in one flat. It is intriguing, not a big puzzle. Everyone who has lived in New Zealand and tried their hands in few odd jobs to make a living perfectly understands it.

Still, I posed this question to one of the students living in the university accommodation with fellow Indian students. Why do you think you all ended together? “One can end up with anyone in the allotments. But then Caucasian students approach the student accommodation office and make a request for changing their flats. They use various excuses. Something as simple as the sunlight is not proper in the room or comes from the direction they would not prefer,” he responded. And both the person in the accommodation office and the student wanting to change their rooms understand it and knows the next step.

In other words, the Caucasian students stay together, while the rest of the international students share the flats. It is a natural behaviour of young New Zealanders as their society has taught them racist ideologies throughout their lives. They believe Asians, Africans and other dark-skinned students are horrible in so many ways. They have are creepy towards women, possess the lesser intellect, abnormal cultural habits of eating, praying, etc. They also have unclean toilet habits, strange body odour and peculiar traits. New Zealanders have reserved their most hate for Maoris, who are described as former cannibals wanting to live only on state freebies.   

Here is the thing. The University cannot force students to talk to each other, respect each other’s culture, learn from each other, maybe teach each other in that process. And in this highly globalised world where money is a new god, they might be better prepared to handle international assignments once they progress in life. Contrary to that, the level of intolerance is very high in Kiwi society. On many issues, it would be fair to say that students from Asia and Africa are not as independent as their western counterparts are. They lack social sophistication and have never learned the scepticism and Xenophobia of western minds. It is also true they might be academically less bright as our education system, with some exceptional universities, have no match for the academic facilities provided in the western universities to train their students.  

In other words, it was not a coincidence? It was neither a well-thought-out decision by the university administration to categorise and accommodate students based on their race, culture or any other identity. Instead, it is a natural result of the social reality of New Zealand. So international students must not fall for the propaganda and know what is waiting for them in advance. Otherwise, young unsuspecting boys and girls travelling for the first time outside their home countries would be shocked, disturbed and restless after landing in New Zealand.

If it looks like an issue to you, then read about another interesting incident in Wellington or Massey University where Kiwi students refused to work in group assignments with Asian students. They complained that their time is wasted explaining the tasks and requirements to Asian students, who possess limited English language abilities. And they do not want to do that as they are not paid for it. Is not it astonishing? Think about it, whose fault is this? If students with limited English language abilities end up in NZ universities. 

In another incident, the hair modelling event in the University of Canterbury specifically wanting only caucasian students, but few shameless non-caucasian/dark-skinned students turned up in the event, so the student body could not send them back, but the advertisement and mindset of student organisers were symptomatic of normal racist Kiwi behaviour. Neither media nor the UC administration pursued the issue.  

Finally, my dear international students, be prepared for it. Don't be over-excited; lower your expectations; otherwise, you will feel too bad. You might be excited to meet them, but I wish I could say the same thing about them. Here 'them' included only caucasian Kiwis. Though, you will be happy to meet people from other parts of the world and maybe become a great votary of South to South cooperation, which we have not pursued with enough rigour so far. 

(Continue.)