I just read the NZ Herald, so you don’t have to…
So this Māori nurse gets a scribble tattoo on her face, and suddenly, she’s claiming she copping racist abuse from patients. But the real question no one wants to ask is this: Why is it okay for Māori to ask for a Māori doctor or nurse, but if anyone else says they’d prefer someone of their own ethnicity, they’re labelled a racist piece of sh*t?
Mary Parkinson Peni works at Middlemore Hospital. She’s Māori. She’s got a moko kaue - one of those gang-looking chin tats. She reckons it’s part of her identity, her whakapapa, and her culture. I think moko kauae screams - Māori extremist!
Anyways, moving on - earlier this year, after she got it done, a patient flat-out refused care.
the old woman said. Mary then passed the patient on to another nurse, and got on with her job.
Māori patients can ask for Māori healthcare workers all day long. No one bats an eye. It’s called “cultural safety.” It’s funded. It’s protected. It’s celebrated. But let a white person, Asian or anyone not Māori - say, “I’d feel more comfortable with someone from my background,” and all hell breaks loose. Suddenly it’s “racist.” Are you kidding?
Mary's story is inspiring, no doubt. First in her family to earn a degree. Reconnected with her heritage. Pushed through a tough road of night shifts and study. But, then she went and got what I have described in the past as a virtue-signalling barcode on her chin.
While she’s out there representing her people with pride, she’s also become a symbol of a system that plays by two sets of rules.
We’re told Māori need Māori doctors for better outcomes. Cultural understanding matters. But when anyone else expresses that same desire for comfort, familiarity, or shared values, they’re labelled ignorant, racist, or worse.
Why is there a cultural safety net for one group and a cancel culture trap for everyone else?
Anyways, moving on - earlier this year, after she got it done, a patient flat-out refused care.
"I don’t want that black girl with the ugly face to look after me,"
the old woman said. Mary then passed the patient on to another nurse, and got on with her job.
Māori patients can ask for Māori healthcare workers all day long. No one bats an eye. It’s called “cultural safety.” It’s funded. It’s protected. It’s celebrated. But let a white person, Asian or anyone not Māori - say, “I’d feel more comfortable with someone from my background,” and all hell breaks loose. Suddenly it’s “racist.” Are you kidding?
Mary's story is inspiring, no doubt. First in her family to earn a degree. Reconnected with her heritage. Pushed through a tough road of night shifts and study. But, then she went and got what I have described in the past as a virtue-signalling barcode on her chin.
While she’s out there representing her people with pride, she’s also become a symbol of a system that plays by two sets of rules.
We’re told Māori need Māori doctors for better outcomes. Cultural understanding matters. But when anyone else expresses that same desire for comfort, familiarity, or shared values, they’re labelled ignorant, racist, or worse.
Why is there a cultural safety net for one group and a cancel culture trap for everyone else?
Mary getting her moko kauae - but that table
she’s lying on doesn’t exactly scream hygienic.
Mary said most of the abuse came from older people. Maybe that’s true. But it doesn’t excuse the double standard. Yet Māori can say, openly, that they want someone who looks like them, speaks like them, understands their world. And society claps.
It’s not about denying Māori their right to cultural connection. It’s about pointing out the obvious: you can’t have equality if only one side gets special treatment.
Mary gives the same care to everyone. She said that clearly. That’s what good nurses do. However, this system isn’t equal. It pretends to be. it hides behind “equity” while creating new lines of exclusion.
This isn’t a bash on Mary. She’s got a job unlike probably half her cousins. But her story cracks the door open on a conversation people are too scared to have.
Why can Māori choose, but no one else can?
If cultural connection is healing, then it’s healing for everyone. Not just when it fits the approved narrative.
Matua Kahurangi is just a bloke sharing thoughts on New Zealand and the world beyond. No fluff, just honest takes. He blogs on https://matuakahurangi.com/ where this article was sourced.
7 comments:
Having listened to the procession of vehement female maori activists on RNZ, I have been dismayed by their take no prisoners attitude. The facial disfigurement is the badge of similar belief. I would not feel safe with such a nurse. The apparent dispositon proves nothing. A few years ago I visited a relative in hospital A cheeky and cheerful maori girl patient in the ward had previously killed her boy friend....
Matua, I've read your pieces for a wee while now. I'm really impressed with your balance and fairness.
Again you have a very good point, I commend the young nurse for becoming a contributor to society when she could have taken the dole no doubt. It seems to me that we more than ever need rules for everyone NOT based on race. Good on the patient asking for a different nurse. If it's OK for maori to do so, it MUST be fine for everyone else also. Else it's racist.
If anyone thinks Maori can be discriminated against because of a moko, if you get pulled over by a Maori cop with a moko for speeding, try asking for another cop. There are a lot more important issues, like racist Maori seats, to be concerned about.
Keep writing. You write well with insight.
Given that the thing in question may have "graduated" because of DEI rather than ability (evidenced by the face scribble) I support the patient's right to be concerned.
Where does this end for goodness sake.? A friend who is a committed Christian refused to be treated by a Buddhist nurse in a psych. ward. Female patients can feel uncomfortable treated by a male nurse. Will I be treated differently if I wear a crucifix and am treated by a Muslim medic with head gear?
Classifying people into racial , religious or cultural groups is not what society should be doing . Rather neutrality should be encouraged and some sacrifices made in order to help promote neutrality. I would recommend people not acquire facial tattoos if they wish to encourage social harmony. Particularly facial tattoos proclaim assertiveness even an aggressive stance of your identity. I don't wear a crucifix nor demand prayers be chanted over others without their consent. We have to start pushing back on all this racial division that is occurring in our country. It is Marxism which just results in bitterness , anger and friction with no sense of personal responsibility.
I can never understand why any woman would want to disfigure her face with something that looks like blue dribble running down her chin. Nevertheless I have been cared for by several Maori nurses, always with unfailing professionalism and kindness and often with a spirit of fun. I love them.
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