Acclaimed Hollywood director Taika Waititi has criticised his home country of New Zealand as “racist as fuck”.
In a wide-ranging interview with Dazed and Confused magazine, the director of Thor Ragnarok, Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Boy said although he loves New Zealand, a strong vein of racism towards Maori and Polynesian people permeates society.
“I think New Zealand is the best place on the planet, but it’s a racist place,” Waititi said.
“People just flat-out refuse to pronounce Maori names properly. There’s still profiling when it comes to Polynesians. It’s not even a colour thing – like, ‘Oh, there’s a black person.’ It’s, ‘If you’re Poly then you’re getting profiled.’”
Waititi says as a young boy of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui descent, he was employed by a small grocery store [dairy], but was not allowed to work at the cash register.
“I really cherish the memories of how I grew up, [but] it was actually pretty shit, growing up poor in the country,” said Waititi.
“I remember getting a job at a dairy and they would never give me a job at the till, I was always at the back washing vegetables. And then one day one of the owners asked me if I sniffed glue – like, ‘Are you a glue-sniffer?’ In my head I was like, ‘Motherfucker, you grew up with my mum!’ And I knew for sure that he didn’t ask other kids in the store if they were glue-sniffers.”
Waititi’s New Zealand films Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople were hailed as New Zealand classics, and his 2017 blockbuster Thor Ragnarok received strong reviews.
But the actor and director, who lives in Los Angeles with his family, says he still receives a “patronising” reception from some people when he returns to New Zealand.
“People in Auckland are very patronising. They’re like, ‘Oh, you’ve done so well, haven’t you? For how you grew up. For one of your people.’”
Last year, Waititi starred in a campaign for the New Zealand Human Rights Commission, aimed at tackling racism in his home country and used his Kiwi irony to get the point across.
“Racism needs your help to survive,” he said in the video. You may not be in a position to give much to racism, but whatever you feel comfortable giving will make a huge difference.”
“You don’t have to be a full-on racist, just being a tiny racist is enough. A smile, a cheeky giggle, even a simple nod and agreement, it all adds up, and it gives others the message it’s OK.”
According to the Human Rights Commission reported instances of racism are on the rise in New Zealand, with a third of all complaints to the commission regarding racist discrimination. It is thought the vast majority of racial abuse still goes unreported.
