Sadly, unlike William Han’s article of March 17 (“Christchurch shooting: racism in New Zealand isn’t new”) much of New Zealand media coverage after the horrific attacks in Christchurch has been riddled with denials of New Zealand’s home-grown xenophobia and Islamophobia, represented by the New Zealand First political party. For many years Winston Peters has kept himself in power with anti-Asian and Islamophobic mockery. Another NZ First politician, Richard Prosser, mocked Muslims and called for a Muslim travel ban in 2013.

In your paper, Professor Paul Spoonley’s article is a stark reminder of New Zealand’s political, cultural and academic elite’s denial or dilution of domestic racism. They have perpetuated a Kiwi identity exclusively made up of white and Maori/Pacific Islander markers. Professor Spoonley implies that Winston Peters’ presence in parliament is a symbol of New Zealand’s tolerance and progressivism. But he fails to mention how Maori bodies have been used in New Zealand to express white racist views.