“A party with a derogatory term as its dress code, that has been slammed as offensive to Māori, had been approved by the University of Otago”.
Dr Waikaremoana Waitoki commented that the University has an obligation under Te Tiriti o Waitangi to protect mātauranga Māori – kupu Māori as a taonga, and to protect students from using racist tropes. The University stated that because the students are Māori, it’s ok to use the term ‘hori’. By not considering the impact of the term ‘hori’ as a racist slur embedded in decades of racial oppression, the University overlooked the impact on the viewer and passed responsibility to the students to defend their position. The University also has an obligation not to encourage a binge-drinking culture among its students as there is significant research that shows the impact of alcohol use. The resulting social media storm simply created more exposure to negative stereotypes and placed students in the risky position of having to deal with internet trolls.
Read the Stuff article by Sinead Gill here: