Dominant political politics can be a hotbed for racist views

OPINION: With a few exceptions, New Zealand is doing its best to respond to a horrific act of violence that could change the country forever.

While the international media is watching New Zealand like never before (certainly not since the Christchurch earthquake that also left a city in shock), the country is projecting something close to national unity.

This is reflected in the remarkably dignified response of the Muslim community during a period of intense grief, in the empathic and decisive response of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern or in the tens of thousands of people who went to the events marking the tragedy.

The images shared by the media around the world project a nation as compassionate as many hope.

READ MORE:
* Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promises never to talk about the alleged name of the shooter in Christchurch
* Attacks on the Christchurch Mosque: It's time to recall the anti-immigration rhetoric of the deputies
* Winston Peters in an uncomfortable position on the government's immigration policy

We could hope that this would quickly lead to a period of reflection on oneself in many sectors of society.

The end of innocence could also mark the end of naivety regarding not only the extent of racism in New Zealand, but also the way in which traditional political movements use language that might appear to be respectable language. to master it.

Although the alleged perpetrator of the Christchurch bombings is Australian, few people wonder if racist views are not uncommon here.

As late as the end of 2015, members of the National Front marched in front of Parliament without attracting significant challenge (although in 2017, the group was hunted by hundreds of protesters).

Although this group may be completely on the margins of society, many more traditional New Zealanders have xenophobic attitudes, but in more polite terms.

Rather than admit racism, immigration, or the mere idea of ​​it, is blamed on all sorts of problems, even though New Zealand itself is an immigrant nation. .

The reaction to the shooting in Christchurch could indicate that migrants have been targeted.

The first signs are not very positive.

As it appeared that news organizations were pulling out articles that offended the Muslim community, the national party insists that a petition calling on the government not to adhere to a UN pact on migration has been archived from its website "a few weeks later there is", rather than in response to the shooting.

On Tuesday, the party confirmed that it was wrong, with an "emotional" staff member responsible for its elimination after the shooting.

Although the leader, Simon Bridges, insists that the action was taken without the knowledge of the party, the episode now looks like an attempt to clean up a period of time. Recent history that the opposition would like to forget.

Accession to the United Nations Migration Pact does not appear to have any legal implications for New Zealand's migration policy. Yet, National presented the problem as if it was a loss of sovereignty.

It is not as if National was the only major political party in New Zealand to have been accused of using the concerns of migration for political purposes.

Just a few years ago, Labor tied up the steep prices of Auckland homes with Chinese-sounding names, based on relatively flaky data.

Even though the episode has caused a storm, just months before the 2017 elections, former Labor party leader Andrew Little had promised to reduce the number of immigrants to "tens of thousands" .

But actual scrutiny will probably fall on NZ First's response, which has placed immigration concerns at the heart of his political call since the party's appointment.

A fortnight ago, the head of state, Winston Peters, said that immigration had "dragged the country into the status of Asian colony".

Following the London bombings in 2005, Peters declared "moderate and militant [Muslims]wherever they exist "with an agenda" to promote fundamentalist Islam ".

In 2013, former New Zealand MP Richard Prosser suggested in a magazine article that young Muslim men should not be allowed to use Western airlines.

Rather than being rejected as a result of these comments, just over a year later, Prosser was promoted to third on the party list for the 2014 election.

As late as June 2017, a few months before the elections that would see him in the government, Peters reacts to another terrorist attack in London claiming that relatives of terrorists "chose to pull the other cheek, choosing silence. rather than turning these monsters into ".

"The Islamic community has to clean up these monsters, it starts with their own families."

A year later, party members passed a bill that could force migrants to sign a declaration to defend New Zealand's values.

In her address to Parliament Tuesday, Ms Ardern said the door "should be closed for all those who espouse hatred and fear".

Peters has also rejected the alleged perpetrator of the attacks, but gave no sign that he would abandon his rhetoric about migrants.

While this week is a time of mourning, politicians from all parties should ask themselves if their policies offer refuge to intolerants of other races or cultures, or if they are comfortable in a coalition with others gone.