Honest conversations about Christchurch and people of Color

Today I have written an open letter to all Australian Senators and Members in the wake of the Christchurch tragedy - it is a time for grieving, soul searching and reflection – I just want to speak a simple truth that no one should be afraid of people of color, people of different faiths….

Dear Senators and Members;

For the last nearly twenty years I have lived and worked among you. I have led one of your oldest companies, I have represented Australia at the UN, I have been a regular voice on the airwaves as a Broadcaster on 2UE, I have Chaired and sat on the Boards of a number of not for profits and charities. I am the Chair of Suicide Prevention. I am also a man of color, a person of color and I am a New Zealander.

For the last few days I have sat patiently waiting for the right moment to send you this email and have come to realize there is probably no better time than now. Fifty of my fellow New Zealanders lay dead and dozens more injured at the hands of an Australian. That is the simple reality and truth of what we are dealing with.

I have known many of you for a long time. I have interviewed you for radio, have met with you in my role as Chair of Suicide Prevention Australia or formerly as Australia’s Representative and during that time the public discourse and conversation around people of color and the rise of groups who would lead us all to believe that we are the problem has been growing. Many Australians have been led to believe, rightly or wrongly that some faiths are more relevant than others that the god they worship is somehow better than someone else’s god or because of the color of there skin they are somewhat less than others. When we open the papers, turn on the television or radio we are often reminded of who people think the problem is.

I am here to tell you that it is not people of color who are the problem. I am here to tell you that it is not people from different faiths who are the problem and I am here to tell you that today, more so than ever, we need to start changing the conversation from one of exclusion to one of inclusion. The hate that is being spread across communities these last few years must end and tolerance, understanding and inclusion must take hold. We must recognise that this is a continent home to the oldest living and continuous population in the world, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and that they, like me, and like millions of others who have called Australia home, are people of color.

People of color and different faiths make up the very fabric of our society. We are teachers and doctors and nurses, we are construction workers and tradies, we are taxi and bus drivers, we fly and drive you to work. We keep Australia safe and protect the borders. We are charity workers, we are volunteers, we are your neighbors, your sisters and your brothers.

Last night I sat in Aotea Square in Auckland reading the many notes and cards left by every New Zealanders, the chalk words etched into the concrete. They were messages of love and hope, of sadness and grief. But one thing, chief among them, was the propensity of New Zealanders, in the face of immense challenge, was to show the love and tolerance that makes us who we are.

My challenge to each of you is to call out the messages of hate wherever you see it. Encourage messages around the role people of color play each and every day across the nation. Preach tolerance and love and do not give a platform to those who would otherwise preach hate. I ask you all to soul search how it was that a young, white, Australian male, with hate in his heart and a message of evil, could do what he did in a country that is peaceful, loving and understanding.

For, as a man of color I know that, like the millions of us, that the operating environment through which hate is able to grow is the very operating environment we need to tear down. That will include hard conversations but they are conversations we must have. As New Zealanders search the soul of our nation so to must Australia and each of you.

Matthew Tukaki is the Executive Director of the New Zealand Maori Council. You can follow him on Facebook HERE