Dame Susan Devoy: We can't afford complacency in race relations

Mayor Len Brown in the thick of the celebrations at Race Relations Day in Howick. File photo / NZME.

At the weekend, columnist Fran O'Sullivan described my statements on Race Relations Day 2015 as "breathtakingly naive". The reality is that my statements were made more than a year ago and were solely about Race Relations Day 2014. Not 2015. However, she makes some good points and I'm grateful for columnists like her who encourage us all to think about race relations.

Every March 21, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination marks the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre when 69 people - including 10 children - were shot dead by police for protesting against racist apartheid laws.

Kiwis need to remember that two months after Sharpeville the All Blacks toured South Africa. We sent a team of Pakeha players and kept Maori players home, so as not to offend our hosts.

Fast-forward 21 years and 1981 was the closest we've come to a civil war since the New Zealand land wars.

In New Zealand, there used to be a widely held view that sport had nothing to do with politics. This was not only naive but also wrong. Sport in South Africa under apartheid had everything to do with the politics of oppression and racism. When he heard that anti-apartheid protesters thousands of miles away had forced the cancellation of a game, Nelson Mandela said it was as if the sun had come out and shone through his prison cell.

New Zealanders grew up a bit in 1981 and we've grown up a lot since then. Five years ago, our Rugby Union formally apologised to Maori players excluded from All Black teams to adhere to South Africa's policy of apartheid. At the same time, the South African Rugby Union apologised to players banned because of their race.

While we're not perfect, New Zealanders are essentially good people who believe in giving others a fair go.

But we've still got a lot of work to do. While we may not face the same rate of race-hate incidents as other nations, one is one too many. We're better at learning from our past. But we need to get better at planning for our future.

On this year's Race Relations Day we will launch New Zealand's first annual summary of race relations, as reported in our media. Ethnic, religious and other minorities regularly tell us they are dismayed at how they're represented in the mainstream media and, with their blessing, we decided to look into this further. We will reveal other initiatives closer to March 21, but none are mere slogans.

This year marks a year of commemorations: 175 years since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, 70 years since the liberation of Auschwitz and 100 years since Gallipoli.

It's time to reflect on how far we've come and to ask ourselves where we are heading. Natty slogans or catchphrases won't reduce the everyday racism many of us face.

Many New Zealanders don't even realise Race Relations Day exists. It's worth talking about what kind of country we want to live in and leave for our children and grandchildren.

Dame Susan Devoy is the Race Relations Commissioner.