|
Post by NZBC on Jun 1, 2008 13:26:26 GMT 12
www.salient.org.nz/cover-story/when-silence-is-yellow-not-golden“As each week passes with news of yet another arrest involving a Chinese-sounding name, disquiet grows in heartland New Zealand about the quality of migrants we’re letting through the door.? They were the words that launched a thousand blog entries. Entitled “Asian Angst: is it time to send some back??former ACT MP Deborah Coddington’s December cover story for North and South caused a storm of controversy. Detailing mostly gory tales of crime committed by Asian immigrants to New Zealand ?many involving meat cleavers ?the story advocates sending Asian immigrants back to their countries of origin. The reaction was swift and outraged. The article promoted rather unfortunate stereotypes of a “gathering crime tide?and an “Asian menace.?Some called it outright racism. Asia New Zealand Foundation Media Adviser Charles Mabbett calls it “a throwback to a time fi fteen or twenty years ago.?The article approached the issue using a “dragnet approach of tackling everything Asians could possibly be blamed for, bizarrely even a TB outbreak in Palmerston North,?he says. “They included anything negative they could possibly attribute to Asian communities in New Zealand in one article.?
|
|