Pakeha

[BuFfY]

My sister and I have been having a lot of discussions on this topic lately. She has just started her teaching degree and is doing a paper called 'diversity'. I have encountered this horrible word throughout my three years doing my degree.
Does anyone else find the term 'pakeha' offensive?
It annoys me deeply that all the literature I read refers to me as 'pakeha' and that I have to sit through lectures and be called 'pakeha'. Yes I really should make a stand to my classes, but if you saw the ethnicity spread, and then saw me you would understand! (The other day I was called 'petite')

The fact is, pakeha was first used to call the Europeans 'white pig' or some other variant. Yet if I went around calling them horries or niggers people would do a little more than raise their eyebrows.

Please don't tell me I am the only one! This is one of the few times my sexy red hair gets the better of me!

[Grahameeboy]

Nah don't bother me..............it is my choice whether to take offence....it is only a name.

[Hitcher]

Pakeha, despite allegations about its origins, is a name generally used to denote a non-Maori person. No offence is generally intended in its use, so none should be taken.

[Virago]

I'm also uncomfortable with its' use, particularly on official documents. I always cross it out and write "New Zealander".

[MSTRS:Me]

Tis only a label. And we do like our labels, don't we? Like Coon, Nigger, Coconut, Darky.....
Yes, the word 'pakeha' is derogatory. That's fine. Problem is, us palefaces aren't allowed to use the labels we developed.
Racism at work....

[ManDownUnder]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakeha

Interesting reading.

[jrandom]

My sister and I have been having a lot of discussions...

The Wikipedia page on 'pakeha' indicates that your ideas about the term being offensive are false.

The exact origins of the word Pākehā are unknown, although the most likely sources are the words pākehakeha or pakepakehā, which refer to mythical human-like creatures, with fair skin and hair, sometimes described as having come from the sea.

When Europeans first arrived they rowed to shore on longboats. British sailors faced backwards while rowing the boats to shore. In traditional Māori canoes or "waka", paddlers face the direction of travel. This led to the belief that the sailors had eyes in the backs of their heads, contributing to the mythical view.

You need to stop being so precious, and do a little research before passing your blinkered middle-class prejudices on to the young impressionables about to be entrusted to your care.

[Edit: MDU beat me to it.]

[jrandom]

Yes, the word 'pakeha' is derogatory.

No, it isn't.

[MadDuck]

Does anyone else find the term 'pakeha' offensive?

Nup..... been called a lot worse than that

[kiwifruit]

i don't mind, bro

[jrandom]

I'd like to expand on this discussion a little by presenting an opposing viewpoint.

Personally, I like not having to identify with my Teutonic and Yiddish ethnic roots. I feel no cultural affinity with continental Europe. I was born here in NZ. Having a unique word in the official language of the country, a language spoken nowhere else, which precisely describes my ethnicity, is fucking cool.

Pakeha and proud of it.

Ngati Honky, represent!

[MSTRS:Me]

Most Maori words are descriptive, and made up of smaller words to create a 'full description'
Pa - death, afterlife
Ke - foreign, different
Ha - taste
So one could not be faulted for believing that the word Pakeha refers to dead strangers that can be eaten....
This is where the derogatory nature comes in. White people are just a food source.

[skelstar]

While Im not exposed to the term at all I don't think I'd find it all that derogatory. Theres more important things to spend my time worrying about.

[Crisis management]

I really don't mind what word people use to address me, it's the way it's said that determines the affection or offense intended. It's easy to be over sensitive to "culture" but I just treat everyone the same and if they have a problem with that then they will have to sort out their problem. Thats not to say that I am insensitive to others but I won't accept somebody else's problem as my own.
I can understand your frustration with "that" paper, my kids have had similar reactions to the PC overdose inflicted in the name of cultural senstivity but you will need to get thru it and accept the pervasive nature of the subject in the world today.
You're a teacher? This will be an ongoing issue throughout your career so sort out an approach / methodology that works for you, talk to the senior teachers and get some advice.

Good luck Palangi!

[BuFfY]

Just because I have strong beliefs and values does not mean that I will push them on to my students. And I have never done so. The whole point of being an educator, and a good one, is to allow children to make up their own minds about the issues they face. What they believe should not be criticized. I am no where near a behaviourist teacher and I wouldn't even tell a child if I believed in God or not because children like to adapt their beliefs to suit those that they look up to.