The Samoa Files

Racism Challenges in Paradise By: Dennis A Smith, 15 April 2010-8:36:36

Normally charges of racism in New Zealand are levelled against the Pakeha (with some justification I might add), but the most racist person I ever had any dealings with was a Maori. I know it's not politically correct for a Palagi/Pakeha to say this but it's true. My time in Samoa has raised issues of racism and I'm sorry to say it's not pretty-perfect in Paradise.

I'm a fish out of water here in Samoa and the cultural niceties put me fairly and squarely on the back foot.

I have turned down an offer of Mataiship from one village and so I have no village, nor sponsor. I have no plantation nor food source other than what I can afford from my own assets. I am at the mercy of any government official who wishes to put me through any hoops they so choose to do. And they are very adept at that.

By the nature of my immigration here, I am essentially a self-imposed victim of racism. From a Palagi perspective this is "reverse racism" but racism is the same the world over. Again, please readers, it is not my wish to knock Samoa, I just want to share the facts as I see them (from where I sit).

In New Zealand I lived in a white middle-to-upper-class neighbourhood and worked with primarily white, middle-class business people. We would categorise and generalise Samoans along with many other nationalities. It would have been hard for a Samoan to get a job as a web developer with me or my company because of what is effectively racism - "Sorry mate, you don't fit in here . . . we work on computers; we work 40+ hours a week and speak English" sort of thinking.

It's not just Samoans that we would avoid in this employment situation - Asians or any English Second Language applicant would fit in the same boat - again; "Sorry mate, you're not one of us!" This is sometimes just pragmatism, or reality; but it is sometimes bordering on racism when it becomes entrenched and doesn't give an honest chance to an "alternative" applicant.

A champion of indigenous rights recently took umbridge at an advertisement we placed on TradeMe for a Blogger/Journalist. Slipping me an abusive email, he whined that the advert was (in his words) ethnocentric, in plain language calling me racist. The advert drew many positive comments for its humour but it contained a phrase that wound this guy up big-time because it assumed that the applicant would be Palagi. We were refering to the way Samoan children would giggle and point and say "Palagi!" to us and most likely to the successful applicant.

I engaged with this person a little and assumed that his aggression was because he was a Samoan blogger who felt miffed that he was unlikely to get the job because he was of the wrong race. In fact I found out that he was actually a Palagi who appeared to be "standing up for racism against the Pacific Island people". I rolled my eyes around and looked skywards then graciously explained the background and invited him to visit and did all the right things. I'm unlikely to ever see the guy again but I've tried to do the right thing in the face of a bit of aggression over issues of race.

As an aside it is hilarious to me that the successful applicant was a young passionate Maori activist woman who is a self-proclaimed champion of racial and gender equality! No racism from these quarters, mate!

Claims of racism are easy to make and it actually doesn't take much to become a KKK equivalent in our own culture if one takes our indignation and anger over racial pains to the next stage. Speak to the many in Germany who bought into the Nazi "business" with the Jews, and other less desirable forms of humanity.

There is no question that racism exists as a global phenomenon. Since the dispersion of the Tower of Babel, people have lived in same-language groups and are of like-mind. Suspicion of outsiders is the norm, thus racism has existed for eons and will continue to do so. Cross-cultural engagement like my move to Samoa and the racial challenges that occurs as a result are healthy. I think that racial intermarriage is a good thing too. It all stirs the pot, so to speak, and brings us growth and maturity. Getting people to think is a definitely good thing, although sometimes there is pain in the process.

I've been eating a lot of humble pie whenever I've met with officials in Samoa. This is their country and boy do they let me know it! It helps me in some ways that I am a genuine guy, and in due course most people get to see that. It helps me that I always dress in a lavalava and beads when I go out, thus showing that I can be sensitive to their culture, but you just get the sense that under the surface, there is a strong racism that is just waiting to pop its ugly head through to the surface. I'll say that again a different way; there is a very deep resentment toward the Palagi here, and one is very aware that while things are very sweet on the surface, there is a tenseness about the racial/Palagi issue.

I have had many encounters here that have been surreal - where you know that the individual is lying to you, clearly can't stand your very presence, and would just love to knife you in the back if they could, and yet smiles sweetly and is overly polite. Our Web Ambassadors engage with the people outside of the famous tourist spots and it only takes a week or two for them to raise the racism/defensiveness issue. Whether it be a condescending word, wolf-whistle and sexual advances, or the sudden change from talk ABOUT us (in which they sense contempt or derision) to talking TO us, where the lovely Samoan smile I've talked about before switches on like a light . . .

Yup, this defensiveness is very strong. Samoans have been raped and pillaged by the Palagi for a century or more that I can see, so there is on the surface very good reason for them to be defensive and protective. While it is not a Christian thing to do to hold a grudge and dump on me their pain from the past, I definitely do understand the reason for it.

So is Samoa, as a country, racist? I call in the fifth ammendment here, but I do state that all countries, from the most racist person that I knew in New Zealand, to my Maori activist associate, to my Palagi-only employer friends must fess-up to racism issues.

Racism is a challenge to all, especially when there is any major cross-cultural engagement. As a Palagi starting out in a foreign land, I'm certainly fairly and squarely in the middle of these issues.

It doesn't mean that I'm always hated or can't get a fair deal or am not wanted here - that is simply not the case but I'm definitely facing racism challenges in Paradise!

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