50 excuses for racism

Warning: 50+ Excuses for Racism – new paper, workshop and merchandise

50 excuses for racism is a poem inspired by decades of working in the health sector and delivering

antiracism workshops that Heather uses in her workshops from time to time. All of the excuses are

ones Heather has heard while working in the health sector or have been gifted from workshop

alumni. The team have made the poem into an academic paper, a poster and a fridge magnet.

The academic paper

The peer reviewed academic paper was co-authored with Tim McCreanor, Toni Shepherd and

Dougal Thornburn “Linguistic enablers of Pākehā racism: Excuses from the health sector in Aotearoa

New Zealand”. It was published in the Journal of Critical Public Health last month. It groups and

analysis excuses for racism and offers some possible responses to enable bystander interventions.

Racism is a modifiable determinant of health that permeates the practices, relationships and

environments of the health sector. Having produced and maintained grievous health

disparities and injustices for generations, racism has done harm to the wellbeing of

communities that is well understood but under-acknowledged. Questions arise as to how

racism continues to flourish. We argue that everyday relational discourses within the health

sector, especially explanations used by people in clinical, public health and bureaucratic

roles, maintain systemic and localised inaction in the face of injustice. In this commentary we

curate sets of excuses for racism garnered from our cumulative experience and organise

them into narratives: i) resource allocation, ii) responsibility, iii) Māori blaming, iv) too hard,

and v) we tried. We highlight the power of words in promoting racist agendas, but also the

value of identifying such usage and acting to change the discourse toward an antiracist

future. We believe these excuses or similar may be used in other settler-colonial contexts.

The passing of Toni and Dougal this year has been a profound tragedy for Māori health and critically

for their friends and whānau. We will continue their mahi and carry their dream of equity and tino

rangatiratanga with us as we wield our pens.

Toni Shepherd (Kai Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Rapuwai, Waitaha) Toni was a māma of four, a friend, a

partner, a scholar, an activist, an environmentalist, a clinician who was devoted to protecting the

aroha and mauri of whakapapa. She was bright, sparkly funny and had the best belly laugh ever.

Prior to her tragic passing earlier this year, she was the Tumu Whakarae of Starship Child Health.

Toni led TamaAriki Ora who daily fight for child health equity and social justice. Their mission to

ensure that we continuing moving towards a mokopuna-centric, whānau focused and whānau led

child health system.

Dougal Thorburn (Ngāti Pou) Dougal embodied the words “Ko au te whenua, ko te whenua ko au (I

am the land, the land is me). Those who knew Dougal will remember his positive energy, his integrity, his love of nature and how much he adored his children. He was a gifted athlete, dedicated

GP and Public Health specialist. These qualities were exemplified in his 2013 World Record for the

fastest 10km pushing a buggy (32 minutes 26 seconds), with his youngest daughter aboard the

buggy, and accompanied by a message about sustainable transport.

The new merchandise and workshop

The poster (and fridge magnet) cunningly disguised as a health and safety poster are crafted for the

workplace staff noticeboard, board room or fridge. The idea is to make them visible in your

workplace and when someone uses one of the excuses point it out and have a kōrero about how this

decision is going to improve Māori health outcomes or uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

A percentage of each poster/ fridge magnet sold will go to support the families of Toni Shepherd and

Dougal Thornburn.

The half day on-line workshop walks you through the paper and familiarises you with how to do

bystander interventions.

Scan the QR code to get to the order form or to book a workshop email Joyaratima@gmail.com