Any reader who pays even the slightest bit of notice to the world around them will be aware of how easily offended modern man is. Some will even be offended by the penultimate word of the previous sentence. Outrage is a national staple. Particularly outrage about perceived racist slights. But in all of this, it is wonderful to catch these turkeys in their own traps. Cue the outrage of touchy Seini Taufa, a lead researcher in Moana Research and Senior Pacific Advisor for the Growing up in New Zealand Longitudinal Study.
Seini objects to the terms Pacific Islander or Polynesian, because they are apparently degrading and insensitive. She said, ‘We did not name ourselves Pacific Islanders, we did not name ourselves Polynesian. These are terms that were constructed by palagi within a colonial context.” Oh the delicious irony. I could slightly arrange her sentence. “We did not name ourselves palagi. This is a term that was constructed by Pacific Islanders within a colonial context.” You know, because since the 1970s, Pacific Islanders have been colonising New Zealand.
I don’t write that because I’m offended by the word palagi. Honestly. I don’t care. I don’t expect someone to look at me and go, “That guys’ ethnic origins are 50% English, 25% Irish, with a little bit of French and German thrown in. I don’t expect a Samoan chap to figure out (or care!) what my ethnic origins are. If I look white, palagi will do. Not something I call myself – I tend to think of myself as Kiwi, but whatever. My identity is not based on what someone else refers to me as. I am a son of the king, and that is my ultimate foundation of identity and significance. Perhaps that’s what’s missing for many of these prickly porcupines.