Māori academic, Rawiri Taonui says the outburst against a pōwhiri given to a right wing Danish politician is a reminder of the roots of racism in New Zealand.
Marie Krarup has subsequently expressed regret for the response to her column where she described the welcome given to her at the navy marae in Devonport, as grotesque and uncivilised.
Dr Taonui says one of the justifications for colonisation was that Europeans were culturally, intellectually and spiritually superior to Māori.
That evolved into denying the wrongs perpetrated against Māori and blindness to the effects of institutional racism.
“The racism that was used to justify colonisation is now changing to a racism that exhibits a fear that Pākeha will somehow lose something if Māori become stronger or if Māori become more co-equal,” he says.
Rawiri Taonui says racism against other groups, especially recent migrants with Muslim or Asian heritage, comes from a similar fear for the loss of what is seen as a superior white culture.
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