September 30, 2022
Colour coding reveals prejudice
A new study in the international medical journal Lancet has found Māori and ethnic minority youth who are not perceived as pākehā or ‘white’ are more likely to experience racial discrimination in Aotearoa.
University of Auckland researchers Rachel Simon-Kumar and Roshini Peiris-John and Sonia Lewycka, of the University of Oxford, analysed responses of about 7,700 school students aged 13 to 17 who were surveyed in 2019 as part of a long-running Youth 2000 study.
Dr Simon-Kumar says skin-shade prejudice is disturbingly persistent in society, and educational interventions and diversity training for teachers, health workers and the police are essential to combat these biases.
Overall, Māori and ethnic minority students experienced more discrimination than Pākehā students, but Māori and ethnic minority students perceived as white reported less discrimination than those who weren’t perceived as white