Posts Tagged ‘South Africa’

Maori rugby team is racism?

The South African Rugby Union has said a rule that forbids South African rugby players to play against teams that have been "selected along racial lines" could stop the Maori side from touring. ( via New Zealand Herald)

This is bit funny because just little less than 30 years ago it was NZers who  bravely raised against racism, or apartheid  in South Africa,   now the tide is turning?

I'm not a big rugby fan but it is my understanding that NZ Maori is a long kept tradition, existed for more than a century, prior to the Aparthid era. I even remember I have once read a news archive from a South Africa newspaper, dated somewhere around 1920s, disgusted of New Zealanders‘ behaviour because Kiwis cheered NZ Maoris' victory against their own "white brothers and sisters".

But I think NZ made a good argument in this case, Maori team is acting as an "ambassador" for Maori culture, not an discriminate act designed to divide cultures and races.