When I saw Paul Hunt's comments on white supremacy being woven into the fabric of New Zealand, I thought about putting some brief comments on my Telegram or my Twitter and carrying on. As I collected my thoughts, I realised this subject was worthy of a more detailed examination.
"The report [Maranga Mai!] provides a crucial perspective on extremely challenging issues which will define Aotearoa for years to come,” Te Amokapua Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt said. "It compels us to acknowledge the white supremacy and institutional racism woven into the fabric of the colony as immigrants settled in these islands." The report recommends the establishment of a Truth, Reconciliation and Justice Commission and committing to constitutional transformation.
— Stuff
There's too much to unpack here in a short article, but the only reason I know Hunt made this statement (buried halfway down a Stuff article) was due to David Seymour's condemnation of it.
Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt’s claim that white supremacy is "woven into the fabric" of New Zealand shows he is unfit for office and reinforces the need to abolish the Human Rights Commission, a left-wing activist organisation masquerading as a government department.
— David Seymour
I'm here to tell you that Paul Hunt and David Seymour are both wrong.
Far-left definition of white supremacy needs to be understood for Hunt's deranged rant to make any sense. The far-left yardstick for whiteness is a system based on Christian, Roman, and Greek culture. It may as well be synonymous with western. If I were to say New Zealand has "western supremacy" woven into the fabric of her institutions, you would be in full agreement with me. If I were to say that the Greco-Roman development of civic life is superior to all others ever invented, you would also agree with me. There are no inherent racial or ethnic components to this—but to the far-left, this is whiteness. This is white supremacy. They are, of course, absolutely insane, but that's beside the point.
This is how we get criticisms that so-and-so isn't a proper Maori thrown around in our Parliament. Or to apply an American example from last week, black cops can kill a black thug and it still be "white supremacy" because the black cops were steeped in the systems of white supremacy (i.e. western civil and moral codes) while the black thug was not. Even in evangelical circles you'll have famous pastors like Tim Keller caught up in this madness and speak this same way, arguing that it is an "injustice" that "white skin is worth $1,000,000 over a lifetime" as "white skin is an historical asset." Pay attention, you'll notice it everywhere, even from so-called conservatives who have embraced leftist reframing of the world.
It's impossible to express a social justice (or Critical Race Theory) view of white supremacy that doesn't implicitly teach that whites are inherently superior. This is the reason why every argument in favour of affirmative action sounds like an argument for the inherent supremacy of the white man. The good news is that any non-white can adopt the frameworks of white supremacy to succeed and get ahead in life. You don't have to be white to be White, if you catch their drift.
This is why Maori Party leader Rawiri Waititi couldn't explain to David Seymour exactly how he was racist, because "racism" isn't about a few actions or words, it's a way of life. To the far left, you ARE racist in the very essence of your being. Everything you live, breathe, and believe is whiteness.
Now, there is a word of caution here, because the counter to this is to make "racism" meaningless. However, if you find yourself chilling with neo-Nazis then you've missed the point. The solution to faux racism isn't to give up and embrace the shadows of failed ideologies. Seymour handles this very well—he doesn't really bother to engage with accusations of racism seriously. Anyone who does has already lost. You either weaponise it to destroy your enemies or you laugh at it.
What Seymour gets wrong is the institutional solution. You can't win if you abolish government agencies that are leftwing organisations, because every government agency is inherently political. The Human Rights Commission is a tool and a means to an end.
We all know David Seymour doesn't care about human rights—Cam Slater compiled a non-comprehensive list recently. However he clearly has no trouble creating a political narrative about the supposed universal human rights that he wants to see upheld. A far more serious solution would be to build power to destroy the 'rights' of the left and implement the 'rights' of the right.
An ethic of total war needs to be developed on the right as it exists on the left, one that puts aside the weaselly impulse to eschew the use of institutional power.
The Human Rights Commission does not need to be dissolved, but it must be captured, purged, and re-consecrated as an agency of rightwing political aims.
It is not enough for institutions to be "not leftwing", they must be "anti-leftwing."
It is not enough to deradicalise society from the wrong view of human rights, we must reprogramme it with the right view of human rights.