Pakeha New Zealanders should remember their past as immigrants from Europe.?

On average, everyone agrees with significant nonconsensus between 352 voters.

Reasons To Disagree

I suggest the person stating that the word Pakeha is offensive should double-check the etymology of the word. It's something of an unfortunate urban myth that it literally means something offensive.

under the treaty we are a by cultural nation in a multicultural scociety therefore pakeha (uk decent) do not need to be reminded of their immigrant status of their pasts as that was dealt with, with the signing of treaty and as for the word Pakeha we are New Zealanders not Europeans nor Pakeha or if people of Aotearoa take your pick!!

New Zealanders should remember or forget their past exactly as they choose.

Why? I don't even know for sure where they came from and neither do a lot of other people. It's a wise man who knows his own father. I'm a 4th or 5th generation New Zealander probably Scots/English. My children and grandchildren are Maori/English/Scots/Dutch/Cape Coloured/Samoan/Irish/Canadian Indian/ and who knows what else. My eldest (Maori/Pakeha/Cape Colored) grandson is about to marry a lovely Indian/Persian. I'm a New Zealander, I have no more in common with Europeans than my Cape Coloured mother-in-law does. I enjoy European and North American culture in books, music, science but so does half the human race. It's an irrelevant question.

Well why the fucking hello dose it take so long to get a visa to go back then if we are so call imagrents if us pukka are from there bull shit again

I think the founding of New zealand as a modern country was a joint effort of Maori and European settlers. So there is no immigrant status. I feel what this question wants to say is that European settlers took over New zealand and dramatically changed the land for its native inhabitants the maori. I think if our current New zealand is taken over by indians. our counrty will become more and more like india the country they are trying to get away from. ANd the same for china and so forth, we need to look at the countrys we are importing these huge amounts of people from.

It depends. They should be able to 'remember' their pasts if they're maybe 2nd generation kiwis, but if their family or at least one side of their family has been in the country since the 1800s or even the '30s they shouldn't even be called Pakeha anymore, they're Kiwis. On one side of my family I'm a 2nd generation Kiwi of Dutch descent who emigrated here in 1954, and on the other side I come from Bohemian descent who has been in NZ since 1864. I honestly think the term "Pakeha" is a bit offensive if you've been brought up in NZ and all that you know and live is NZ, you are genuinely a Kiwi. If you are born in NZ, you should be a Kiwi. No Pakeha, no "emigrant" labels. Just Kiwi

Reasons To Agree

Yeah, kind of a double-standard for a pommie kiwi to be bitching about all the asians and arabs around the place. We're all priveledged to be here

To respond to the use of "pakeha" used by another poster. I don't personally relate to the term "pakeha" myself, but nor would I describe myself as a "Kiwi" - rather as a "New Zealander". I am a fifth generation New Zealander, but also had grandparents who were born in Britain. I think it's an interesting question as to how many generations it takes to become a New Zealander - whether it is a question of time, or affinity. And when do you stop looking back? Tangata whenua means "people of the land". I think it's quite possible for someone born overseas to come, and feel an innate spiritual connection to New Zealand. Similarly, it's possible to be born here, and not feel you belong. I felt a real connection to England when I first went there - and a different kind of connection to New Zealand, having been born and grown up here. We are all the product of a multitude of influences. Unlike the USA, we don't have a Declaration of Independence or constitution which sets out the core values of New Zealanders. Instead, New Zealand's law still has it's foundation in the Magna Carta, and the Common Law, although that is changing too, as we set our own foundations, and in recent years have incorporated Treaty Principles. I think everyone needs to be aware of where we've all come from.

hehehe, putting aside the interesting debate over the offensiveness or otherwise of the word pakeha,(its useage dictates its offensiveness to me, said with harshness and bad feeling it is offensive etc), the NON MAORI shall we call them, of NZ also have a past and should celebrate and be proud of that history. It is after all, much grander and goes back far further than any history that the local tribes may recall through their oral traditions

I don't use Pakeha anymore and neither do most forms that I have to fill out from time to time - it is NZ European that I tick, and I know exactly where I came from and how I got here, like the Maori and immigrants who came from elsewhere originally.

just be thankful WE from Europe don't start asking for money for all the wrongs done to us in life . Others should do the same .

I think it's important for anyone to remember where they come from, but I don't think it's grounds to create division among people.

NZ europeans should remember their immigrant past but also need to develope a unique NZ identity and seperate them selves from Europe as a new country, the land of opportunities....

im from england and ive moved to NZ,i find it fustrating that we are compared to asians and arabs as the person up top said. we came to nz and gave so much to Maori and society,british people deserve regonition,and its about time people start learning there history before they open there traps. england is such a superior country,that i dont understand why we have kiwis giving england shit, it was maori who lost there land from stupidity and greedyness.stop blaming england settlers for it.and britian will never ask for money,england will always and always has been wealthy country especially compared to you kiwis and bush maoris

I think it important that you have a indentity and foundation but not to the detriment of seeming un-read ignorant and out right classless. You gave them deseases that nearly wiped out the indigenous population. If we were to place a % on this, the Holocaust would seem like a Sunday lunch. Hmm what else?, Maggie Thatcher and her arms dealing son, Tony Blair George Bushes bum boy and now Gordon Brown. At least it indicates the levels of education in other countries compared to ours.

Pakeha is not offensive, its the people who use the word that are. Yes we should remember we are immigrants from europe! We should be proud to have so much history!!!!

All people in NZ are in efect imigrants. European is the predominant culture that forged NZ into a western economy with all the benefits this brings. It sadens me to see this culture take a back seat via reverse racism to cultures that just arived. In other words if you dont like our culture go back home to the one you left dont change ours