Apartheid and apologies

Apartheid and apologies

Truthfully I have zero sympathy for maori rugby players of that era. They were as angry and violent as any other rugby supporter during the Palmy & Akld disrupted test games and I was only little but I cd never understand why they and their mates were beating up my mum and her friends in HART for trying to stand up and say racism is bigger than sport

they sure changed their story these days but in 1981 they wanted rugby and cdn't give a sh*t for apartheid being practiced in Sth Africa

Whilst looking at some '81 tour stuff I came across this. http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/video/clash-on-molesworth-street-springbok-tour

it's also a crap apology Mike
arm behind back
I don't feel it's genuine

sadly a person with no brain has manged to ask the Editor of the Press why we still have a Maori Team. it's this sort of buffoonery that gives us a bad name

Sorry SK

Have to take issue with you there. The rugby fraternity was also divided on this. In fact the whole country was divided.

I went on a couple of those marches and it wasn't just Minto and Trevor Hart - it was a huge cross section of society. Quite a few brown skins and white and blue collar types.

Scariest part was sitting down at the basin reserve just outside a pub (also stupidist thing as the patrons started hurling jugs - empty- at us). Saddest thing was seeing the riot squad take to little old ladies in the march and push them down to the ground.

By the time of the Wgtn test the march organisers had their tactics well honed and we were constantly marching around Newtown dodging riot squads and then meeting up with other march columns and pincer moving on the squads.

A very interesting time and I hope it never gets repeated.





("Gawd I was larfing, my mate was larfing, farkin funny. We dropped darn a cog, give it an 'andful and come around the bend doing 95 in 2nd right....")Junior822010-05-14 22:16:18

Lils head little blue light, little blue light Lils head.

I've seen the movie Patu  a couple of times and I've never understood why it isn't compulsory to show it in schools as most kiwis under the age of 35 would be surprised to see such violence on the streets only a generation or so ago

I agree that some maori were also against the tour but it tended to be more city/liberals esp uni students. Most of the main protesting was organised through uni groups and the worse violence tended to be in the towns then strongholded by a strong student presence. I wanted to march but my mother wouldn't let me. She herself was terrafied and left the house wearing a helmet and she told me she spent the march walking next to a big Mongrol Mob guy as the Massey students had organised the mob to help with security

Well your mum was right. It was farken scary.

And I agree that it was worse out in the provinces compared with the cities although the last Akld test was a bit of a blood bath by all accounts.

I didn't march in '83, wasn't game to do it again.

I think the biggest worry is that Pita Sharples wants a Maori board to sit across all sports.

We don't need his separatist crap in any more sports.

I was going to ashurst school in 81 and my mum advised me not to tell fellow pupils she was involved in the marches as the students were all farm based and pro-rugby. i was proud of her tho and had to crack a few heads whn they gave me a hard time... lucky i was scary even then lol

by 83 i was at a diff school and organising marches within the school and did the main marches right next to her. my grandparents were horrified both that she was being unpatriotic to the great kiwi way and that she was letting me make my own decisions as she had obv brainwashed me

Mum took me on a march when she couldn't find a sitter. Proper scary it was.

I must admit I've never seen the point myself (and once briefly dated one of the coaches of it). Anyone of any race shd surely be aiming to qualify to be an All Black or White - why settle for second best

Why is there a Maori team? I've never understood that. 

And? What's the reason?

do bears sh*t in the woods?

What have rangers fans got to do with this?

looking back I am sure that almost everyone would agree that the 1981 sprinkbok tour was a mistake, but that is with hindsight, at the time it seemed much simpler - sport v politics whereas now we know the issue was much greater. It was 30 years ago - I dont see what the point of the govt apologising for it now will prove - time to move on from it.

the only people who need hindsight to realise it was  a mistake are the people who at the time stupidly thought rugby (or any sport) was more importantly than the fact that some humans were treated like animals in their own country

Personally I thought that given China's atrocious record on human rights and the fact they use the death penalty more than any other country &detain people for simply stating their personal view - well I thought the Beijing Olympics were a mistake and apparently a few individual athletes here and there were very uncomfortable about attending and some pulled out

Sometimes you need to use the weapons important to a country (like their passion for rugby or their wanting to be seen putting on a huge worldwide event) to show them that the rest of the world disagrees with how they treat people and thinks they are immoral
stealthkiwi2010-05-15 12:33:53

Especially given the fact a number of them look pure-blood Irish.

New Zealanders need to get over this "He looks white, so he must only have white ancestors mentality"

We live in one of the most multi-cultural country in the world.

I was in the 7th form during the 81 Tour in a very pro-rugby school.  I took part in the protests.  Now, I'm moved on about it all.  A few years ago they had the 25th anniversary of the 81 Tour, I got sick of all the TV programmes about it.  Like I said, I've moved on.

I've moved on too (I think).  NZ is a different society these days but I think you're kidding yourself if you think NZ is NOT a bigoted society still.  We are certainly a more mult-ethnic country but I don't think we are really multi-cultural as some would think. 

However I do think that the society that my kids are growing up in is "better" than the one I grew up in.  So that's got to be good. Junior822010-05-16 15:03:43

Somebody call the internet police.

I've moved on but I admit I'm proud that at that decisive time my close family were all on the right side esp as it was scary standing up to be heard against people so passionate and violent about missing a silly game of oval ball

I can't imagine an issue ever splitting NZ like that again... touch wood

One of my mates still has a Cavalier Rugby top,it must be possibly the most non pc piece of sporting clothing you can own! Kiwi Jambo2010-05-17 16:24:30

Guffaw! 

Agreed.

rofl! How'd he get that? Did they even sell those in the shops?

Wear it for the Lulz.

Quote from Steve Tew at the NZRU...   FFS.