ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how Black African or Indigenous African New Zealanders experience racism. Using focus group interviews, the chapter demonstrates how these experiences display the changing nature of racism and how they contrast with the mythologies of anti-racism and colour-blindness expressed in settler-colonial societies. Following the 15 March 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, the phrase ‘this is not us’ demonstrated a blindness to the communities that encounter racism as part of their continued racialised experience. This chapter argues that ‘this is not us’ represents a fantasy of white-controlled multiculturalism. With a particular focus on the subtle forms of modern racism, the chapter delves into the practices and norms of colour-blind racism which function to maintain white racial power. The narratives of young Africans demonstrate the growing complexity of racial life and discrimination in New Zealand. These stories also highlight an international trend of white racial domination in settler-colonial societies, as seen in the United States, Canada and South Africa, all of which share histories of European imperialism. The experiences of African New Zealanders are pivotal to understanding how racism continues to play a role in the lives of Africans in the diaspora, while also demonstrating ongoing white supremacy.
