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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 37, No 15. July 3 1974
Race and Death
Race and Death
In a variety of conditions and in external causes of death the mortality rate for Maoris is very much higher than the non-Maori experience. Much of this disparity is concealed, however, by crude rates which are calculated by dividing the total population into the number of deaths from any particular disease or circumstance. With two populations so very dissimilar in age structure (at ages under five years non-Maoris are seven times more numerous than Maoris, but at ages 75 years and upward they are 85 times as numerous), it is necessary to resort to an adjustment of Maori rates so that the figures for any condition become directly comparable in any particular year. This has been done in the following table by firstly calculating age-specific rates for the Maori and then applying these to the non-Maori population, age group to age group. This computation provides an "expected" number of Maori deaths in each age group and these added together and then divided by the non-Maori population give an adjusted rate. In addition to the rates expressed per million of population the absolute numbers of deaths in the two races are furnished for the same 50 causes.
At various levels in our society, there is the widespread, mistaken and dangerous belief that New Zealand is virtually a paradise of racial harmony. Holders of this belief often state that if there were no 'stirrers' there would be no problems, or what problems there are would go away. Recently on campus the deputy leader of the National Party said as much. The Sunday Times and other assimilationist papers often carry such views. And there is considerable distrust of such groups as Nga Tamatoa and the Maori Organisation on Human Rights. Their reward for bringing to public attention the racial inequalities in every aspect of New Zealand society is usually to be branded 'shit stirrers', trouble-makers, or publicity seekers.
The doubters and the supporters of the status quo — assimilationism — need only to look at the disproportionately large brown colouring of the prison population or (he working class, to have their complacency shattered. But of course they don't look.
The figures below, and the statisticians explanatory note, are extracted directly from the 1973 New Zealand Yearbook. Without going fully into the medical background it is difficult to draw firm conclusions from the figures. But the incredible disparity between the number of Maoris dying from various causes and the total number should cause anyone who thinks that all is healthy in our society to have another think.
As well as the medical statistics, the accident statistics are staggeringly disproportionate. New Zealanders must stop patting himself on the back, and start asking why the inequalities exist.
The suicide statistics are a reversal of the trend, and suggest a wry criticism of the Pakeha way of life, as opposed to the Maori.
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