I grew up in the 50s, my grandmother referred to my maori neighbours as darkies as my older sister still does..as I grew i noticed many maori youth were targetted by police or abused by other ignorant peoples for being 'brown'.

As i was a slightly rebellious girl of scots /irish ancestry i spent time mixing with these 'brown darkies', and ended up married to one.

His parents were beaten for speaking te reo so therefore he was a 'lost' soul trying to fit in both worlds.

Today, one of my mokopuna is a kaiako at her local kura kaupapa, she stands tall, she stands proud to be maaori..my others are also standing tall and will contribute much to Aotearoa