A Christchurch academic has been accused of being racist after using the word 'pākeha' at a Christchurch City Council meeting.
University of Canterbury Associate Professor Ekant Veer appeared at the meeting to urge councillors to publish major council decisions in multiple languages.
Veer told Stuff he used the word Pākeha while explaining minority groups within the community may be feeling left out of the council process.
"I think you all know that we have got an election coming up in council and that election rates and election turnout rates are not fantastic," Veer said.
"We don't have participation among pākeha people, let alone the barriers facing our multicultural community as well."
A woman, who hasn't been identified, then spoke out to say that Veer should know that the word pākeha was a form of casual racism because it translated to "long white pig" and "fleas jumping off your back".
Veer, who was born in the United Kingdom and moved to New Zealand aged 15, then explained to the woman that that was not his understanding of the word or his intention; and he had used the word under advice from a mentor at the university.
However, the woman could not be swayed from her opinion.
"I told her I disagreed - so she went on to tell me that she was born here (and I was not) and she knows best, without any sense of irony! Fun times!" Veer tweeted.
Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel responded with disgust.
"What the…? That is appalling," she tweeted.
There's no evidence the word pākeha translates to either "long white pig" or "fleas jumping off your back"
Newshub.
