Newshub Nation co-host Oriini Kaipara says the recent racism against a woman with a moko kauae shows the need for education in New Zealand and to replace fear with respect.
Her comments come after RNZ reported Hawke's Bay mother Jay Scott was left in tears after two women said her moko kauae was frightening children.
"It's disgusting really," Kaipara told Newshub Late. "It's 2022 and you know moko kauae, wāhine in general and men of course, Māori men who have mataora, are still being subjected to racism."
Moko kauae is a birthright for wāhine Māori and Kaipara says it takes a lot of guts for women to get the marking in modern society.
"For Māori women having a moko kauae is actually a commitment to becoming better, to becoming a better version of ones-self, to reconnecting to your homelands, to your spiritual essence as a Māori woman."
"It's got nothing to do with appearance, but everything to do with one's own māna."
She says education is key when it comes to changing racist views and urges people to look further than their own backyard.
"Education comes down to your own willingness to learn," she says.
In the case of the two women who told Scott to either leave the park or cover up her moko kauae, Kaipara says they should keep their opinions to themselves.
"That's their own projection of their own insecurities onto their children and that, in turn, perpetuates prejudice," Kaipara says.
"It doesn't help us as a society move on, move forward and together."
