In The Wake of Terror: "White Supremacy is a Reality in Christchurch... We Need To Talk About It!" / Sarah Rice

I am sitting here in Christchurch feeling a heavy sadness.

My heart is aching for the families of loved ones who have passed away and were in the Al Noor mosque and Linwood mosque.

They should not have to live in fear. Many of you have been deeply shaken by this and feel immense empathy.

I have read the 74 page manifesto that one of the shooters wrote. It was a horrid read and I don't recommend it. He was passionately against immigrants who are people of colour.

As a white immigrant, I was not a target and do not face the fear people of colour do. This shooter believed he was doing this for me, and if you are white, then for you as well.

He was not doing this against the city, but from his point of view, for this city. The shooter is not from New Zealand, but white supremacy is a reality in Christchurch and we are going to need to talk about it.

In his manifesto he talks about how his motivation stems from the fertility of Muslim people—he argues they are increasing their population too quickly in Western nations.

This is a narrative I have heard in Christchurch, and no doubt it will be there in wider NZ. White supremacy is alive and well, and is only perpetuated by denying it through our repulsion of what he did.

Today I am confronted with my own white privilege, and I have a choice to make: either to deny that his ideology is found within our society (and is outworked in often subtle and not so subtle ways in our lives), or to actively stand against it and stand in solidarity with people of colour, as we form a new way of being community together.

If you are white and reading this, you have that choice in front of you as well.

Today so many families are grieving and are in significant pain—it is gut wrenching. Our flowers, prayers and thoughts are important, but let us not stop there. People of colour experience racism in so many different ways in NZ, and our response to yesterday needs to show action that is redemptive. -

Sarah Rice