Yesterday was an extremely tough day for Christchurch and for New Zealand.
A confrontational, unprecedented day.
Triggered by hate.
A day which reminded us of the love, compassion and support that is within this community but also reminded us that how in an instant, our lives can change dramatically.
MOD picked me up from work last night.
I was extremely glad and quite emotional to see him
Because yesterday I struggled to keep my act together.
To not burst into tears in our open office, in front of my work colleagues who have been through so much over the last 8 years.
A trauma they have suffered which I can never underestimate or not be mindful of.
I did not have the right to loose it.
My Manager and I are both on duty this month for the Emergency Operations Centre.
This is part of our working roles.
In this emergency she took the lead for our organisation and the citizens of Christchurch.
My assistance was limited to information flow.
Information which was a little overwhelming.
When lockdown was lifted I went home and I took comfort and reassurance in the things that gave me, well those things.
In MOD and our life here.
In eating, whatever didn’t move. Even if I normally don’t eat it.
In having a quiet drink. Or two.
In writing.
In listening to the global news.
In reading the messages I was receiving from friends and family around the world.
And today, I need to address a couple of those messages.
Messages I found offensive and I reject unequivocally.
“It’s usually the muslims who are shooting”.
“Are they shooting their own?”
WTF???
To suggest such a connection in the absence of real evidence helps perpetuate far-right, anti-Muslim conspiracies, while displaying a callous indifference to the facts.
Given that the USA have had 162 mass shootings between 1982 and November 2018, let’s look at their stats.
The *Washington Post did a national analysis in October 2018 of the 162 mass shootings which had occurred from 1962 and found that the 1153 people who were killed came from nearly every imaginable race, religion and socioeconomic background. Their ages ranging from the unborn to the elderly; 189 were children and teenagers.
*Statistica.com which gathers stats from 22,000 sources, reported that of 107 mass shootings between 1982 and November 2018, sixty were white shooters. Fifty seven percent of mass-shooting perpetrators from 2009 to 2015 included a spouse, former spouse or other family member among the victims.
There is no indication of muslims being the majority of perpetrators in mass shootings.
Needless to say, thousands of survivors have been left with devastating injuries, with shattered families and psychological scars.
“The shooter couldn’t have been Australian born. An Australian wouldn’t do that. Ok, well if he was Australian born, his parents weren’t.”
Seriously???
Australia has had 13 mass shootings between 1979 and 1996. There have been none since 1996 when my country tightened it’s gun laws.
The Hoddle Street Massacre in 1996 – Julian Knight.
The 1996 Port Arthur Massacre – Martin Bryant.
Australian born, to Australians.
To suggest that in a country with a population of 25 million, in a country which has been built on a solid foundation of migrants, that the only radical views come from Australians who weren’t born there, is not only ridiculous but ignorant and abhorrent.
Racism, radical views and white supremacy come from all walks of life and are usually tied in with that person’s psyche, their life experiences and their socioeconomic situation. It does not relate to whether they are first, second or third born generation of their country.
So, if you talk racism and bigotry.
Don’t talk it to me.
There is no place for that in my life.
My son, wrote an eloquent and enlightening vision of how my family feel.
I have pasted it below.
‘To all my friends and family, I feel completely safe and it terrifies me.
The recent attack has hit very close to home and the saddest part is that at 3:30 yesterday I felt safe enough to drive home through the midst of an active shooter.
Even today I feel safe walking down the street and I’d even go as far as saying I have never felt unsafe in any community I have visited or lived in.
I feel disgusted and ashamed of this fact and feel a huge amount of regret, empathy and sorrow towards the people that do not, and have never, felt safe in their own community.
Bottom line and the disgusting reason I feel safe is because I am a white male that has never felt the wrath of oppression or abuse.
This makes me feel sick.
How is it that in 2019 there is still a populus of people that think they are better than everyone else because they are white, male, heterosexual or all of the above? Contempt is disgusting and a disgrace.
I cant change how I was born and neither can anyone else and nor should we want to. Let’s all stop this bullshit and hate against our fellow human.
Please continue to drive the change to stop attitudes of ‘casual’ racism, sexism and homophobia that is rife within New Zealand and Australia.
Be kind to one another we are all human.’
*https://www.statista.com/statistics/476456/mass-shootings-in-the-us-by-shooter-s-race/
MaureenBetty 
I have been thinking as to what will make me feel a little better in dealing with this awful tragedy.
I can’t change the thinking of the far right haters.
I can’t change the thinking of the radical Muslims.
I can’t change the bigotry and racism of others.
I do make an effort of being pleasant toward people who dress different to me and obviously come from different ethnic groups.
At the Supermarket, The Servo or wherever, I make a gesture of friendship toward them.
I smile, I thank them, sometimes a ‘Hi’, sometimes I inquire where they are from.
If we all made an effort to do likewise just maybe we can all make a difference and at the same time make us feel good about ourselves.
I will try harder now to engage with them.
That will make me feel better.
Bob.
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