Playing the race card

I said this already regarding Darleen Tana, but only in a party as superficial as the Greens could she get away with playing the race card. The allegations had nothing to do with being Māori, and actually had very little to do with her: the evidentiary standard was whether she was aware of the alleged migrant exploitation, not whether she directly contributed to it, though the executive summary suggested that she might have. To suggest that being a wahine Māori might allow her to skulk away and join another party is pretty ridiculous when she's a list MP. - However, as an outsider, it strikes me that the membership of the Greens is much like all the other political parties: mostly white, mostly well-educated. That's going to create culture shock for people that don't fit that profile, even though all parties are looking for those off-beat people as candidates in order to demonstrate their diversity. Hell, I fit that profile, and I still feel like party politics isn't designed for someone like me that doesn't have a political science or law degree. - Given that Darleen stood in 2020 as well, I can see why the leadership might feel particularly aggrieved: that's when the alleged exploitation was occurring. Personally, I think incidents like this give Act more ammunition, and suggest that race is a contributing factor to candidacy, rather than competence or honesty. I was hoping for more public discussion of the candidate selection process, as you'd know from the Avocados in Trouble skit that I wrote. It's an awkward question. Like, is favouring a potential candidate because of their ethnic background the same as discriminating against a potential candidate because of those same factors? My reckon is that it's similar if the motivations are insincere (ie my Choosing the List Rankings skit), and politics is filled with insincerity. Still, compared to the arts world that I grew up in, politics is a beacon of blunt honesty and uncomfortable discussions! As I said, I'd probably give up my Te Pāti Māori membership if she joined them and I wasn't given a good reason as to why.