Racism defining mobile plans?

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Racism defining mobile plans?

eXDee

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#34045 17-May-2009 00:04

On the request of MF...
Definitions from Wikipedia:

Racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.[1] In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment

Institutional racism (or structural racism or systemic racism) is any form of racism that occurs specifically within institutions such as public bodies, corporations, and universities. Institutional racism is one of three forms of racism: institutionalized, internalized, and personally-mediated.

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#215311 17-May-2009 03:59

Why is this in 2degrees section?

Do whatever you want to do man.

freitasm

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#215315 17-May-2009 07:37

This looks out of place because eXdee:

a) failed to put a related subject (fixed)
b) failed to put a context to the discussion

Since he failed twice and created the questioning, I will update this below - and eXdee you have been here for so long, you should know better...

On the discussions The 2degrees FAQ, one of the comments was:

simon14:

compost: Waatea News: "Bill Osborne says unlike Telecom and Vodafone, 2degrees doesn't have to be all things to all people and it can tailor its offerings for specific groups such as Maori"

So what will the second-class citizens of this country be missing out on?

So 2degrees are going to base pricing on race?

lol, what a joke.

Why divide people into racial "groups" and tailor pricing base on race? I don't see any logic to that...

To which sbiddle replied:

sbiddle: If that concerns you then you should probably do a little research into the history behind Hautaki.

They received a 5% discount during the 2100MHz spectrum auctions which is the only reason Econet partnered with them. In return for this discount from the Government there were many pledges made to deliver a better way of life to Maori people, particularly in regards to technology.

Then simon14 replied again:

Well whatever way you put it, it’s raciest, init?

My mate is richer than i currently am and he's going to get cheaper mobile rates becuase his mum happens to be half Maori?

Nice....

And Q300 added:

Ridiculous isn't it?

I have to agree - it's racist, pure and simple. And there is no other way to disguise it.

My personal opinion is that these folks (simon14, Q300) are mistaking "social responsibilities" with "racism" and trying to create a problem where one doesn't exist.

And let me warn right now: anything worst than these comments is an instant ban.

johnr

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#215332 17-May-2009 10:38

This is pointless we have a Maori Rugby team and other things along this line so build a bridge and get over it

John

eXDee

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#215334 17-May-2009 10:45

Sorry MF, it was late, I apologize, stupid thing to do. I don't really hold a strong view on this, simply wanted to begin by giving some definitions before that was argued over, and from the look of the FAQ thread people wanted to discuss it.

spk18

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#215336 17-May-2009 10:48

Gee fancy that, they want to "tailor its offering to specific groups, such as Maori". OMG what next? Companies targetting sectors of the population? Surely not...

simon14

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#215364 17-May-2009 14:15

freitasm:

My personal opinion is that these folks (simon14, Q300) are mistaking "social responsibilities" with "racism" and trying to create a problem where one doesn't exist.

.

First of all, great job at summing everything up from the previous thread :)

Secondly, I really don’t see how you can say that by offering a particular racial group (in this case Maori) discounted mobile rates, is socially responsible?

As far as I’m concerned, we are all equal in this great country of ours and just because someone happens to have some Maori blood in them, doesn’t mean they should receive lower mobile rates than everyone else.

kingjj

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#215386 17-May-2009 16:29

compost: Waatea News: "Bill Osborne says unlike Telecom and Vodafone, 2degrees doesn't have to be all things to all people and it can tailor its offerings for specific groups such as Maori"

Key word here is "can", doesn't mean they will. It makes sense though, 2deg could sign up individual iwi's and offer them custom calling solutions, it doesn't necessarily have to be individual Maori. I think the use of Maori in the quote was purely as an example of various sectors of society that may be interested and have the resources that require custom cellular solutions. I'm a European Kiwi and I see no problem with the above statement or what it could imply.

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steveonz

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#215393 17-May-2009 17:27

lol

Detruire

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#215418 17-May-2009 21:01

I don't care if they're tailoring plans towards Maori. But only as long as they'll tailor other plans towards me. (And for Indians, Chinese, Koreans, Americans, Germans, etc)

Failure to do so is racist.

rm *

riahon

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#215420 17-May-2009 21:06

Would it be safe to say those that think this would be racist are of the majority?

simon14

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#215429 17-May-2009 21:25

riahon: Would it be safe to say those that think this would be racist are of the majority?

I think it would be.

I also think most Maori would find it to be racist too.

riahon

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#215431 17-May-2009 21:32

So when you say 'most' does that mean, 'most' Maori that you know or 'most' ie the majority of the Maori population of NZ?

simon14

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#215468 17-May-2009 23:40

Well i haven't done a survey so i can't say for sure... but i'm assuming most Maori would be against racism yes.

People who try and say it's not raciest to provide better mobile rates to one race over another should read the definition of racism in the first post again.

I just don't like the whole wording in Bill Osborne's statement:

Waatea News: "Unlike Telecom and Vodafone, 2degrees doesn't have to be all things to all people and it can tailor its offerings for specific groups such as Maori"

grant_k

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#215477 17-May-2009 23:50

Yeah, and 2degrees could also tailor another offering for a different specific group such as Prepay Users who object to being charged 89c per minute to call landlines i.e. Vodafone Supa Prepay users.

There is nothing new in this. We live in a rural area and all the time get farming newspapers with special deals being offered to farmers, etc, etc. I guess you could say that was discrimination too, but come on guys, get over it already!

simon14

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#215487 18-May-2009 00:06

OK, fair enough, i have no issue with the "specific groups" statement; it's the part where they refer to a particular race as an example.

After going over kingjj post again, i can see how this might be interpreted differently if they are referring to discounted rates to individual Iwi's, which would be fine if they were also offering the same rates to other similar non Maori groups - which to be fair, might be their intention.

In that reasoning, i won't comment anymore on the issue until we have more info :)

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