I hadn’t heard of Upper Hutt Posse before but they have just been given a Legacy Award at the Legacy Award at the 2018 Vodafone New Zealand Music Award ceremony.
On accepting the award frontman Dean Hapeta spoke against involvement in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, suggested New Zealand should assist Palestine against ‘racist’ Israel, we should be helping the caravan of people walking through Mexico against US colonial power, and he finished saying “Death to all oppressors”.
While there has been a lot of jumping up and down about people coming New Zealand who are alleged to be guilty of ‘hate speech’ this was not given a lot of attention by media and was applauded journalist Mihingarangi Forbes:
A ‘controversial political speech’ which was headlined “‘Death to all oppressors’: Upper Hutt Posse’s political rant at the 2018 VNZMAs”.
Newshub (Youtube): Upper Hutt Posse’s passionate and furious speech at VNZMAs:
‘Passionate and furious’ and “Upper Hutt Posse frontman Dean Hapeta delivered a fiery political speech” with no criticism.
Newshub: ‘Death to all oppressors’: Upper Hutt Posse’s passionate and furious speech at 2018 VNZMAs
“Where’s that prime minister?”
“I got some words for you. All of our armed forces and military that have been fighting these fake wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for oil, for USA imperialism – get out of there!
“What you need to be doing is going to Palestine to fight against the racist terrorism of the Israeli state. That’s where all of our fighting energy needs to be.”
I don’t think that going to Palestine to fight against Israel is a sensible idea – and while one might cynically think that the NZ armed forces are small enough to slip into Palestine without being noticed, this just sounds crazy.
“Get to the Mexican/USA border and defend that caravan of indigenous people seeking refugee status in the United Snakes of Ameri-KKK-a”.
“They’re seeking refuge because their countries have been wrecked by that colonial power known as the USA.”
“Death to all oppressors!”
Maybe Upper Hutt Posse won’t be doing a tour of the US.
But here this just gets a passing mention from media as if it was a harmless rant by a crazy bugger.
Frontman for hip-hop pioneers Upper Hutt Posse, Dean Hapeta, has gone on a remarkable tirade at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards, as his group were honoured with a legacy award.
In a controversial speech, Hapeta called for “death to all oppressors”.
I am sure it would be rarked up as more than ‘controversial’ if someone ‘non-indigenous’ called for the death of groups, whether Israel, the United States or otherwise.
This could be passed off as a crazy inconsequential rant by some fringe artist so it doesn’t matter, but it does indicate different standards for different people on speech that could be described as ‘hate speech’ or could be seen to be trying to provoke violence and murder.
UPDATE:
Gezza
/ November 17, 2018Might as well just repeat my comment from last night, I suppose.
“Fark: I just read that group’s frontman’s rant in more detail as described in the article. What a fucking moron. Wants to send nz troops to the Mexican border !
The singer also suggested that New Zealand sends troops to North America:
“Get to the Mexican/USA border and defend that caravan of indigenous people seeking refugee status in the United Snakes of Ameri-KKK-a,” he urged.
“They’re seeking refuge because their countries have been wrecked by that colonial power known as the USA.” He concluded the impassioned speech by saying “Death to all oppressors!”
Look at this bozo ! Obviously a keyboard warrior and a total deadshit !
Pink David
/ November 17, 2018““Get to the Mexican/USA border and defend that caravan of indigenous people seeking refugee status in the United Snakes of Ameri-KKK-a,””
This confuses the hell out of me. Why are they so desperate to get refugee status in the ‘United Snakes of Ameri-KKK-a”, if it’s such an oppressor state, why are they not heading to Cuba instead?
Kitty Catkin
/ November 17, 2018They aren’t saying it, UHP are.
thesailor
/ November 17, 2018Fiery political speech? Hate speech? He’s just a pop singer trying to get some attention. No-one over the age of fourteen will take the slightest notice. His freedom to say silly things is far more important than the silliness of the things he says. Hopefully if he grows up he will realise how lucky he is to have that freedom. There are plenty of places that wouldn’t extend it to him; ironically, usually the places these pop singers most admire.
duperez
/ November 17, 2018The last paragraphs pose the right questions: If a Muslim band had made comments of a similar type but from their own specific perspective, methinks the media world would have exploded.
Corky
/ November 17, 2018Hard to say. Possible, but the media is scared of Muslims. They remember Charlie Hebdo.
thesailor
/ November 17, 2018The Media wouldn’t say a word. Their silence would be deafening, and illuminating.
Besides which, Islam is violently opposed to music, so it would probably be the other Muslims that would explode. But it would not be on account of the comments. And it would likely be literal.
Gezza
/ November 17, 2018Islam is not violently opposed to music, nor even opposed to music, sailor. Only one or two very extreme sects have that articular mental illness. It does not serve us well to make untrue claims & assertions about Islam because it opens one up to the retort that every criticism is as invalid as that false one.
Gezza
/ November 17, 2018Damn. *particular
PDB
/ November 17, 2018Aside from the fact the lead singer wants us to support a caravan of people wanting to settle in the USA even though according to him the USA is a total KKK shithole we have Mihi Forbes supporting the killing of North Americans & Israelis because she is a disadvantaged ‘Maori woman’ (double whammy there) who knows something about ‘oppression’.
Kitty Catkin
/ November 17, 2018Yes, someone on her income and with her career is terribly oppressed.
Silly cow.
Kitty Catkin
/ November 17, 2018What an egotist; his speech was not aimed at her and wasn’t telling her what to think.
He is not free to condemn UHP’s speech, she is free to condemn his.
What an idiot the woman is.
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018“Silly cow”?
Along with Gezza’s “total deadshit”, you’re setting the bar for comments here. What is it with some commenters and their penchant for using insulting names for others?
Kitty Catkin
/ November 17, 2018You should know; you and Corks are often very offensive.
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018Never (speaking for myself that is; Corky, well, yes, but me, no. Unless you can quote something I’ve written as proof of your claim…)
Pink David
/ November 17, 2018Help, help, I’m being oppressed!
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018Don Brash supports Dean Hapeta’s right to say whatever he wants, whenever he wants to, where ever he chooses.
PDB
/ November 17, 2018Which has nothing to do with the subject. Hapeta did have his say on a public forum, agreeing with what he said is the issue.
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018Agreeing with what he said is your issue, perhaps. It’s surely down to the individual.
In any case, Hapeta “had his say” only because no one knew what he was going to talk about. Do you, PDB, support him having another chance, in a paid-for-by-the-public venue, broadcast far and wide? Or would you take to the blogs to protest?
Pink David
/ November 17, 2018I completely support his ability to say what he wants, wherever he wants.
We can then see he is a total moron with very silly ideas.
Kitty Catkin
/ November 17, 2018i see no reason why other people who find his views not only offensive but stupid shouldn’t be let to say so.
The Consultant
/ November 17, 2018It’s a good thing that she actually has Maori DNA because “Girl, U iz White”.
Not as white as Elizabeth Warren or Nkechi Amare Diallo, but still….
Oh, and one more thing: why shouldn’t David Cumin tell Forbes what she can think?
She’s constantly telling the rest of us what we can think, about many things.
PartisanZ
/ November 17, 2018So in your Right Brigade world of ‘Don Brash equality’ regardless of race, religion, ethnicity and skin colour, where there are no full-blooded Maori left anyway, only part-Maori, you are calling her out because she’s too White! Give me a fucken break …
The Consultant
/ November 17, 2018Actually I’m calling her out because she insists on making a meal out of only one part of her heritage – apparently the rest of it is too embarrassing to mention – and then lecturing and playing the oppression card with the rest of us.
Bit like Obama! 🙂
And if you want to see calling people out because they’re too white, just check out the African-American lane-control accusation of “Acting White”, which has been passed to all too many Maori kids here in NZ. Saw it in high school myself.
PartisanZ
/ November 17, 2018As though “making a meal out of only one part of [anyone’s] heritage” is a rare thing …
Absolutely like so many others she’s making her living by enhancing one aspect of her heritage. A 1/16th or 1/64th Maori doctor living entirely Pakeha and practicing Western medicine is surely doing the same thing?
But don’t you think her wearing essentially Western clothing, writing, presenting and commenting on essentially Western media, no doubt living in a Western house and driving a Western car through the essentially Western world is some acknowledgement of “the rest” of her heritage …
So ubiquitous it goes unnoticed, so commonplace it goes without saying …
Our doctor’s favourite live entertainment might be Kapa Haka?
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018“She’s constantly telling the rest of us what we can think, about many things.”
Really? Telling us what to think???
Surely she’s presenting a view that we can take or leave as we choose – or are you saying Mikey what’s’s’name is “constantly telling the rest of us what we can think, about many things.”
The Consultant
/ November 17, 2018Surely
she’sDavid Cumin’s presenting a view that we can take or leave as we choose….And round and round we go. 🙂
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018‘zakly!
Gezza
/ November 17, 2018You appear to have accidentally posted an edit before finishing it?
Seems to be something of a rash of these breaking out.
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018Gezza – let’s clear this up now; When I strike through a word and leave it in situ , it’s because I want you to see what I’ve replaced with my more suitable word, not because I’ve failed to tidy-up my editing. Tricky, I know, but there it is.
Gezza
/ November 17, 2018Ok, let’s be quite clear about this, robert – so there are no misunderstandings. This is unacceptable to me. And I therefore feel obsessively obliged to point out on every occasion that this is an editing fail.
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018Fair enough. Why do you find “strike-throughs” “unacceptable”? They’re standard practice with those who like to play with nuanced language forms.
Gezza
/ November 17, 2018They’re saracastic.
Trevors_Elbow
/ November 17, 2018ahhhh….. love it. You nice white bread safe suburb residents get to see the mentality that has been encouraged in the not so nice suburbs since the Seventies…..Maori Nationalism raises its ugly face again….white mofo’s are the root cause of all our problems….
Maori are oppressed… yip, so Dean will be carted of to prison for his rant? Yeah!, NAH!!!!
Maori are oppressed …yip, that’s why I have Maori mates who work as highly paid IT workers, because its impossible for Maori to succeed in a ‘white’ man’s world on their own merits… the fact they engage with the world and don’t hide behind its unfair or its hard seems to be the key to their success…
Ms Forbes talks about the bad statistics…. so what is she personally doing about getting in and raising educational standards among Maori?
It would appear the separatist ethic is taking hold hard among some activist Maori… I wonder what Sir Peter Buck and Sir Apirana Ngata would say to them?
PartisanZ
/ November 17, 2018And I wonder what they would say to Sir Peter Buck and Sir Apirana Ngata?
Corky
/ November 17, 2018Dude, you were right. You said welfare would destroy Maori – it has.!
PartisanZ
/ November 17, 2018You’ll have to cite a reference Corky to prove to me either of them said that.
But some of T Elbow’s “activist Maori” – which presumably means any Maori who speaks out of turn – might say to Hiroa and Ngata: Dudes, you were right. We had to play them at their own game to beat them at it!
Corky
/ November 17, 2018It was Sir Apirana Ngata. Unfortunately I can’t cite the reference. I would assume it was after Savage brought in the genesis of our welfare system.
Corky
/ November 17, 2018”04/01/05, Sir Apirana Ngata … but Ngata watched too many Maori preferring the bulrushes of welfare and state paternalism … instead of working hard for the best jobs that Pakeha still monopolised. … But political leadership they have not had.”
Link not working for me.
http://www.michaelbassett.co.nz/columns.php?id=146&yh=2006&yl=2005
PartisanZ
/ November 17, 2018A Right Brigade Brigadier’s rant formulated in one-eyed ignorance … with a monocle over the other eye …
“Both leaders kept mourning that Maori themselves were reluctant to exercise the necessary discipline to achieve equality.”
Narry a sentence that doesn’t blatantly assume that the White way is the Right way … with EVERYTHING measured in Pakeha terms.
What Ngata is saying … Well, what Bassett is saying Ngata WAS saying, translated, is –
“Both leaders kept mourning that Maori themselves were reluctant to exercise the necessary European-style discipline to achieve Pakehadom”*
*Pakehadom might be NEW WORD # 183? .
Corky
/ November 17, 2018Two things:
1-That wasn’t the link I received said information from. It was a TV doco.
2- I couldn’t open the link.
Make that three:
”A Right Brigade Brigadier’s rant formulated in one-eyed ignorance … with a monocle over the other eye.”
That’s not what the doco said, Parti. Are you sure you aren’t up to your old trick of creative interpretation?
You have read the link?
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018“Ms Forbes talks about the bad statistics…. so what is she personally doing about getting in and raising educational standards among Maori?”
What???
A political commentator can’t describe an issue unless they are actively doing something about it???
Jeeeeeeeeez!
Kitty Catkin
/ November 17, 2018It doesn’t look good if they are doing nothing at all. It’s like people saying how terrible famines are and not contributing a brass farthing to help the people dying of starvation.
PartisanZ
/ November 17, 2018It’s nothing of the kind Miss Kitty …
Robert, it is an old and oft used Right Brigade syllogism for which there must be a pithy name? The conflation of personal responsibility with macro-issues and events in search of the dreaded “hypocrisy”.
Corral the argument with childish “But he does it too!” or “You did it first!” accusations.
Taken to its logical conclusion you shouldn’t comment about war unless you’ve died in one!
It’s often expressed in terms of like driving a car or flying to a conference on Climate Change reduction. We never hear about those who support methane reduction legislation and also own dairy farms …
Kitty Catkin
/ November 17, 2018If you deplore something and do nothing about it, you are being a hypocrite, surely.
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018Kitty – you’re being silly. Surely you can see that a victim of domestic violence, for example, who is too petrified to “do something about it” is not a hypocrite when they say, “I’m subject to violence and I think it’s wrong”, but is a victim , yes????? Pleeeease give this some thought and respond rationally!
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018Parti – great summation!
PartisanZ
/ November 17, 2018The end product of all the dichotomous, polarizing, either/or, black-or-white, nonsensical commodity bullshit presently floating the entire ‘media’ realm … a psycho-emotional relief valve for people … no understanding of the issues nor any balance is required …
Indeed, balance is actively discouraged … Since when did understanding and balance sell recordings, awards ceremonies, videos, websites or blogs?
Life is reactionary and counter-reactionary …
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018Well said, PartizanZ!
Corky
/ November 17, 2018”A psycho-emotional relief valve for people.”
Good stuff, Parti.
PartisanZ
/ November 17, 2018I don’t want to listen to ‘balanced’ music, do you?
“Music feeds the heart, while deluding the mind and betraying reality … Yet it has touched my soul”.
– JFH 1976
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018*whispers – I think Pete does (listen to “balanced” music 🙂
Pete George
/ November 17, 2018Corky
/ November 17, 2018Yeah. I bet she did.
The Consultant
/ November 17, 2018Uh huh
So let me translate that apology:
Fuck I made a dick of myself there and came across as just another hater, which really screws with the public image of me and my Lefty, lefty, lefty ideology.
Better fix that up in public quick smart – while dealing with my in-group of friends who know what my true thoughts are (wink)
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018Wow! A mind-reader!!
The Consultant
/ November 17, 2018I know! It’s a fantastic skill. I learned the art from all the Lefties who concluded that people who said we shouldn’t have a race-based society ….were racists.
🙂
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018You learned something from “the Lefties”?
There is a God!
Gezza
/ November 17, 2018I’m sorry, that’s not exactly correct.. Whether there is a God is still very much open to debate, and the proposition under debate depends at any given time on exactly what concept of God is being proposed, what that God did or does and/or does not do.
Only the simple-minded think they know the answer to this question, from my experience.
robertguyton
/ November 17, 2018Close enough. You’re welcome to put forward your views, but I’m good. Knock yourself out 🙂
Gezza
/ November 17, 2018My views are agnostic. But I always enjoy religious debates. If you want to debate whether your God exists, please first define your God and its properties?
duperez
/ November 17, 2018Mihingarangi Forbes deleted the tweet after some reflection. After some reactions.
The sentiment behind what she said remains but the implication of some of the entanglements of the whole bundle and what it could mean to some, sees her ‘unsaying’ what she said.
There’s this guy who said something back in 2004 who can’t unsay what he said or explain where some of the entanglements fit into a whole bundle of contexts. Comments are soon gone. But forgotten?
Pink David
/ November 17, 2018““What you need to be doing is going to Palestine to fight against the racist terrorism of the Israeli state. That’s where all of our fighting energy needs to be.””
I look forward to seeing him in Gaza doing exactly this.