Poetic justice opposes Devoy as Race Relations Commissioner

Media release – 02 April 2013

A website has been established for a growing collection of poems opposing the appointment of Dame Susan Devoy as the Race Relations Commissioner. The poetry fair grew organically after New Zealand poet Tulia Thompson released her poem entitled “Now that they’ve made Susan Devoy Race Relations Commissioner”. People were inspired by Thompson’s and subsequent poems and there are now 36 poems from across the country featured on the Tumblr blog site. The poetry has been gathered under the title “Race Relations Commissioner (dis)Appointment” and uses the hash-tag #susanstanddown. Poems continue to flow in and people are invited to submit their contributions via email or Facebook.

Former Human Rights Commission staffer Marama Davidson has been collecting the poems and monitoring the Tumblr website. Ms Davidson says there is a wide appeal to Dame Susan Devoy to honourably step down from her position. Ms Davidson says “If you read the poetry alone, there is a clear understanding of the dangerous message that this appointment represents for Aotearoa’s healthy future. People are asking Ms Devoy to realise that she does not have the experience or the skills to perform her duties.”

The poetry has come from a wide range of people of all backgrounds. Many of the poems were written by people who have never written poetry before but were motivated enough to pen their thoughts on the issue. She says that using creative expression as tool for protest is also a cathartic way for people to have a voice. Ms Davidson adds “So many people would respect the dignity of Ms Devoy to be able to see the limits of her own capabilities and stand down from this position. There is plenty of evidence of a nationwide perception that she is not suited to the role and we saw on Campbell Live last night that she is still unable to front her own vision for race relations.” Ms Davidson emphasizes that it is not an attack on Ms Devoy and while the appeal is to her to step down, the real frustration is with the process and decision made by the Government.

The poems speak to the various dynamics of the appointment. A main focus is definitely calling Minister Judith Collins to account for her decision. Ms Davidson hopes that both the Minister and Ms Devoy will take the time to read through the poems that people have taken the time to write.

The Tumblr poetry site “Susan Stand Down” is here:
www.susanstanddown.tumblr.com

ENDS

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