GARY JUDD KC: Ghettoizing the mind
- Administrator
- Mar 13
- 3 min read
Maori electoral seats encourage exclusion, imbalance, envy, anger, ignorance and distrust
Dr Muriel Newman’s feature article in her New Zealand Centre for Political Research (NZCPR) for 24 February 2026, THE FUTURE OF THE MAORI SEATS, summarises why they should have been abolished long ago. There is another reason which I don’t recall having seen: the Maori seats encourage self-ghettoization.
I came across the terms “ghettoize” and “ghettoization” several weeks ago, in THE END OF WOKE: How the Culture War Went Too Far and What to Expect from the Counter-Revolution where Andrew Doyle writes
Too often ‘multiculturalism’ is mistaken for ‘multiracialism’, when the two could not be more different. A multiracial society is one in which people of all races are able to coexist together in peace and cooperation as equal citizens under the law. A multicultural society is one in which people are encouraged to ghettoise themselves according to national or cultural identity.
Ghetto is a word I associated with an area in a European city to which the Jews were restricted, or in an American context, a thickly populated slum area, inhabited by a minority group or groups. Harlem comes to mind as an example of the latter.
A bit of research showed that ghetto is also a verb meaning to isolate, separate, cut off, and ghettoise means to restrict to an isolated or segregated place, group, or situation. Doyle is referring to people who choose to isolate themselves, separate themselves, cut themselves off, according to national or cultural identity.
It has become starkly obvious that the Maori seats are being used by activists to do precisely that.
Ghettoisation is the action or process of placing a person or group in a ghetto, restricting them to a particular place, group, or situation. Ghettoisation can be done to a person or group, or people or groups can do it to themselves.
In The dangers of self-ghettoization, Israr Kasana, a Pakistani Muslim immigrant to the Canadian city of Calgary, explains why he and his family rejected the temptation to adopt the comfortable way of establishing themselves within a Pakistani community.
He says “Ghettoization or marginalization of any kind is bad for society. It creates exclusion, imbalance, envy, anger, ignorance and, more importantly, distrust.”
Earlier he says:
Calgary has ghettos.
Not the ones we think of from television — places of broken windows and broken dreams, where gangs rule and police fear to tread.
No, we have different kinds of ghettos. Our city has had a long process of self-ghettoization, spatial marginality — ghettoization of mind. And it’s happened among the immigrant communities and visible minorities.
And later:
John Stuart Mill defined democracy as “government by discussion.” Ghettoization halts that process. If there is an “unknowingness” or distrust between communities, there can be no discussion. As a result, inequality grows.
Ghettoization of the mind fosters ideological isolation where members of the group don’t have to debate rationally or even be exposed to ideas that contradict theirs. It also nurtures the existence of a parallel society which usually benefits the most powerful within that society.
Kasana and his family discussed where to live.
We had the conversation. Arguments were presented, pros and cons debated. But, after a lot of tense discussions, we decided not to move there.
The major reason was strategic.
We decided we need to be part of the mainstream if we wanted to reap the fruits of immigrating to a country like Canada. And we felt we could still follow our socio-cultural values while moving in the mainstream. So there was, for us, no big price tag involved in this decision.
The Maori seats encourage people to ghettoise themselves according to cultural identity whereas what we must surely want is a society in which people of all races are able to coexist together in peace and cooperation as equal citizens under the law.
This article was first published at Gary Judd's substack, Thoughts from the North
Access other recent Brash & Mitchell posts at www.brashandmitchell.com
It is a nice thought to be able to cancel the Maori seats and may be only possible with a ‘grand coalition’ of the two main parties.
If accompanied by Citizen Only voting and further steps towards incentivising Residency moves Citizenship would be great.
E Pluribus Unam. Americans are by this definition from everywhere else but are truly unified by their congruence to the values of the country. This should apply to every country. If you want to live there, be there, not identifying as 'other'. It should be a requirement of immigration that you subscribe to becoming of that oneness.
Ten years ago , my late wife and I travelled around Britain . Often visiting places that were significant to both our family backgrounds. We had lived there for three years in the late 70s.
The countryside was as beautiful as ever, The historic buildings and the wonderful Cotswolds were still enchanting. As were many of the towns and villages.
However, we were both shocked by the dramatic changes in London and other towns and cities. Hardly a white face to be seen. Towns and cities such as Leicester, Birmingham , Bradford, Bolton , Burnley , Rochdale, Southall, and many more appeared totally devoid of any native Britons. The people we saw were predominantly Pakistani , Indian , Afghans ,Albani…
The basic survival instincts of our species have not changed. We are still basically hunters and gatherers who "identify" as members of genetically similar tribes. IDENTITY GROUPS (or "communities") is a modern word for tribes.
The members of tribes naturally try to establish and defend their own territory and the resources in it that enable them to survive and thrive. They also compete with the members of other tribes to enlarge their territory so that their tribe can increase in numbers.
Multiple tribes or identity groups cannot peacefully co-exist in the same territory. They will keep competing and fighting for dominance until one tribe conquers the rest and imposes its culture on them. It is the uniting influence of a shared culture that enables tribalism…
Self ghettoisation is evident among other communities of our major ethnic groups particularly those that have surged in recent years with uncontrolled or misdirected immigration rules.