Thank you for sharing this interesting insight into your life. Changing society through law is one piece of the puzzle, albeit a big one. However, the law can only take things so far. The people have to believe in the law, and also that they are entitled to the rights that the law provides. Your experience with Graeme and Maori culture reminds me of this quote in The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson:

“If you can control a man’s thinking, you don’t have to worry about his actions. If you can determine what a man thinks you do not have worry about what he will do. If you can make a man believe that he is inferior, you don’t have to compel him to seek an inferior status, he will do so without being told and if you can make a man believe that he is justly an outcast, you don’t have to order him to the back door, he will go to the back door on his own and if there is no back door, the very nature of the man will demand that you build one.”

I believe the Maori have been stigmatized for centuries under laws and societal practices, whether explicit laws or not, to a point where many like Graeme have come to believe that their "place" is at the bottom of society. Their experience of centuries of mistreatment is similar to the experiences of Native Americans and African Americans in this country. There comes a point, where despite what the law says, a person that has had to undergo this treatment will give up the fight or will not advocate for much because of a fear that "acquired" rights could be taken away from them.

Part of changing those subjective norms is developing the power of persuasion. Becoming a lawyer helps you fine tune this persuasion,and enhances your credibility in society. This alone will help you work to change subjective norms. In many instances movements start only with a few people unified toward a goal who are not afraid to reach out and create networks for social change. Especially when a movement has a leader that a galvanizing affect, people are willing to follow despite past injustices.

I think you would appreciate some of the programs the Black Panthers had in America, despite how the media labeled them, to convince African Americans that they had power and deserved the right to be educated and to receive proper medical care. Although many of their leaders were killed, they definitely were a shining light in the civil rights movement of the 20th century.

I can understand what you went through there and how Graeme feels. Moving forward, I know has to be tough. Ngati Whatua, to do so, need to visibly voice their concerns and not give up. Tribal members need to see each other "take to the streets" and voice their concerns. Even for Graeme to communicate his personal beliefs at a tribal meeting would start this process of community awareness and mobilization. Then, if other communities observe what the Ngati Whatua are doing, maybe they will begin to support them as well. Since they have been mistreated for so long, they would need others to see their efforts and begin to advocate on their behalf.

The NCAA basketball tournament this weekend has been a prime example of how a movement can begin. There has been one team that particularly intrigued me: Norfolk State. They were the number 15 team in a regional playing against the #2 team. Out of all the people filling out NCAA brackets, less than 2 percent picked Norfolk State to have a first round upset. Despite only four number 15 seeded teams being victorious over #2 teams in over 100 NCAA tournament games, they had a sense of confidence that surprised me going into their game against #2 Missouri. They believed, despite all of the experts and the rest of America saying that they would be an easy out and were clearly inferior to Missouri. The game went back and forth, akin to a prized, heavyweight fight. As people saw that Norfolk State was a real threat to win, more and more fans that came to support other teams started to support them. They won the game, the crowd, and America's will.

The law is supposed to reflect the will of the people. Once we work to get this will, the law will just be a reflection of that reality.

Ok. I'm going to leave you with another link to more words by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that are never quoted. Take care and don't give up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWqeQf135qM