Insensitivity and Hypersensitivity: An Imbalance in Pakeha Accounts of Racial Conflict

In a plural society, the manner in which issues of race or ethnic relations are conceptualised is of considerable importance. So too are the processes by which such linguistic constructions are analysed. This article presents a detailed account of the analysis of one pattern observed in our analysis of submissions made to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in 1979. The submission writers were explicitly asked to account for a physical confrontation between a group of Auckland University students performing a caricature of a Maori haka and a group of young Polynesians who objected to their performance. Sensitivity and related terms were used by 36 writers to accomplish various goals, particularly in attributing blame for the incident. The article describes the patterns of use and how they function for the writer.