Two Māori University of Auckland students tell Sherry Zhang about their struggle to get coffee with racist imagery removed from campus – and why they think it’s emblematic of a bigger problem.
A few weeks ago, The Spinoff received a peculiar email:
Subject: Auckland University Racist Coffee!!
Body: Please investigate!
Photos Attached: Caricatures of a shiny Black man with overdrawn lips and bare feet on Lucaffé coffee boxes in staff tea rooms.
Nicole , the postgraduate science student who sent the email, suggested I join her on a scavenger hunt around campus for these coffee sachets. Sarah Davis (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine), coordinator of the Tuākana Biology programme for Māori and Pasifika students, would come too. The two met while trying to get the coffee sachets removed and haven’t been impressed by the university’s slow response.