The racist attitude of many white New Zealanders is illustrated by this cartoon of 1917. Before the First World War, increasing numbers of Indian immigrants began to arrive, and consequently support for a ‘White New Zealand’ policy grew. There were fears of a further wave of Indian arrivals when New Zealand was asked, at an Imperial Conference in 1917, to allow wives and children of existing Indian settlers to immigrate. In this cartoon, the ‘Hindoo’ (a common term to describe all Indians at this time) is depicted with his foot in the door of New Zealand.
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Reference:
Truth, 1917
Drawing by Thomas Ellis Glover
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