Mrkim, yes, fair enough. I have no problem with you perceiving it differently to me.

It is the same here as in the US, in that all citizens, regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation are equal in the eyes of the law. Unfortunately there are some of the same discriminatory acts here - especially around educational opportunities, with racial quotas in place by some institutions for some courses. I agree with you that it is discrimination, but it is also a dumbing down of the professions concerned. If somebody gets into the training to become a doctor because of race over somebody who is better qualified to get that training opportunity then that means the average qualifications for that course are lower than they could have been, so therefore the quality of the doctors coming out of that course is potentially, and in all probability will be, at a lower level as well.

That doesn't change my opinion though that it shouldn't be that way.

On the positive side, there is not quite the same one-sidedness here as you say there is where you are. I am sure it is here to some extent, but not as bad as you portray it to be there. For example, the government appoints a Race Relations Conciliator here and the current one is white (although he is also a South African immigrant) and the previous appointee was Indian rather than Maori so there is a broader perspective on race relations here.