How refreshing to read someone commenting on his mixed heritage of Maori and Scot, and how a visit to a museum in Scotland had shown him the past injustices suffered by the Scots at the hands of the English. (Rogers Rabbits, Sept 21.) There was no mention of settlements he said, and 'the Scots just get on with it. They don't forget the past, but there are not limited by it.”
In this climate of sadly widening racist divisions, it never ceases to amaze me how others with half, three quarters or more of mixed blood, can entirely ignore the largest part of their heritage. For a people who are fixated on ‘whakapapa' how can anyone ignore the largest part of their bloodline?
My grandmother came from crofting Scots who suffered greatly in the ‘clearances' but later went on to marry and live happily with an Englishman. There was no hanging on to, or harping on about how her family had earlier suffered at the hands of the English.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all live happily together celebrating our mixed bloodlines and enjoying our truly beautiful country as New Zealanders? Think of the billions we would save if every contentious issue didn't have to be fought through the courts. We could spend that money on good food for children who turn up at school without breakfast or lunches.

Rosalind Percy, Tauranga.