Black Equal To White”

A Fijian Replies to A New Guinea Reader

Letter to the Editor J'M, of New Guinea, in an issue 1 of PIM a few months ago, refutes the UNESCO state ent of a year ago that “there is ) proof that the groups of man nd differ In iintelligence, tem srament or other innate charac ristics.”

MM calls the statement “poppy ek,” but while he belittles the loured races’ mental ability, he ies admit that the Western Euro san learned certain things from e Arabians, Indians, Chinese id Egyptians—who certainly are it white.

Most people will admit that one’s ental and physical abilities are fluenced by natural environment, le Nordic people in their temper e zone can be called the Ener tics —made so because it was cessary to plan ahead and work order to eat and live the whole ar round.

The negroid peoples, on the other md —in the Pacific or in Africa — i a comparatively easy life and nee their characteristic indolence, ley did not have to think much order to live and consequently eir minds were undeveloped.

Today, in the Pacific, the Fijians, mgans, Samoans and other Poly sians are mentally much more vanced than the Papuans, Sole mn Islanders and New Guinea tives although originally they are id to come from the same stock.

Probably a few hundred years ago . these people were in a similar ite of uncivilisation, but now ere is such a marked difference tween them that one could be ve that there was no racial link all.

The reason, I think, lies in the ministration of the different rritories.

Here, in Fiji, the Government res education to the Fijians and ey are thereby afforded some de ee of cultural opportunity to alise their potentiality. In other rts of Melanesia, in the past, at

least, faulty administration has denied similar educational oppor tunities to native peoples, hence the Fijians’ cousins in Papua-New Guinea, the Solomons, etc., appear to be much inferior beings.—l am, etc.,

Suva, Fiji.

Sept. 20, 1951.

I. C. Nakaiwalu.

Mr. George Sandwith, who spent some time recently in Tonga and Fiji, left Australia in October for the United Kingdom. He made many friends in the Islands and Australia during his visit. His niece, Miss Noelle Sandwith, has settled down in Sydney for the pre sent, where she is engaged in art work.