A close-up lesson in white privilege

Peter Meihana knows what it is to be marginalised as Maori in a pakeha world, and then as pakeha in a Maori world. The Marlborough-born lecturer in Maori history at Massey University has straddled the boundaries because of a skin condition he developed as a youngster. Dr Meihana was born with brown skin, but developed an autoimmune disorder vitiligo - a condition in which the skin loses its pigment cells. By the time he was an adult he was recognisably pakeha. On a recent journey along the banks of Marlborough's Wairau River, he told our reporter Tracy Neal how he's learned first hand the advantages of being fair-skinned.