Now They Tell Us

One sure-fire way to get anything changed is to accuse the status quo of racism, sexism, colonialism, transphobia, white supremacy, or any other bête noire of the progressive academy.

A noose in the right hands is not triggering

The technique again proved effective when Maori representatives succeeded in changing the dress code in New Zealand's Parliament:

New Zealand’s parliament has dropped [neckties] from its dress code after Maori lawmaker Rawiri Waititi took a stand against ties, calling them “a colonial noose.” [snip]

Mr. Waititi, who also has a face tattoo, was first asked to leave the legislature in December after being elected earlier in the year. Like many Maori, he said he had come to view the parliament’s dress code and its requirement for men to wear a necktie as a colonial throwback to when Britain claimed the islands, and suppression of his own heritage.

It took us 20 years to get rid of neckties in Bay Area workplaces. Had we just said ties were a vestige of patriarchal colonialism it would only have taken a year or two.