Last Friday, my view on my country was shattered with each shot the gunman took. Fifty bodies killed in a rampage of hate in two Christchurch mosques.

I was proud to be a New Zealander, and I still am, but like many I thought we were excluded from these ridiculous and unacceptable actions. We were wrong.

The only bit of comfort I had was knowing that the gunman wasn't from here. He hadn't been nurtured by our loving and caring ways. But in reality, that isn't what matters: racism is all around us. This may be an extreme version of racism, but New Zealand isn't completely innocent either.

I'm not exposed to racism every day, but I have friends and family who are.

I'm sick of hearing people ramble on about what we should or shouldn't do, when all we should be doing is listening to those who are effected the most.

Green MP Chloe Swarbrick wrote something on her Facebook page in the wake of the shooting that resonated with me. Instead of voicing her opinions, she let her friend Mukseet take centre stage.

'We must listen. We must learn. We must grow. We must do better.”

S Hamilton, Otumoetai.