‘Yesterday I was African, today I am lost,’ Zimbabwe-born Takunda Muzondiwa tells an Auckland audience. A video of her describing the racism she has faced in her adopted country has clocked up more than 500,000 views. 'Maybe I was blinded by the neon sign of opportunity, failed to read the fine print that read: “Assimilate or go back where you came from.”’ Her speech was part of the New Zealand Human Rights Commission's annual Race Unity Speech awards, where six of the country’s best high school speakers addressed how race relations could be improved. She delivered a poem she wrote to ‘the man who sat behind me on the train last week who had the audacity to touch my hair without even asking’. The year 13 pupil calls for educational institutions to place a greater emphasis on language, culture and history, arguing 'the more students feel they belong in an educational context the better they perform'