Racism in Hawaii (Honolulu, Hilo, Kaanapali: rent, lease, jobs)

[Sweetbeet]

I was given the following advice by a wise local, recently, about moving to Kauai:

Ditch the business suit. (My favorite of all these suggestions! )

Keep your mouth shut. Listen. If and when someone ASKS your opinion, give it - if you can do so politely.

Volunteer. Help out. Find a way to become part of the community.

Smile.

Pretty much what other folks here have said!

[rnc76]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

As a frequent tourist I try and be very respectful of the fact I am a visitor on a Hawaiian Island, but I've had a few rough comments when I ventured into places that were not tourist areas. In particular I grabbed a lunch and went to a public park not on the map (found it by accident) and was told to leave as it wasn't a park meant for tourists. That also happended somewhere else on Kauai. I left, of course, but it was odd to me as I was trying not to act like a tourist.

Which parks did this happen at? My wife and I are heading back there for a vacation later this year. We went to Maui and Kauai 5 years ago and had a wonderful time. We like to get off the beaten path and didn't have any problems. The only place I felt unwanted was at Baldwin Beach in Maui. Locals drinking beer basically just stared at us until we left. We took one picture, hopped in the car and took off. It was creepy. I can understand some of the animosity, but as tourists we are very respectful of locals, their land and traditions everywhere that we travel.

[eureka1]

As a haole female I had NO problems during my 11 years in Hawaii but the post about the beach reminded me of an incident when I was still new and my Asian boyfriend from LA came to visit. We went driving up the Waianae coast and stopped at a beach where we saw a number of locals down near the shore,who had made a fire and were grilling fish. My friend kept going closer and closer to them while I kept warning him to stay back. He didn't listen and eventually came back with a hot grilled fish. They'd given it to him to get rid of him! Just stay positive. You'll do fine.

[dolcexoxo]

Originally Posted by Sweetbeet

I was given the following advice by a wise local, recently, about moving to Kauai:

Ditch the business suit. (My favorite of all these suggestions! )

Keep your mouth shut. Listen. If and when someone ASKS your opinion, give it - if you can do so politely.

Volunteer. Help out. Find a way to become part of the community.

Smile.

Pretty much what other folks here have said!

Pretty much.

Just be respectful of the residents, land and cultures and you'll be fine.

[IntoTheMystic]

Originally Posted by dolcexoxo

Pretty much.

Just be respectful of the residents, land and cultures and you'll be fine.

It's just not that simple. The residents, understandably, want to maintain their way of life. The more people from the mainland, the more land prices are driven up, the more Californication occurs, the more resentment.

This idea that if you've been descriminated against, you have brought it upon yourself simplistically negates all of the above.

[Sweetbeet]

So now that land prices are going down a bit, there should be a bit less resentment, maybe? Do you think if property values drop significantly that mainland transplants will be viewed less negatively? Or will we still be resented, by long-time Hawaiian residents who will be upset that their own land is now worth less - perhaps because of the subprime mortgage mess, arising from many inflated markets on the mainland!

I don't think it's "that simple", either. I'm sure that the changes you mention are a factor behind some negativity or resentment. (And I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean by "Californication" - are you referring to the inflation in land prices or a shift in attitudes? Addition of more 'big box' stores and paving of natural areas? or what?)

I do think some people 'bring it on themselves' by their actions. And others bear the brunt of the perpetrators' unfounded assumptions. Many times it's a combination. Maybe what you are saying is that some of these actions and attitudes are the result of things that have happened previously, things that the victim's predecessors have done as a group (e.g., moving in, changing things, driving prices up), kind of like the residual resentment of many African-Americans for the way their ancestors were treated many years ago.

Not sure there is much we can DO about these past changes, except try to live in a kind way every day and perhaps have a little understanding of why we might not always be welcomed into every area or every situation with open arms. Try to be respectful. There's not much else that we can DO to remedy the problems you mention, except I guess stay out of Hawaii.

[Waianaegirl]

Nullgeo is right. There is a race issue there. I went to a private school while living there for 6 years, and it was the worst experience with hate that I ever had. Otherwise, living in HI was great. We had Asian friends, since the locals wanted nothing to do with us. The Asians do not experience that kind of hate, so they won't get any of that to deal with. I had one neighbor ( a Hawaiian woman) tell her daughter that she could not play with me. When I aksed her why, the mother said that I could not question a Hawaiian and that she would "slap the white off of my face" I ran home bawling. I was just a kid! That was just one of many instances we as a white family dealt with living there. I don't think now as an adult I could ever move back there, as I have kids, and do not want them to deal with that. We go back every year to visit, and we love it, but to live there again......NEVER!

[HankDfrmSD]

Originally Posted by Waianaegirl

Nullgeo is right. There is a race issue there. I went to a private school while living there for 6 years, and it was the worst experience with hate that I ever had. Otherwise, living in HI was great. We had Asian friends, since the locals wanted nothing to do with us. The Asians do not experience that kind of hate, so they won't get any of that to deal with. I had one neighbor ( a Hawaiian woman) tell her daughter that she could not play with me. When I aksed her why, the mother said that I could not question a Hawaiian and that she would "slap the white off of my face" I ran home bawling. I was just a kid! That was just one of many instances we as a white family dealt with living there. I don't think now as an adult I could ever move back there, as I have kids, and do not want them to deal with that. We go back every year to visit, and we love it, but to live there again......NEVER!

I thought I knew about racism, but I have learned a lot on this board.

The main lesson: If you are white, there is a good chance you will experience some racism in Hawaii. Maybe not, but more probably yes.

My take from this:
If you are white in Hawaii, you are a "minority".
Learn from it.
Perhaps teach your children about it. Black people understand it, because they experience it on the mainland. So do some Asians. They don't like it, but they deal with it. Maybe it is a GOOD thing if a white person in Hawaii experiences it. Maybe if they experience it while they are young, and really learn from it, they will someday go to a place where they are now again the "majority" and will behave differently toward the "minority".

I'm white. I was a mid- to senior-officer in the Navy while it was going through the process of removing the discrimination that had been inherent for centuries (black and fillipino "stewards" to serve the officers, for example), so I thought I knew about racism.

Till I started reading here, and really started thinking about it.

It's very different when "the shoe is on the other foot".

Hank

[aquakttn]

I had no problems at work or play while I lived in Hawaii.

My friend, however, being a haole-Korean, had quite a few run ins with people saying things to her that she didn't appreciate. They assumed, being that she really doesn't look white at all and appears local, that she'd agree with the some of the ignorant statements made to her.

She's a pretty bold person and lets everyone know what she thinks.

Of course, I did overhear stuff - but it was never directed at me. I think that people in Hawaii (in general) are more open to talk freely about the differences between races than those of us born and raised on the mainland.

Believe me, you'd never catch me saying some of the stuff I heard in Hawaii on the streets of Philadelphia!

[CountryGal05]

I have been reading this and my friend when she was younger went to school there and lived there with her father, and her brother and she told me about "Haole" and what it meant, but why do the Hawaiians not like white people. Me being white i dont understand what we have done to them. But also i dont know much about Hawaiian culture either, i would love to learn about it tho. So if I was to go to Hawaii i would get the cold shoulder?