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I am interested in moving to Hawaii and wondering which areas are the most accepting of whites? Which areas have the least racial tension? I am white and am a little afraid of me and my family not fitting in. I have heard horror stories about whites being picked on. Is this the norm though?
Also, is the weather a big threat there? I know Hawaii has severe weather issues but is it very common. What are the most common weather issues?
Sorry, if these issues have already been discussed.
I assure you the vast majority of Hawaii is safe for you and your family.
I don't know what you've heard (or frankly where this perception is cropping up from) but there aren't roving lynch mobs waiting to get you "just because you're white". In fact I doubt you'll encounter much more than an odd vagrant or two using a slur directed at you. If you check the statistical data you'll see that whites still represent a substantial portion of the population.
There are pockets of residential neighborhoods that are predominantly native Hawaiian (and I'm talking about the poor neighborhoods in particular here) that may not take kindly to ANY non-Hawaiian, so avoid those and you'll be ok. Generally any of the areas comprising the greater Honolulu area should be AOK: I like Makiki / Manoa areas myself (nice and quiet, close to all the city has to offer).
Just a another point to clarify; the term "haole" (which you'll notice is thrown around a lot in conversation) in and of itself is actually not meant as a racial slur directed at whites, but literally means "foreigner". It is used often interchangable to mean "caucasian" so if you hear this don't automatically take offense. It's all in the context of how it's being used
The only weather anomolies you might encouter are Tsunamis and Hurricanes, although the serious ones happen rarely.
Actually haole doesn't mean foreigner. When was the last time a filipino or Japanese was called haole? It's often an insult, but usually it's so common it's accepted and is only a little jab. I can't think of anywhere else in the country where one race calls another race a name they made and it's ok.
How about "Kill Haole Day" in local schools. I'm sure that's all in good fun.
I moved from California, the SF Bay Area, and while there it is politically incorrect to call another person a racial name, it sure doesn't mean that racial problems don't exist.
Very often I had coworkers or friends refer to someone (like my neighbors) with brown skin/dark eyes as "Mexican", and when I corrected them to Salvadorian or Brazilian, the person just shrugged it off as "all the same." People confuse Muslims with Skihs, Asians get lumped into groups...
Stereotyping and prejudice exists everywhere, and it's up to all of us to help it stop by not indulging in it ourselves and to also correct the children in our care.
This is not to call a halt to humor. Personally, I have no problem with comedians, TV shows, and movies providing humorous scenarios about a lot of things, race, religion, gender, and politics included. If we can't laugh at ourselves, maybe we can't see what we do without blinders.
Kill the haole day is not right. Neither is assuming every local indulges in such stupidity. Did every single local child join in on those actions? Of course not. Bullies in the schoolyard and racists in the streets are not new in any state. But to a lot of Caucasians, it is a VERY new experience to be the target of racism instead of oblivious to it happening to others.
It may not be good, but it is certainly educational. Hopefully everyone who has experienced being the target of biogtry of any sort ( or observed it happening to others) will learn from it and try to improve their own actions. If we each improve and our children improve, things get better.
Educational...please, tell that to my girlfrined who was the only white girl in her elementary school and got picked on, called names, and thrown rocks at. It's worst for kids here. For adults in most places it's not so bad.
And as for your problem with asians getting lumped together, who even knows where half of the european countries whites come from are? People get sensitive to lumping asians all together, but the same is done with whites.
No, I'm not saying it doesn't happen to whites. I'm saying it happens to everyone, it's just more out in the open sometimes. It's more hidden in places like CA, or actually just hidden to anyone who isn't the target. Latinos don't think it's hidden at all, but often whites there don't think there is a problem and are surprised to hear it. Whites who come to Hawaii are suddenly confronted with the same problem that other people have been going through in other places. NOT right, but still true.
All things are educational, and that doesn't make them right or a positive experience. But they are still educational, or can be if you decide to make it so. Calling something education doesn't mean it should be conducted, done on purpose, like a class. Educational just means you can decide to grow from the experience instead of being more limited by it.
No place is perfect. Far from it. No place will ever be perfect. Some people will work to make it better. For some it's too hard to take, and that's not a criticism of that person. We all have different tolerance at different times.
Think about this - has anyone EVER moved into a house or apartment and not found things wrong? Often you blame the previous tenant or owner, or the landlord. Sometimes it's too much to deal with and you would rather move. Other times you go through some trouble and get things fixed or fix them yourself. At some point you are just fixing things without so much blaming everyone else. Then some day you will leave and the next person to take that house/apartment will find things YOU left undone and will have to fix them. They will probably blame you, but eventually... it goes on and on. Times change and the next generation blames the previous one for what is left behind. People move to a new place and blame the existing population for the imperfections. At some point, with all of us working towards it, things improve. Then there is something else to improve.
Yes, there is racism in Hawaii. Yes, it's often directed at whites. Yes, it's terrible. So the educational part is the opportunity to fix it, by using what happens as examples in teaching other people NOT to do it in the future. Like any children in your care, and I say it like that because not everyone has children of their own. Don't allow the next generation to repeat the mistakes of the previous one.
The people who are the target are in a terrible position, and your girlfriend is no exception. Nor is she the only one, in Hawaii, in any state, or in this century. I'm not saying it makes it less terrible, I'm just saying it's something she has had to deal with and now you too as you develop your sense of how to deal with it.
The only thing you can decide is how you will deal with it - you might learn from it too, and decide not to do that to someone else, and to make sure children in your care don't ever do it, or don't get away with it.
Where ever you go, there will be things to deal with. You just decide if it's worth being there, for you, and what you can do about it. I'm just saying that saying there is a problem and/or moving away is not a complete solution in the long run.
Actually haole doesn't mean foreigner. When was the last time a filipino or Japanese was called haole? It's often an insult, but usually it's so common it's accepted and is only a little jab. I can't think of anywhere else in the country where one race calls another race a name they made and it's ok.
How about "Kill Haole Day" in local schools. I'm sure that's all in good fun.
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