Black women in Hawaii (school, college, camps)

[AfroPhox]

I'm a young Black woman considering going to college in Hawaii.
I was wondering what it's like for Black women living in Hawaii.
Have you faced a lot of discrimination? What's the dating scene like for Black women?

[whynot?]

Lots of earlier posts. (Use the "Search" feature at the top of the page.) Lots of races, cultures. Lots of inter-racial dating. Lots of intermarriage (all races/cultures).

I know your questions are specific to you, but it would be helpful to those of us who live here if you said WHERE you might matriculate. Each island is different. Kind of. Slightly.

Aloha from Maui and e komo mai!

[We're All Aliens]

Originally Posted by AfroPhox

I'm a young Black woman considering going to college in Hawaii.
I was wondering what it's like for Black women living in Hawaii.
Have you faced a lot of discrimination? What's the dating scene like for Black women?

Honestly the color of your skin won't matter. What it really boils down to is how good you look in a bikini .

[PacificFlights]

Originally Posted by AfroPhox

Have you faced a lot of discrimination?

You will have almost the same level of discrimination on Hawaii as you have on the mainland, and it will be from the same people as you get on the mainland. Most Hawaiians could care less about your skin color; they look at your heart color.

The majority of talk about discrimination and prejudice is from "white" people who are use to (often without realizing it) dishing it out, so when they are on the receiving end of it, they freak out, make a big deal about it, and can't stop talking about it.

As for the dating scene - you'll be in a small minority so the market is yours to wonder the aisles and pick only the best.

[hotzcatz]

Depending on the area you are coming from, it is likely there will be a whole lot less black folks and a lot less white folks but a whole lot more of every other sort of folks than you are used to. The proportions also change from island to island. "Da popolo one" will be an identifier and not a racist remark. There aren't that many black females since most of the black population we have here arrived via the military and they are heavily skewed towards hiring males. Popolos were never hired in as plantation labor for the sugar camps like the Filipino, Chinese, Japanese and some of the Portuguese were so we don't have a lot of them like we do of those who immigrated in as one of the former work groups.

Just a note on "plantation camps", it will probably mean something different here than you may be used to on the mainland. There is a lot of pride in having come from plantation workers within those groups since the plantation camps here were structured a lot differently than they were in the mainland United States. It was contract or indentured labor and brutal hard work but there was a thriving social community in the camps which we could use in our current society. A lot of folks look back on plantation days (for some of the outer islands, those "olden days" ended in 1995) with nostalgia for the lost friendships but they are also really glad to be rid of the smoky cane burning, the spraying of pesticides, etc. So, anyway, before I get way too far into camp details, just remember if you hear someone discussing living in a plantation camp, be ready to reorganize your database under the heading of "plantation camp".

[StriderMatic]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Depending on the area you are coming from, it is likely there will be a whole lot less black folks and a lot less white folks but a whole lot more of every other sort of folks than you are used to. The proportions also change from island to island. "Da popolo one" will be an identifier and not a racist remark. There aren't that many black females since most of the black population we have here arrived via the military and they are heavily skewed towards hiring males. Popolos were never hired in as plantation labor for the sugar camps like the Filipino, Chinese, Japanese and some of the Portuguese were so we don't have a lot of them like we do of those who immigrated in as one of the former work groups.

What is your ethnicity?

I am interested to know if this is a Hawaiian person, or a white person, or another ethnicity person explaining the definition of the Hawaiians' word "Popolo" and then using it directly to a Black person in labelling their race in Hawaii.

[hotzcatz]

I hesitate to answer your inquiry because I don't sense a spirit of kindness asking it. Somehow I sense you think popolo is not a nice word? It is actually a small blackberry if you go by the actual word. Would you prefer "da kine"? More generic but not as specific.

[whynot?]

I have to agree with hotzcatz: I've never known "popolo" to be used as a slur, although it obviously could be -- as can almost any word.

Coming from the east coast where noting race/ethnicity is inevitable, but mentioning it is almost taboo, I've found it very refreshing here to have people say, "the white guy," "the Chinese guy," "the Filipina," whatever. I've only heard it used as a descriptor like "the one with blue eyes," not as any sort of gross generalization or affront.

When I've heard "popolo" used it has always been to the black person and in front of the black person and with the same kind of attitude/intent that they might comment on my straight hair -- an obvious, visible fact, not a judgment of any kind.

I'm not saying it's never used in a racist way, I'm just saying I wouldn't spend time with people who talk that way.

[Lucario]

I lived in Hawaii and loved it, but my wife had such a bad experience there that she does not want to go back. I attended UH as a grad student, though, and that experience was sort of isolated, cocooned and a lot better than being out there in the workforce. I had a better time of it than she did. So as a college student you shouldn't have TOO many problems, but don't go looking for a job or really work outside the school environment.

[Lucario]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Depending on the area you are coming from, it is likely there will be a whole lot less black folks and a lot less white folks but a whole lot more of every other sort of folks than you are used to. The proportions also change from island to island. "Da popolo one" will be an identifier and not a racist remark. There aren't that many black females since most of the black population we have here arrived via the military and they are heavily skewed towards hiring males. Popolos were never hired in as plantation labor for the sugar camps like the Filipino, Chinese, Japanese and some of the Portuguese were so we don't have a lot of them like we do of those who immigrated in as one of the former work groups.

Just a note on "plantation camps", it will probably mean something different here than you may be used to on the mainland. There is a lot of pride in having come from plantation workers within those groups since the plantation camps here were structured a lot differently than they were in the mainland United States. It was contract or indentured labor and brutal hard work but there was a thriving social community in the camps which we could use in our current society. A lot of folks look back on plantation days (for some of the outer islands, those "olden days" ended in 1995) with nostalgia for the lost friendships but they are also really glad to be rid of the smoky cane burning, the spraying of pesticides, etc. So, anyway, before I get way too far into camp details, just remember if you hear someone discussing living in a plantation camp, be ready to reorganize your database under the heading of "plantation camp".

I am really ambivalent about the term popolo; I do not see it as a racial slur per se, just a descriptive term. Problem is, the term originated as a reference to very dark-skinned people, i.e. dark like the blackberry, but when other people of African descent showed up who were lighter and looked "local," it wasn't such an easy distinction. I, for example, am light brown in color and resemble many Hawaiians and other Polynesians. On several occasions when one person in a group I was in referred to me as "one popolo," at least one other would be confused when he found out it was I he was referring to.