Moving to Keaau. Will there be racial problems? (Pahoa: fit in, neighborhood)

[Infamous06]

So i just recently got a job offer in hilo that requires me to move and since hilo is a bit pricey for me,(Coming from texas, everything is pricey.) i was thinking about moving to keaau or possibly pahoa. Now black with a quarter white and people often ask me if im samoan or hawaiian. (Im guessing its because of my hair and personality.) So, I guess what im wondering is will i fit in even though im not an islander.

[mdand3boys]

In all honesty, no one will really care what you are as long as you treat people with respect and be polite.

[Infamous06]

Sweet. Sounds great to me

[hotzcatz]

It's actually easier being some shade of brown than stark white on the island, so you'll do fine. A shade of brown with a Texas accent should be fun, too!

[aloha_silverlining]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

It's actually easier being some shade of brown than stark white on the island, so you'll do fine. A shade of brown with a Texas accent should be fun, too!

Like that Hotz, shade of mocha with a British accent is fun too.

[mdand3boys]

Another forum member and I recently discussed this issue while enjoying Kona Brewing Company beers... how most of the issues with or between any race or ethnicity seems to be from the former mainland white folks who have lived here 10+ years. They seem to have attitude issues with newly moved to Hawaii white people. Go figure.

[birdmove]

Have you been to the Big Island before? If not, you are in for a treat. We love it there and are moving over, we hope, about September. We have a place in HPP near Keaau and Pahoa. We're close to retirement age. The hard part there is getting a job. If you have that covered you are in good shape.

Hope it all works out great for you.
Jon

[KoaKine]

Aloha,

I live in Keaau been here for over a year I don't see any problems with your move here or any other spot in this bigger Island.
What I can offer you is a Kona Brew on the lani when you settle in !

Look me up
Koa

[Spammasubi]

Originally Posted by mdand3boys

Another forum member and I recently discussed this issue while enjoying Kona Brewing Company beers... how most of the issues with or between any race or ethnicity seems to be from the former mainland white folks who have lived here 10+ years. They seem to have attitude issues with newly moved to Hawaii white people. Go figure.

I have to agree. I've overheard these conversations a number of times, and it's like listening to an argument about a pig's pedigree.

[hotzcatz]

Well, depending on the people having the discussion a pig's pedigree may be important. I spend a lot of time chatting with folks about rabbit pedigrees, although we don't really care where the rabbit came from. As long as it's here, we're happy.

I think a lot of whether a newcomer is welcomed by the general public of the area they move into depends on how many new people there are in the neighborhood. When you have a huge amount of new folks in a neighborhood then the folks that were there before - whether grown there or flown there - feel overwhelmed and get a bit defensive. Any newcomer into a neighborhood is going to make changes to the fabric of the neighborhood and it takes awhile before they settle in and things are smooth again. Even if the newcomer to the neighborhood is the same variety of folks it will still take awhile for them to settle in. If the newcomer is of an entirely different type (mainland verses local, workaholic verses mellow, loud verses quiet, yada yada yada) then it takes longer for them to be accepted into the neighborhood and in some cases they never are. If the newcomer to the neighborhood is sensitive to the nature of the neighborhood and tries to fit in, then they will most likely be accepted as soon as the rest of the neighborhood notices they are gonna fit in.