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I never referred to myself as pololo & never will. It was simply the subject of this thread. It was brought to my attention while doing some research about the islands and I found it interesting. Even more interesting was all of the riff-raff and hostility it drew in... Not my intent at all, BUT it taught me more than I expected about what to expect.
I never referred to myself as pololo & never will. It was simply the subject of this thread. It was brought to my attention while doing some research about the islands and I found it interesting. Even more interesting was all of the riff-raff and hostility it drew in... Not my intent at all, BUT it taught me more than I expected about what to expect.
There's a difference between being "pololo" (speaking without tact) and being "popolo." Sadly, almost any thread that deals with African Americans on CD with draw in "riff-raff" and folks that have an "axe to grind."
Here are some quick stats.... According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the "monoracial" African American/Black population in Hawaiʻi was 21,424. Other groups that have relatively small populations in Hawaiʻi are Samoans (18,287), Koreans (24,203), Vietnamese (9,779), and American Indians/Alaskans Natives (4,164). However, if one considers the "transient" population (military, students, civilians on temporary work assignments, and those that don't intend to make Hawaiʻi their permanent home, etc.), along with "multiracial" folks that have African American/Black ancestry, the overall percentage of African American/Black is significantly higher. http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/census/...mo_Profile.pdf
Unfortunately, until relatively recently, the history of African Americans and other "black" folks in Hawaiʻi has not been explored and examined in-depth. Hopefully, my posts haven't been too pololo and have contributed somewhat to the body of knowledge concerning African Americans in Hawaiʻi and their relationship to Native Hawaiians.
some girls, or rather a lot of girls, won't date you simply based on your skin color.
A lot will though. I went out with a bi-racial girl one time in college (she decided to oof one of her tutors later that weekend, so there was never a second date). My ex is in a great relationship with an African American military guy.
Goes the other way too. Some guys won't date girls based just on skin color, either - but I don't understand that.
Our vow renewal on Maui in 2006 after the first 25 years of marriage.
The whole conversation is moot. First, there are very few "pure" races anywhere anymore. A few on Niihau, a few in Iceland, perhaps. Even our president is (by his accounting in his book) 1/2 haole, 1/4 arab, 1/4 African. So all this talk is so last century. It isn't now, and hasn't been for a long time, about race. It's all cultural. Blacks from Hawaii are very different than Blacks from Chicago or Blacks from Nigeria or Kenya. Just as Japanese from Hawaii are very different from the Japan Japanese and the LA Japanese and the Japanese from the UK.
50% of all marriages in Hawaii for the past half-century at least have been Multi-Racial (not just inter-racial). Most of the kids in Hawaii are hapa-something. My granddaughter has more than 11 races in the mix. As I've said over and over, you cannot apply mainland experiences or mainland expectations to the Hawaii cultural mix. People call themselves whatever they want to call themselves. Then mainland people come and try to overlay their own stuff on a culture they don't understand or fully appreciate. My Uncle (born and raised in Hawaii) says he's "Black." His daughter calls herself "African American." Her brother says he's "Popolo." Who CARES? Good lord. You cut our arm off and we all bleed the same color.
What I love about Hawaii, and why I still consider it the home of my Heart, is that Islanders understand a vital piece of humanity -- that we are all connected and we are all related. What flavors we have in our bones is far less important than what colors our souls. If you come to the islands with racist ideas you will find racism under every rock. If you come with an open heart, you will meet the rainbow. It's pretty much that simple. You see what you tell your mind to see. This doesn't make the bad stuff disappear, but it helps you move towards the wonder and joy that you can find in Hawaii -- and anywhere else in the world.
A hui hou.
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