The "Stink-Eye"! What IS it??? What does it mean?

[melaniej65]

Yes- my niece attends an elite school- but guess what? We are not a poor family! She has attended ELITE private schools since pre-school and graduated from the same ELITE HS that our President graduated from. I would put her trust fund up against most of the students who attend her school.

And I said that visitors are treated as visitors- we welcome them and are warm but no, we do NOT treat them as we do 'family'. The word haole is meant as an identifier (all races here have them) and there are many hapa haole & haole kids who were born and raised here who are aware that this is the way we refer to people. My own children are hapa haole and even though they were born & raised away from Hawaii they are and have always been aware that they ARE hapa haole.

Most whites are 'offended' by the term since they are used to being the ones who refer to others in racist terms- so they cannot comprehend that haole has been in use since sailors & Missionaries first came to our island. This originally meant 'foreginer & 'long neck' (a reference to the high necked clothing that they wore- which gave them a strange long necked appearance). Every race has its moniker and everyone is called by them. There are the 'acceptable' terms 'pake', 'popolo', 'kanaka' and then there are those terms that are NOT acceptable- which are pretty much the same terms that are not accepted throughout America.

Please do not worry about coming to Hawaii- with your attitude you would not enjoy your time here as you would be looking for offenses everywhere and would not be able to relax. If you choose not to visit- terrific, but to not visit because you disagree with people on a web site is rather pathetic. Especially since you have had some of our terminology explained to you by Native Hawaiians and residents of Hawaii (most of us who have friends and family of ALL races and therefore have no particular ax to grind).

[newUHprof]

Originally Posted by VlyRoadKid

I KNOW Boston can be quite racist, though I'd hardly classify it as one of the most segregated places in the country! (Ever been to the South, or how about L.A.?!)

So can Worcester and many other places in Mass. That is SPECIFICALLY why I referred to W. Mass and the Pioneer Valley as NOT being like that!
As for races living in harmony in Hawaii, that is NOT what I usually read on the many threads about it, especially from Whites. Just the word haole is an insult!

Try re-reading my post again, and spend some time on the Hawaii threads. Also, my son's girlfriend spent time in South Carolina and California and HATED it. She was routinely singled out in a racist way. I KNOW that won't happen here, or if it does, it'll be rare and done by some redneck, hilltown idiot or dumb teenager. I stand by my assessment of this place, or I wouldn't live here.

By the way, I do not like the presumption that because I'm White, I tolerate the racism you ASSUME must exist here! You don't know me at all.

Grew up in LA and spent a lot of time in the South. Lived 12 years in and around Boston. Live in Hawaii now. So yeah, I have some basis for my remarks. Again, Western Mass may not seem racist, but that's because it's mostly white people living & visiting there. Some of my students from the HS in Boston went to college at the 5 colleges (Smith, Hampshire, Amherst, etc.) and said it was way worse than Boston. Hidden racism still exists. And denying it doesn't do anyone any favors.

I am a haole... the word is not an insult; it's descriptive. Now the phrase "f*&$ing haole" on the other hand... I try to avoid being called that.

White people take offense at being called haole because they're not used to being described in terms of their race, because they're not used to being the minority. Think about it... when you describe people, your default assumption is that the person is white. If they are not, you'll say so. White is not the default here... nothing is the default here because there are so many mixtures. It's a cultural thing to identify people based on race. You can choose to take exception to it, but it shows your lack of willingness to learn about another culture; it doesn't show the other culture in bad light.

And I didn't say you tolerate racism. I said that you don't notice racism that's there because you are not the target. That's not the same at all. I am also white, and the same thing happens to me. Hanging out with my students while teaching in Boston brought a lot of things to my attention that had gone un-noticed before. "Hey Miss, did you see what that lady just did when she saw us?" Um... no I didn't see. But now I do.

All I'm saying is open your eyes to your precious little town. It's not what you claim it is, and yeah I do know the place well enough to say so. Read the other comments by the folks who have experienced racism in Mass. I'm not the only person telling you that things are not the way you say they are.

[KAILANI]

Originally Posted by VlyRoadKid

Sorry to hear that YOU do it too, but if I treat anyone negatively, it's only after THEY have done something to me...and I DON'T mince words or give nasty looks! I say what I think, regardless of race.

YES I "do" give da stink-eye, when someone does something that is rude or offensive to me or whoever I'm around.

That has nothing to do with RACE.......

What are you really talking about here. leave stink-eye out of this, just because some guy in Hawaii gave it to your son, don't automatically assume it was a race thing.
I've lived in Hawaii, and actually MOST of my friends were hawaiian, filipino, and japanese. Race does not SEEM to be an issue there, It's ALL ATTITUDE...
ALOHA!!!

[7th generation]

Stink-eye happens around the country and the world for that matter.
It's just a way for people to express displeasure with another.
Matter of fact, I'm giving this thread the 'ole stink-eye right now.