I was looking up racism against Polynesians in America and actually ran into racism against whites in Hawai'i. Since people usually don't hear about prejudices towards whites I thought this would be interesting to share with the class. I know many Polynesians, Hawaiian's in particular, that are racist towards whites. Often times I think they grow up with that perspective. With our history with whites it's easy to not like them. I didn't think racism was this bad in Hawai'i and still don't feel it's really like that. I've read blogs and articles where whites feel unsafe in Hawai'i or hesitant in coming and I'm pretty shocked. I've never read such negative things about Hawai'i. Wondering if anyone has experienced this or have anything to share.
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2009/fall/prejudice-in-paradise
I was also wondering about the concern about Kamehameha Schools. People feel that it is considered as discrimination or segregation to have schools of Hawaiian ancestry. The story behind the schools is that Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop (long story made short) left her money for these schools for good education of the Hawaiian children. Shouldn't her wishes (made around 1884) be considered and recognized even in this modern day?
http://www.discriminations.us/2006/12/in-paradise-“diversity”-means-no-whites/
I feel that a lot prejudices stated are connected closely with our history.
Yesterday, I asked my white friend if he has ever been on the negative end of racism. He said, "Only when I went to Hawai'i."
ReplyDeleteIn inner-city Dallas, we were pretty racist against whites, too. We felt like they had been privileged long enough, so it was finally time for the minorities to have some privileges. This is probably why there was a white kid getting beat up everyday.
Growing up in Hawaiʻi and attending Kamehameha Schools Maui Campus, I believe that there is definitely racism. I agree with your statement that Caucasians are harassed in Hawaiʻi. I think it mainly has to deal with our history and how the "white" men overthrew our queen, Queen Liliʻuokalani. Going to a Native Hawaiian school, I was raised in my culture. I was not taught to hate the haʻole or white people, but looked down upon what they had done to us. I think that many locals are racist and find pleasure in being in control of haʻole people and that is a reason why they beat them up.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing is that Kamehameha Schools is not racist. There have been many law suits against my school because haʻole people believe that their children should have the opportunity to attend it. I do not understand why because in one case the child was accepted but he/she did not feel welcomed. They were bullied because they were not Hawaiian. Kamehameha Schools is specifically designed for Native Hawaiian students by my founder, Bernice Pauahi Bishop. I am sure that there are other schools that have certain preferences of race, not only Kamehameha Schools. Surely Caucasians can find other great schools with the same or even better education system. There is no need to take more from the Hawaiian people than what has already been lost.
Being raised on the mainland but having a Hawaiian ethnicity, I guess I have been able to see both sides of the spectrum. I have Hawaiian friends from the mainland that are still racist to Caucasians because that was how they were raised by their parents, even though they never grew up in Hawai'i themselves. Some of them do not even know Hawaiian history, they were just taught to not like Caucasians. That is wrong.
ReplyDeleteThere will always be some tension between Caucasians and Hawaiians because the Hawaiians were forced to annex into the United States and never exactly got amends made with the government. Yes, Bill Clinton wrote an apology, but does that really restore how Hawai'i once was? No, it just acknowledges that the U.S. was in the wrong to overthrow Hawai'i. Yes, Hawaiians are given Hawaiian Homestead land, but how is that fair anyway? The government is basically saying, "Here, you Hawaiians can have some land...oh wait it was yours in the first place (and by the way it isn't even the best land)." The government can't give back what wasn't theirs in the first place.
I don't understand why people are so upset over Kamehameha Schools when there are so many other schools like it. Take Native American reservations for example- they got their land taken away and as a result they own their own land and have their own schools. How are Hawaiians any different? We Hawaiians had our own COUNTRY, and it got taken away.
I do not think that Kamehameha Schools is racist, because Bernice Pauahi Bishop specifically wrote in her will that she wanted a school where Hawaiians would not lose their culture. You take that away from the Hawaiians and future generations will feel culturally lost and confused. If Kamehameha Schools opened to everyone, I think that Hawaiians would not get the chance to even go to school there, because they would not be able to afford it.
If you look at Hawai'i now, especially O'ahu, it is sad to see how much of the culture has become modernized or deteriorated. Our language, people, land, traditions, and culture as a whole are generally dying. If Kamehameha Schools were to accept anybody, the purpose of the school would not be fulfilled. Yes, I am all about embracing other people's cultures, but I do not like it to the extent of other people taking over, adapting, or eradicating an entire culture. At some points of history, use of the Hawaiian language and even Hula were both banned for years. Think of how many generations lost touch with their roots in that time period. This should never happen again, and the best way to prevent that is to keep what little we Hawaiians have left.
I think racism against “ha'oles" or whites in Hawai’i has a lot to do with both the history Hawai’i has and the fact that whites are actually the minority in the population. Growing up in Hawai'i, I would hear a lot of people making “ha`ole” jokes or rolling their eyes at tourists, but I didn’t realize that some locals would go so far as to make whites feel unsafe or unwelcome. I think this stems from the fact that locals still look down upon what the white people did to Hawai'i and Queen Lili'uokalani many years ago.
ReplyDeleteIt’s really sad that whites feel unsafe or unwelcome in Hawai'i because the economy is one based off of tourism. We are supposed to be known for our warm “aloha spirit”, but most people who come to Hawai'i don’t realize that like respect, aloha has to be earned, and it is a give and take kind of thing in Hawai'i.