November 15, 2009, National Public Radio printed an article based on its Weekend Edition Sunday broadcast, titled; Hawaii Is Diverse, But Far From A Racial Paradise. I lived in Hawaii for a few years, on the island of Kauai. My experience matches the point of the piece. The point is that beneath the surface that is presented to tourists of a friendly, welcoming culture of diversity–characterized by its “Aloha Spirit,” — beneath that surface there exists old and widespread resentments between whites and native Hawaiians.
When I moved to Kauai in 1982 I felt the resentment when I began to look for a job. There was nothing overt, I just knew that the “locals” preferred to work with their own kind. I imagined how it must seem to them; a hoale (their slang equivalent of gringo) moves on over from the mainland. Then he or she takes one of their precious-few jobs, runs up the price of their precious-few rentals, and then after a few years, the novelty of living on a small island–even if it is paradise real estate wears off, and they go back to the mainland. Transient are most of us who try out living there in places like Kauai and Oahu, and there are some Kauai Real Estate issues as well I suppose.
But of course, that is far from the whole story. NPR’s article says that professor of Hawaiian studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, John Osorio, explains to the broadcast’s host, Liane Hansen, ‘that the state’s history is a story of accommodation as waves of foreigners flowed through the islands’ but many of these never left.’
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
Leave Your Response