02-11-2016, 09:34 AM
With all due respect to white locals, I do believe the current exchange regarding malahini and locals purely means --- non-white/islander-looking people who don't look like they recently moved here from Iowa City. Keep in mind that just because you see some lowlife in Puna who happens to look local, it does not mean he is. Local implies ties to Puna....generational ties...family ties...ties to the land and the well being of it. When you move here from Oahu, Maui,or any other locale that you can't afford anymore, you may look like any other local, but your ties to the community is very much different. Many many more "local" looking people are moving here with very little connection to the island other than cheaper rent or leaving the misery of past lives behind. Unfortunately for many of them, misery follows and along those lines, they make things miserable for a few others.