09-22-2008, 07:43 AM
hi oink, I'm not sure that we're disagreeing about anything then. I don't like these ideas either and I don't seek to perpetuate them. I see them around me. I think people moving here should be aware of how things have been.
If people want change, then they need to understand the status quo and how it got that way.
I'm sure there would be local terms for both the examples you used (and not haole).
SHOULD is the operative word. Some will agree with your should, and others won't. My personal belief is irrelevant. I won't be going to school with them. (if they existed and were more than a for sake of argument) If I had school age kids, I would teach them to see everyone as the same, underneath, but then I was raised that way.
I actually had to learn, later in life, that plenty of people who consider themselves minorities prefer to embrace their ethnic identity with pride than to think of us al all one big human race. There's a lot of that feeling in Hawai'i and I don't see it changing real fast.
I've never spoken to a "local" (non-Caucasian) who called himself or herself a Punatic. There must be some, but as far as I know that term was coined by the counter-culture settlers and continues to be embraced by people who are comfortable with being seen as a bit eccentric.
Ask a local where they're from and I would expect they'll tell me the name of their subdivision, town, or other immediate community. NOT "Puna" and not "I'm a Punatic."
The reason I play devil's advocate here is so many prospective residents seem to think Punaweb types reflect the general population. No way! You want to hear the voices of the more average (but still internet-savvy) people, read the posted comments that follow the news articles in the Tribune Herald. They're pretty candid and most don't sound anything like what you read on Punaweb.
If people want change, then they need to understand the status quo and how it got that way.
I'm sure there would be local terms for both the examples you used (and not haole).
quote:
If my children were born in Hawaii (none of my living children were) they should not be Haole, or Kaamahina.
SHOULD is the operative word. Some will agree with your should, and others won't. My personal belief is irrelevant. I won't be going to school with them. (if they existed and were more than a for sake of argument) If I had school age kids, I would teach them to see everyone as the same, underneath, but then I was raised that way.
I actually had to learn, later in life, that plenty of people who consider themselves minorities prefer to embrace their ethnic identity with pride than to think of us al all one big human race. There's a lot of that feeling in Hawai'i and I don't see it changing real fast.
I've never spoken to a "local" (non-Caucasian) who called himself or herself a Punatic. There must be some, but as far as I know that term was coined by the counter-culture settlers and continues to be embraced by people who are comfortable with being seen as a bit eccentric.
Ask a local where they're from and I would expect they'll tell me the name of their subdivision, town, or other immediate community. NOT "Puna" and not "I'm a Punatic."
The reason I play devil's advocate here is so many prospective residents seem to think Punaweb types reflect the general population. No way! You want to hear the voices of the more average (but still internet-savvy) people, read the posted comments that follow the news articles in the Tribune Herald. They're pretty candid and most don't sound anything like what you read on Punaweb.