06-29-2008, 06:12 PM
Isn't the meaning of Haole "corrupt white person"?
Jane
Jane
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Is racism a big problem?
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06-29-2008, 06:33 PM
quote: Ouch... NO! ------- It is the way... the way it is.
06-29-2008, 06:52 PM
It's from two words; ha- breath or breathing and ole- without. It came about because the first Europeans here didn't breath heavily on each other when greeting like the old Hawaiian custom.
06-30-2008, 07:22 AM
I agree that "racism" is far less in play than "localism."
I also agree that it's not so bad, and it used to be worse, and it may never touch you, other than hearing about some stuff in the paper or on the net. I've heard the word haole used nicely and not nicely. But -- with any living language, the derivation of the word is only part of the story. Usage changes meaning. That's why the OED is umpteen volumes long, as it chronicles the way meanings change over time, with usage. The N word that got Dog fired was originally derived from country of origin. Niger. That is totally benign, just like the derivation of haole. There are many names that are now considered not PC i.e. racial epithets -- that derived from inoffensive roots. Lastly, in other ethnic groups, the group that the name applies to gets to decide whether they think the appellation is OK, not the people using the name. "We are OK with this word, but not OK with being called that word -- no matter how you intend it." The word haole is useful, even to me, but it has been used as a hate word enough to where it's questionable. But yes, you can still tell from the context whether to get offended, if it is spoken, anyway. My point about language derivation above is that, as the Hawaiian language is still a living language, excusing a word because it's meaning from centuries prior was benign does not absolve it. A word means what it's used as here and now; the rest is scholarship. If you think linguistic origin is everything, then you should feel fine about using the N word. The reason I care about this is I got really frustrated with people who argued, in the middle school assault case, that the words f*ing haole being used while she was getting her head slammed against the wall -- were inoffensive, and not hateful, because the word means "without breath."
06-30-2008, 08:00 AM
All of this sounds very similar to our Native American issues here. Other clans/tribes came in and killed off each other for their land but when the white man came in and did the same thing...then it was a whole different story to tell forever. Instead of recognizing that their own Islanders did the same thing, the whole blame is put on the "whites". Maybe God led us through the Native Americsn culture so that we would understand these types of issues in Hawaii. He works in mysterious ways, as the Bible says. We just want to live where we both can exercise in the water and steady temperatures and be as healthy as possible as we are the second half of our lives. Linda B.
06-30-2008, 01:09 PM
A few years ago SB was at the dump in Kehena (when the mango tree was still there). He had just come from a bank and had a WAD of cash on him. Couple local boys were there hanging out. He debated pulling back out because he was a little afraid - but he stayed. When he went to dump his trash, they said "uncle, let us help you".........
He said afterwards he felt so stupid even thinking of fear when these kids helped him empty a truck load of rubbish! Catherine Dumond Blue Water Project Management 808 965-9261 "We help make building your dream home a reality"
06-30-2008, 01:33 PM
Carrie's email hit the nail right on the head. When the level of fear rises to a certain level, we all start being cautious about dealing with others, which is pure poison to a society striving for the aloha ideal. If there's not a sufficient level of confidence in personal/property safety, then aspirations of community are hopeless.
Olin
06-30-2008, 02:13 PM
quote: So race was not the issue. Why are you making it about race? quote: So your saying this gives the “white man” the right to be what they are? Once again, who is the real racist? Racism on Hawaii is so far less than anywhere else on the mainland except that on Hawaii the “white man” is the recipient of the racism and that’s the only reason why it’s such a horrible thing. Does anyone really care how a Black Person is treated? How Hispanics are treated? If Native Americans are welcomed? If Middle Easterners are attacked? No, it’s only when a “white person” has something negative done that it has to be because of their skin color. NEWS FLASH: It’s not your skin color, it’s your I’m sooo much better than you attitude!
06-30-2008, 08:05 PM
[quote[Racism on Hawaii is so far less than anywhere else on the mainland except that on Hawaii the “white man” is the recipient of the racism and that’s the only reason why it’s such a horrible thing. Does anyone really care how a Black Person is treated? How Hispanics are treated? If Native Americans are welcomed? If Middle Easterners are attacked? No, it’s only when a “white person” has something negative done that it has to be because of their skin color. NEWS FLASH: It’s not your skin color, it’s your I’m sooo much better than you attitude![/quote]
Bob, a lot of time I agree with your perspective but I'm puzzled who you are ranting at here. People you know at home? Hello, yes I really care about how everyone you listed is treated and so do lots of other people here. As for the "I'm better than you" attitude you quote, I honestly don't see much of that when I'm out and about. I don't see anyone acting like that, typically. I know we all come from different parts of the country here, and maybe there are places where what you said holds true, but not where I moved from, and not here either. As for when there is prejudice here, it is rare that I see it, more read it in words (like comments and letters to the editor), but when it is, it's not hard to sort out; it's not being mistaken because white people aren't used to it. You're not giving anyone here any credit for having decent unclouded perception. I spent a long time at Berkeley involved with multicultural and multiethnic groups, listening to people tell their stories, working on understanding what it's like to experience racism, studying it ... and I resent this conviction of yours that no one here has self-examined or thought about the issue from other perspectives. NOT TRUE. You are way over-generalizing.
07-01-2008, 04:41 AM
quote: (Disclaimer: KathyH, just using your quote / no reflection on you!) Racism is just one form of discrimination. In Berkeley, I was not treated nicely - but in the very polite your are not our type kinda way - simply because I was from So Cal, I didnt wear the right "uniform" i.e style of dress, I drove a sports car then, ate meat, etc.... I found this and though it was quite profond: In Hawaii I received a new name, one that defined me in ways I did not want to accept. I came to be known as a haole, a term that Hawaiians have applied to white-skinned foreigners since the arrival of the British sea captain James Cook in 1778. At first they welcomed Cook as a god and believed his ships came to the islands on the winds of Lono, but his incessant and arrogant demands for provisions soon made him appear considerably less than divine. His men took the women they wanted and shot anyone who got in their way. The following year Cook was bludgeoned to death on a beach on the big island of Hawaii. To be haole, therefore, is to participate in a less than proud heritage of cultural arrogance, racial prejudice and sexism dating back to the early European explorers and traders, the sugar planters, even some of the missionaries, and the large businesses that would eventually join to form the Big Five. The word haole, perhaps not inappropriately, means "without breath, wind or spirit"; a colorless, paste-white absence of spirit and feeling, an inability to appreciate the land and the dignity of its people. This name challenges the presumed superiority of white Western thinking, with its tendency to objectify and oppress. Yet to be able to recognize oneself as haole is also to be open to repentance, and subsequently to anew wholeness. To accept a new name, especially from those whom one may have oppressed, is also to entertain a new way of being.” -- Belden C. Lane is professor of Theological Studies and American Studies at Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri |
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