Comments on: Don’t Expect This on Your Hawaii Vacation

By: Ms. Ewa Beach

Ms. Ewa Beach — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 03:09:07 +0000

I was born and raised in Hawaii. Lived here all my life and visited some interesting places in CA, NV & OR. Every time I leave the islands, I look forward to meeting new people, eating great food and visiting interesting places. Only met one person in LA that was totally rude, but I did not let this person ruin my trip.
My point, if you have a good attitude and you're willing to do what the locals do, you will have an enjoyable experience every where you go.
It's your action that gets a re-action from the locals or people. If your attitude sucks, so will the response from locals or people in general.
I'm tired of "haoles" complaining about the locals. It takes two to tango. Racism goes way back in time. So it's about time we seriously try to get along. After all, we are human beings, not animals.
A simple smile will make a big difference in Hawaii. Aloha works two ways, give to receive.
Live Aloha!

By: KW

KW — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:57:20 +0000

I have been to the Hawaiian Islands seven times as an adult and a few as a child. I only recall one instance where we had an issue with locals and it was when I was a kid well over 30 years ago. Since then as an adult my wife and I go to the islands each year without incident. We will continue to visit and we feel very safe in Hawaii unlike some other beautiful places you could visit. We love Hawaii and we respect the culture and we always strive to learn new Hawaiian culture on each visit and even on the mainland. Live Aloha!!!

By: DRESPINDA

DRESPINDA — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:15:23 +0000

Alls I know…is I want a PHD in Racism. What school can I go to that would offer the best courses for this doctorate?
Thank you!

By: john hernando paris

john hernando paris — Thu, 19 May 2011 05:57:58 +0000

its sad to say but many hawaian locals are racist and racists are the lowest level of humanitity.

By: rob

rob — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 01:02:29 +0000

i live in ewa beach and have not had to deal with any of it. i am surrounded by locals, military, other nationalities, etc and it's been great living here. i have school aged kids who play sports with the locals and never had any problems. I try to be respectful of everyone and it seems to do the trick. I am looking forward to living here for a few more years and I think i am really going to miss hawaii when I leave.

By: Renee

Renee — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 02:55:46 +0000

I have been visiting Hawaii for about 25 years. The past few years my husband and I have bought timeshares on Big Island, which we love. We are Canadians, I am part Native American and part white and while my skin is very white I have "indeterminate" kind of asian/kind of latin appearance. We have always been respectful to locals and interested in what they have to say and grateful that we have had the opportunity to spend a couple months each year here. Majority of the other owners at our complex are mainland Americans. Over the years I have come to realize why the term "haole" might be tossed in a nasty manner. There are a hard-core few owners here who are just racist pigs. Old white men (and women) who have not gotten the memo that they aren't top of the heap anymore. The way they refer to the complex's staff(all of whom are locals/hawaiians) is unbelievable(ie: they are here to serve us). Most of them are old and hopefully their children won't have this sense of entitlement. On the other side of the coin, there seem to be an awful lot of locals (young) with time on their hands. The taxes keep going up (higher and more quickly for non-islanders) and make Hawaii an expensive destination. If it gets to the point where mainlanders/foreigners are unwelcome and can't afford to come, who is going to pay for the Island lifestyle? The money grabs at visitors right now is pretty bad….we don't get favorable "kamaiina" rates for anything! That being said, my husband and I have made some great friends with local "haoles" and hawaiians alike.

By: Mark Selin

Mark Selin — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 04:50:11 +0000

I am a "haole" who lived on Oahu for four years (2006-2010) as a member of the U.S. Air Force, and loved it.. I visited and spent much time in almost every town on the island including supposedly "non-haole friendly" places like Waianae, Waimanalo, Kalihi, etc.. I can honestly say I never openly heard a local call me a haole, or had any problems at all. Everyone I dealt with was pretty cool. It never happened (that I know of but I personally wouldn't take offense at being called haole if it was said in a good natured, joking manner. However, if someone said it in a derogatory type of tone I would be offended and would want to stomp their guts out! I am not a "tough guy", but I am also not intimidated by many people, and am a humble person. Maybe people could sense my vibe, and left me alone… who knows?.. I don't judge a people by the race. I try and take men and women one at a time. Everyone is good until proved otherwise.

By: John B

John B — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:13:26 +0000

Hawaii ; Your poo-poo does, in fact, STINK. Hawaiians are racist to the core and deep in denial. Racism, from any group to any other group, is evil, hateful and wrong. Get that through. Historical wrongs of generations past are not an entitlement to cruelty. There is no shade of grey, and there is no instance where it is okay.
Looking at the color of another man's skin to apply any your own cultural template upon him is the very definition of racism. There is no excuse for it, and excuses are what 'Hateloha' is all about.
According to these posters, whites should be okay with being bullied, robbed, insulted or beaten. Who in their right minds would go along with that? When this happens, so the common thinking seems to go, it must be because the white victim was insensitve or somehow otherwise brought it on themselves. Really? Didn't we stop blaming rape victims for their own rape because they dressed a certain way and thereby 'brought it on themselves'? There is no mistake in having a certain color of skin.
It is doubly disturbing to see a group who has been on the bad end of racism turn around and dish it out in spades. You know better, Hawaiians, but you do it anyway.
In the mainland, Hateloha is becoming common knowledge. People work very hard for long periods of time to save up enough to come to a nice climate for a few days. Maybe even have someone be nice to them. Then travel half way around the planet to be racially harrased by the aggressive and ignorant… all that time, work, money and effort for THAT. Nice. It's not the economy causing the tourism dropoff, it's Hawaiians.
In a tourism based economy, I literally cannot imagine a more stupid practice. I try to talk people out of visiting Hawaii. I am not alone.
I have spent years living in the deep south, and I have a PHD in racism, I am sick of it, and heartisick to watch racism rear its ugly head in Hawaii to drag everyone there down. Racism is all about excuses. Excuses to be racist and feel good about it (hint: you don't get to do both). Racist for a cause. Racist from a historical perspective. The self-righteous racist. The angry racist. Swapping heritage for race. The arrogance of trying to tell other people what they think. Excuses for hate. Sickening.
I am haole and now armed at all times. I hate having it come to this, but it is necessary. It has pulled me out of 1 potentially very ugly situation, which had nothing to do with anything other than the color of my skin and being mistaken for a toy to be played with.
All are welcome in Hawaii, as long as you're not white.

By: Les

Les — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 22:30:31 +0000

my grandfather was brought to america as a slave from ireland. i'm only the second generation born here. when i say my people i mean my family not my race. i come from slaves. can you understand that? and no there have been no hangings here. but beatings and at least one killing. a poor young white man was sent to a very dangerous park by some locals who thought it was funny and he was killed for his money and stuff. yeah so it's real over here.

By: numol

numol — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 22:45:43 +0000

I've never been to Hawaii, but a lot of these comments reek of white entitlement, especially these:
"if locals hate us haoles so much they should try living without the tourist buisness or American tax dollars . i am a very respectful visitor wherever i roam…" Really? You don't sound respectful.
"my people had nothing to do with what happened to your people." Whites benefit from racism, past and present. And Irish people are considered white in the US these days, at least enough to have white privilege. So yeah, if you're Irish in America, you benefit from racism.
I'm not condoning any harassment against whites that goes on in Hawaii, but I doubt there's any real comparison to white supremacists — for example, when have locals lynched haoles?