Hawaii is beautiful, but outside of the tourist areas, and especially on the non-tourist parts of Oahu, it is a third world nation with a socialist culture. People, especially the natives, live modestly. The look and feel of the real cities and villages is more like Puerto Rico and Jamaica than rural America. To their credit, Hawaiians are comfortable with this lifestyle. But I did not feel like I was in America as I spent time there.
The cultural matters are significant. In Hawaiian schools, there is one day a year with a Hawaiian name, which translated means "Kill Haole." Yes, it's all in jest, but the big Hawaiian bullies come out and treat the white kids pretty savagely, sometimes resorting to real violence. It is rationalized that this unofficial celebration is needed to expiate Hawaiians legitmate anger at English and American conquestion and occupation in the 19th century, but the notion of a ceremonial day, even unofficial and technically nonviolent, where natives "celebrate" killing innocent whites is extremely racist and adamantly unAmerican. But they get away with it.
Taxes are really high, too, and without tourism the island would be mired in misery. And the media is further left than that in New York or Los Angeles.
I know people who have moved there from the mainland for work, and leave within a year or two because unless you can afford the tuition at elite private schools, the public school system is horrible. And it has a ghetto mentality, so the white kids either join it or are totally ostracized.
As an observant Southern Californian, I find far more acculturation in the worst part of our Hispanic ghettos than in Hawaii.
The Senators who opposed statehood in 1959 said that Hawaii would never fit culturally with the rest of the USA. After spending much time there, I personally agree with them.
This is also a reason why we should never admit Puerto Rico as a state.
[Asbestos suit on. Flame away.]
I have some friends who moved there and came back to the mainland after a couple months, fearing for the lives of their children. That’s the first time I ever heard the word Haole.
there is a lot of hatred, racism, and violence directed towards haoles from every other ethnic group on that island. And the haoles are told, basically, that they have it coming.
I've only been to Hawaii once. I loved it--and I didn't expect to. It is unimaginably beautiful and varied. Everyone I met was just wonderful. I expected corny culture--plastic leis and hula skirts. What I found was elegance, gorgeous flower leis, beautiful classical music on the radio, high culture everywhere I went, including a beautiful blending of world cultures, mostly Asian, American, and European. I was astounded by the beauty and elegance.
Everyone was friendly to me.
However--when I went into public restrooms on Oahu, I was astonished at the graffiti on the walls. The walls were covered. It was the most ugly racist graffiti I've ever seen, tinged with homosexuality. I saw attacks on groups that I didn't even know were groups: haoles, of course, but also Japanese, polynesians, native Hawaiians, Chinese--I can even remember who.
I remember one graffito that said: "Haole, go back to your hate-filled land."
Another referred to the "pencil-d**k Japanese".
I have seen racist men's room graffiti in some places in the continental U.S.--but never of such vitriol.
Spot on observations. Served there from 76-78. Witnessed the same as you described. I have been back numerous times since, most recently over the Christmas 07 holiday. I was taken aback by how much more third worldly Hawaii has become in the three short years since my last visit. It is slowly becoming the new Jamaica and Haiti. A beautiful, scenic place to visit, but the Aloha spirit is more marketing hype these days when you dig a little below the surface. Lots of social engineering and liberal fascism at work there and a subsurface “native” racism that shows itself more frequently.
My wife just experienced the hatred yesterday, with a part Hawaiian co-worker blowing a fuse and yelling at her that Haoles like her did not belong here, were not welcome, etc. Really threw my wife off track, she had been loving the laid back nature of Hawaii after our lives in SoCal.
Tourists just do not see this part of the islands.
You stated that you spent a lot of time in Hawaii between ‘05-’07. I am assuming you did not live there full time during this period.
As a Hawaiian born and raised on the island of O’ahu, would like address a couple of issues.
Not all of the public schools are “horrible”, though I would say that most of them are. Your description and the so called history behind “Kill Haole Day” is new to me. It is true that in a lot of the public schools, the students generally know about “Kill Haole Day”, which is the last day of the school year. I attended public school throughout, and although the student body is aware of this designated day, I’ve rarely seen an incident involving violence. This day is not “celebrated”, but merely recognized. Furthermore, if a student is caught attacking another student, they are disciplined. Your description is inaccurate, although the sentiment expressed is fair.
“But I did not feel like I was in America...”
I should hope not. Tourist don’t spent thousands of dollars to visit Hawaii only to feel as though they travelled over an ocean to visit their back yard. There is free enterprise, a democratic government in place, paved streets, military bases, and law enforcement, churches of diverse beliefs, etc.
Unfortunately, the liberal government has ruined the state. They, along with Hawaiian activists have helped to keep the native population uneducated. It is a tragedy.
My grandparents and great grandparents, let alone my parents, did not share the same sentiments these activists espouse.
Hawaii is not the paradise it used to be, which is why I cannot bring myself to live there any longer. It is too painful to watch it dissolve further into the socialist/communist sinkhole it has become.