Frickin’ Haole!

haole. nvs. White person, American, Englishman, Caucasian; formerly, any foreigner; foreign, introduced, of foreign origin, as plants, pigs, chickens; entirely white, of pigs. (Hawaiian-English Dictionary; Pukui & Elbert)

Hawaii is known as the “Melting Pot of the Pacific.” Its citizens are made up of people of many different cultures, races and ethnic origins. Most of today’s younger generation are a mixture of 3 or more different ethnic groups. Most of these keiki (children) of Hawaii would have to go back anywhere from 3-5 generations to identify an ancestor of any one pure ethnicity. Of these many mixed blooded descendants, most of them are proud of their Hawaiian Roots. To some, these roots mean to say of Native Hawaiian Ancestry. To others it simply means to say, “Local.” Citizens of the state of Hawaii call themselves “Local,” if they were born and/or raised in Hawaii. Some separate themselves saying that the true locals are those whose parents were also born and raised in Hawaii. The more generations you go back, the more local you are. Others have defined being local if a person has acquired the local style culture, pidgin English, taste for local food, and a sense of location in the islands.

From all of this what I want to now point out is when you trace one particular people back to the time of European Explorations, the first Christian Missionaries, the original Plantation owners, The Big Five (look it up), or those who came to surf with “The Duke,” ” da’ haole,” has an identity all of its own.  Please understand, Polynesians were the first identified race of people to inhabit the Hawaiian Islands. The second group of people, as far as we know, were the haole. Long before the Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, other Pacific Islanders, Koreans, Puerto Ricans, etc., the haole was there advising the Ali’i (Hawaiian Chiefs) and all of the members of the last monarchy starting with Kamehameha the Great himself. Next to the native Hawaiians, if there’s anyone that would be considered more local, shouldn’t it be the haole? So what is that unique haole quality that has set them apart from all of the other ethnic groups that has followed them into paradise, making Hawaii their home?

Let’s take another look at the word itself, haole. Foreign introduced, of foreign origin, with the key word being foreign. It seems that among all of the immigrants that braved the newly charted Pacific, only one maintained their distance from everything that was Hawaiian. Even though interracial marriages eventually became common with all immigrants, the haole was the most resistant to blend into the island culture. Honestly that’s not totally true, other nationalities like the Japanese were very proud and made a great effort to make their stay in Hawaii as close to their lifestyle back in Japan as they possibly could. Japanese immigrants worked hard to pass on their culture, values, language, and religion to their children, but it seems like it didn’t take too many generations before the Hawaii born Japanese offspring chose to go their own direction.

So back to the haole, was it their fair skin? It seems like, to the many people of color, that the blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair complexion has always been envied and sought after. However, I still believe that it’s more than just that. Ever since Captain James Cook, back in latter part of the 18^th Century was mistaken as a God by some of the island natives, that haole mannerism has been perpetuated in some form and to some degree. Call it arrogance if you will. To me it’s that undeniable conquering spirit, that self proclaimed manifest destiny. The haole has always carried themselves in such a way that either you love them or you hate them. That is so true, even among themselves. To me, their adventurous spirit really means that they’re just opportunists that can’t stand being around their own kind. So they run away, but when they come across other peoples of strange cultures, they immediately claim discovery, exploit their natural resources and subject them to their own way of life. Not much has changed to date as you ask yourself what’s the real difference between acquisition and colonization?

To wrap this up, don’t be a hater. Even if the haole doesn’t do a good job of fitting in, even if he marries your sister, but won’t let you borrow his car, that doesn’t mean he’s a bad person. Many of us know plenty of haole that in their own haole way are awesome people. The haole has done so much good for the world giving us all of the wonderful conveniences we enjoy today. Even if they didn’t invent it themselves, they managed to acquire it from the person who did, take credit for it and reap the financial rewards. Too good, huh? We can learn so much from our haole brothers, sisters, and ancestors (if you have some). So when you find yourself frustrated, angry, broken, or just plain humiliated because of something done by a haole, the best thing to do is try and see the good in it. Forgive and try to understand them because remember, they can’t help it, they’re haole.