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helwenDid Asians Scare Palin out of Hawaii?
The above site is called The Daily Beast. Never heard of it until today, so I don't know what they're like in general. But apparently the comment about Palin and Asians comes out of a bio book on Sarah Palin. Interesting if true... not that I care for her anyway, just one more reason to not trust her as far as I can throw her.
The above site is called The Daily Beast. Never heard of it until today, so I don't know what they're like in general. But apparently the comment about Palin and Asians comes out of a bio book on Sarah Palin. Interesting if true... not that I care for her anyway, just one more reason to not trust her as far as I can throw her.
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Date: 2009-12-07 02:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-07 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-07 05:41 pm (UTC)(teens to early twenties) have commented/remembered in my hearing that it was often uncomfortable to be "A Howellie" in Hawaii. This is the local slang term applied to obviously caucasian folks. (After Mr and Mrs Howell from Gilligan's Island) The said it was kind of like being the only person in a bathing suit at a nude beach... Yup.. could be uncomfortable...Whether or not you have your own issues.
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Date: 2009-12-07 06:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-07 06:20 pm (UTC)http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=haole
I suspect the white people in Hawaii who are uncomfortable are feeling the effects of being in a minority for a change. My dad lived there for four years with no problems. My husband is related by marriage to a whole bunch of Hawaiian-Japanese families, and his birth family have never had any problems while visiting Hawaii --- but they don't mind being surrounded by POC and being the only white face in the crowd.
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Date: 2009-12-07 09:05 pm (UTC)1 of the folks to whom I was referring is 6ft 2in and blonde and blue eyed. He went to High-school in Hawaii and was on the local swim team. He was a navy brat and had been raised various tropical islands for most of his life. I know of nobody who is more "color-blind" than he, having been in a caucasian minority most of his life. He
had and has no discomfort with POC, but ruefully remembers this racial slur with discomfort.
Another such was my Husband who was stationed in Korea, and later Hawaii as a young man, serving with many various POC. He also remembers this term as a common racial slur. HE, it is true was not used to being in the minority, and this may influence his level of discomfort as you say.
I suspect that one other issue is that younger folks who have little experience outside their norms are often critical and cruel to those in obvious minority, those who stand out in the crowd. I know many people who had such experiences of cruelty for being "outside the norm" in their youth. (myself included.)
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Date: 2009-12-08 03:29 am (UTC)Didn't mean the comment about discomfort as a slap, btw; I'm not always comfortable being the only white face in a crowd, frankly, although it depends a good deal on the general friendliness or unfriendliness of the crowd in question. I've also met a number of white people who found that a very disturbing experience because it put them in an entirely different headspace --- not always in a bad way, but nonetheless in a challenging way.
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Date: 2009-12-09 06:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-09 06:45 pm (UTC)Personally, I've always been the outsider to some group or other. What comes of being half-and-half, so to speak. And it was as true in Hong Kong as it is in the U.S. (mainland) for me, except in HK it was because of being half-white, instead of half-Chinese.
And here in Ashfield, I'm not a local, another matter entirely :D But since I don't have city "airs", it's all good!