Rembrandt's Girl wrote:Honolulu Advertiser, March 11, 1984...
Hi Rembrandt's Girl,
Thanks for sharing these articles. I wonder if anyone might explain Roger Mosley's remark that "there's nothing here for me as a black person".
Is it because there is racism directed at mainlanders of any background by native Hawaiians?
If Hawaiian tourists visited my state they wouldn't be greeted with disdain and rudeness merely because they were islanders.
More than a few times when I have speculated about visiting the islands people have urged me not to and related to me ugly stories of racist behavior directed at them.
Nor does the term "Haole" when hurled at a innocent tourist sound at all friendly to me.
I would never use such a demeaning term about my fellow Americans just because they happen to hail from the other 49 states. Sounds cowardly to boot to me, if you mean to insult a man do it plainly and not hide behind the local argot.
It doesn't make sense to me for a economy based so much on tourism to insult the punters providing one with a living.
However I have never been to the islands and would appreciate being clued in as to what the situation is. Perhaps Mosley is one of those people who feel ill at ease in different cultures(I on the other hand embrace them) and the fault lies in himself, not with the Hawaiians, thus he would have cheated himself of a worthwhile experience.