Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 5, 1 May 2006 — Hawaiian exclusionism [ARTICLE]

Hawaiian exclusionism

Auwē! What is wrong with the braddah from īemple Hills, Maryland? I am referring to Eric Konohia's letter to the editor in the Apelila 2006 issue, where he states that our Hawaiian heritage is being hijacked. Preposterous. In that letter, he clearly expresses a total laek of the aloha spirit. He projects himself as a Hawaiian snob. Not to say that I'm not, for we all are to a degree. In response to Eric's comments, I personally am angered by his and other Hawaiians' attitudes and positions of exclusion, whieh has allowed them to tip-toe into questionable grounds of racism. Being upset about some haole driving around with an IHOP

bumper sticker saying "Maui Maoli" is petty. Being angered over some haole driving around with personalized tags that reads "Mauian" is childish. What is he basing his feelings upon? Are his feelings based upon what these people look like? If so, he better wake up and really look around. His comments offend me. I was born in Hawai'i. My parents, grandparents, great-grand parents and beyond were born in Hawai'i. I was born on O'ahu and raised in Waikapu, Maui. Had he seen my Virginia personalized tags, whieh read "Waikapu," he would have flipped out to see a "haole-looking" person riding around the mainland with those and "hijacking" the Hawaiian heritage. I am HawaiianPortuguese, and proud of being so. However, I am not proud of my Hawaiian brothers and sisters like Eric Konohia who behave badly with their exclusionary and racist attitudes. I, like Eric Konohia, am Kanaka Maoli. I am also a Virginian and an American. To consider me otherwise, in his words, is "unwise." Gerard Joseph Alexandria, Virginia