Letters to the Editor
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cfung, thanks for teaching me the meaning of talkstory
it was very interesting and i'm sure much more accurate than chrissyx's. true, she didn't seem very open minded, but that's what having a favorite candidate often means. that said, it takes away from your argument to call whites, "haole" - and then at the back end of what seems a demographic profile. i looked it up and it seems that the largest ethnic group is the japanese, followed by american protestant whites. you don't have to be latino to know that "anglo" isn't a term of endearment. similarly with haole. not being hawaiian, i don't know its exact meaning, but since it's native hawaiian, and they come by their gripes honestly(lost a land, lost a culture, lost a language and pretty much lost a people), i don't suppose it's very flattering. still the american protestants didn't do such a bad job all and all. it seems to be, for an american state, fairly ethnically harmonious, certainly more so than either japan or china. by the way, i seem to be in the middle of the consensus here, obama in the primary, a democrat in the general.
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"Americans are too closed-minded yet to vote for an African-American or a woman."
Particularly if the African American happens to be Barack HUSSEIN Obama or the "woman" is Hitlery Rotten Clinton.
Actually, I am hoping for a Hitlery/Hussein ticket. It would go over really well with Southern Democrats. Right.
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ZERO Chance for Obama
I have said from the very beginning Obama has ZERO chance of winning in 08. I have been involved with, and the study of politics since 1948, and I see Hillary as the strongest the dems have. I often refer to a "Fear Factor", and that is where the opponent pretty well knows they cannot win. I have seen this happen many times, in local as well as national elections. The changing of registration by rebubs to vote against Hillary in the primaries, along with donating money to her opponents, has not been talked about much by anyone except me, from what I have been able to read and hear from the media, this is nowhere to be found, but it is there.
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The Difference in the USA
We have a severe difference of opinion in the United States of America. Our difference separates two groups of Americans. Neither group believes the other group truly is American. I am in the group who believe our American President is an evil traitor.
Please note, however, that people such as I, about half the population, have no obvious choice in politics. No opposition candidate has taken a true opposition stance. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards… None of them has come out and called George W. Bush (what shall we call him?)… an evil traitor, an un-American creep, the worst US President in world history, the worst, most brutal President of Iraq, maybe… whatever.
The problem with me is that I grew up believing American ideals. I believe the USA stands for truth and justice. I believe that Nazis torture, and that Americans treat people well. What do you think? Now, September 2007 CE, the United States of America, my country, tortures and conquers and throws people into dungeons.
The half of Americans who agree with me believe that these facts are obvious proof that George W. Bush and his pals need to leave immediately. But the other half of Americans do not agree. What do you other-half people have to say? Do you like torture, dungeons, conquest, and national bankruptcy, plus incompetence, lies, stupidity, and dead folks?
What did your dad tell you about World War II or about Vietnam? Did he say. “We tortured our prisoners. That’s the American way.”? That is not what my dad said.
Please get away from George W. Bush, and from the Iraq War, and from the Neo-Con Republicans. I am not sure that we have a clear alternative in our next presidential election. But please vote for a change.
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America's political system has cancer; Obama is the surgeon
The golden opportunity for generational change in our political leadership that Obama represents, and his promise to restore our pride in American leadership will carry him through to the Presidency. -- iowademocrat
Beautifully said, and I hope you are right.
How is it possible for someone who voted for the war (Clinton) to get the nomination? It's asking for more of the same. It doesn't make sense in any way.
Obama is the right man for America.
America's entire political system has cancer.
Obama is the surgeon.
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cfung
It must be wonderful for you to have so much pride. But sometimes excessive pride can interfere with reason and also cause some intolerance. We all have our pride and also our talk story traditions. But unless it really has no place in making a good candidate. What we need is a candidate with a strong background in tackling problems and having a real record of success.
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david: "haole", tolerance in Hawaii and Obama
Thanks for your comments david. While some people from the mainland maintain that "haole" is demeaning to them, I believe (from a non-scientific survey of my haole friends and acquaintances) that most Euro-Americans living in Hawaii, almost everyone who is mixed and most of the non-Caucasian people who live in Hawaii do not think of it as a slur.
As you say, Hawaii is relatively harmonious in terms of race relations but it is not without tensions. In situations where people _do_ get hostile with one another, the term "haole" does get used as a derogatory term, but the context and intent behind the term are just as important as the term itself. Thus "f-ing haole" is a definite insult, whereas "local haole" or "that haole boy over there" are neutral or even affectionate. The term "local haole" actually designates people who are racially identifiable as :"white" but who were born here or who have lived here for a significant portion of their lives (usually designated as it is for non-white locals by which local high school they graduated from), who are comfortable around local people, can understand if not speak Hawaiian Pidgin, and who are culturally competent around local people. It's also worth noting that around 50% of the population is mixed, with "white" heritage being present in almost all of those so-identified.
US Mainlanders often feel a little lost when they first arrive here. Hawai`i is theoretically part of the US but culturally it is not familiar to those from the mainstream US cultures. Some folks experience culture shock and emotional upsets as they become for the first time in their lives, a minority. It's true that there are local people and Native Hawaiian people who are hostile to mainlanders or towards white people just as there are prejudiced people in any society or culture.
But it's also important to recognize that ethnicity in Hawai`i is only partially about race. It's also about your ability to assimilate to local culture and your commitment to supporting local people and causes. I know many people who are not locally-born, who are mainlanders by upbringing and dress, but who are nevertheless seen as key members of local communiities because of their personal commitment to those communities. On the other hand, there are people who have lived in Hawaii for their whole lives who are still carefully NOT included by local people because they are not interested in interacting with locals on local terms.
Obama himself is a product of this cultural milieu. He has talked about the isolation he experienced as a person of mixed black and white heritage and as someone who arrived back in Hawai`i from Indonesia to attend the elite private Punahou high school. At the same time, he has also said that Hawaii was an important part of his upbringing because of the emphasis on tolerance and mutual responsibility which is a key part of local culture. I believe that he learned how to fit in to some extent and did not blame all local people for the prejudiced actions of people who really were racist.
As with many people who find themselves in a new situation, newly-arrived mainlanders in Hawaii often look for a "simple" explanation for the situation they find themselves in. These folks are usually the ones who seize uponthe interpretation that "haole" is a slur. The reality is more complex and requires the patience and humility to actually learn from local people (both haole and otherwise).
The term "haole" has many different folk etymologies. The standard Hawaiian dictionary (Pukui and Elbert) simply translates "haole" as "foreign". The use of haole in Hawaiian plant names to designate plants introduced from Asia tends to support the idea that "haole" = "white" is a more modern usage. Even as lately as the 1940s "haole" actually had a different usage from the way it is used today being more restricted in usage to Euro-Americans ONLY: other "white" people were labelled by their country of national origin: "German", "Portuguese", "French".
You will find some etymologies on the web that argue that "haole" derives from "ha" (the negative prefix) "ole" (the breath of life). In my professional opinion, it's hard to sort this explanation out from other folk etymologies such as the idea that the Hawaiian pidgin term "tantaran" comes from the theme from the TV show "Superman" -it's actually derived from a Japanese term for "arrogant"-.
I apologize since this is way off-topic but there is a lot of ignorance about Hawai`i out there and I think it's important to discuss these issues with people when there's an opportunity to do so. Obama is certainly seen as a local boy, and a large part of that comes from the way he speaks and acts in ways that resonate powerfully with local culture.