What do you mean "it wasn't a hate crime"?

A lot of people in Hawaii is so in denial when it comes to racism in their islands!

I know, Hawaii has more inter-racial marriages than any other state in the US, but that doesn't erase the fact that racism exists in Hawaii.

Hawaii hasn't had any large racial riots like LA, Detroit, Miami and other mainland areas.

But that doesn't mean Hawaii doesn't have a racial conflict

Recently, a car driven by a white guy accidentally hit a car driven by a Native Hawaiian guy.The Native Hawaiian guy (Gerald D. Paakaula) was so angered about it, he confronted the white guy (Andrew Drussell), called him a "fucking haole". Gerald Paakaula and his son attacked Andrew and his wife, nearly killing them. All this happened in front of Druseell's 3-year old son!

http://honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070224/NEWS01/702240334/1001/NEWS

1) Some say racism wasn't involved! Give me a break!

Some say it has more to do with a car accident than racism.

All this reminds me of what happened in March 3, 1991 in Los Angeles.An African-American man named Rodney King was driving drunk in the freeways. The cops stopped him, and King argued with the cops. Then the cops (all white guys) beat up Rodney King, with harsh strikes to the head!

This incident was caught on videotape! This incident was seen as a sign that America was a racist country, a sign that European-Americans hate African-Americans so much that they would brutally attack them any chance they got!

(Some of the white cops involved were known to make racist comments about African-Americans and other non-whites)

The 4 white cops were found Not Guilty on April 29,1992 This caused a lot of anger which turned into a major riot in LA!

Yet, some European-Americans living in or near LA still denied that LA has racial tensions!

Notice the similarities with the recent Hawaii incident. A car out of control! The person driving that car being severely beaten up by those with racist attitudes! People living in that area denying the incident was a sign that their area has serious racial tensions!

2) The word haole is controversial in Hawaii.

Haole is Hawaiian for foreigner. The 1st foreigners to come to Hawaii where of European ancestry. So the word haole became commonly used to refer to white people! For some reason, it's almost never used to refer to Asians, non-Hawaiian Pacific Islanders or African-Americans!

Some white people in Hawaii would occassionally refer to themselves as "haoles" So that word isn't always racist!

However, if you're a white person being attacked by non-whites calling you a "fucking haole", obviously you would consider that racist!

It's just like how the word "Asian" isn't a racist word by itself. But sometimes, a non-Asian attacking an Asian would say "you fucking Asian" Now that would be racist!

Reverend Alapaki Kim said the following

http://www.starbulletin.com/2007/02/26/editorial/letters.html

The racial epithet in Hawaiian for a white person is "Elelu Kea," which is referenced to cockroach nymphs that are white or cockroaches that have molted their exuviae and therefore appear white and dirty until the new cuticula hardens. Obviously, due to the distastefulness of this epithet, one never hears it.

Reverend Kim, get real!

If the word "elelu kea" was on Paakaula's mind when he attacked Drussell, of course he would've called him a "fucking elelu kea" before attacking him!

The only reason why we rarely hear the word "elelu kea" being used is that not many people know that word! If everyone in Hawaii knew it, obviously we'd hear it more often!

3) Another lame comment in Star Bulletin's letters section, this time by Kristi Sue-Ako

http://www.starbulletin.com/2007/03/01/editorial/letters.html

If the recent assault incident at Waikele was a hate crime, then the accused would have a lot more people to beat up.

A racist isn't going to attack everyone of the hated race! They'll attack when the opportunity is right.

I never met Gerald Paakaula, but his publicized behavior follows a pattern common among racists!

They might some anger/distrust/etc towards a certain race but hold it in! That is until they snap.

Chances are pretty high that Paakaula didn't like white people but never acted on it, until Drussell's car hit his car.Then Paakaula's mind was thinking "that's it, I'm teaching those f'in haoles a lesson, I'm gonna send a message to all haoles in Hawaii" Then he attacked!

4) Lee Cataluna (an editorialist who is part-Hawaiian, part-Portuguese) considers any discussion about Native Hawaiians attacking Caucasians as "racist" against Native Hawaiians!

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Mar/04/ln/FP703040364.html

Obviously, not all Native Hawaiians hate all Caucasians. In fact, a lot of Native Hawaiians have Caucasian friends and even Caucasian spouses!

However, some Native Hawaiians still feel hostility towards white people. They are angry that the white man took their ancestor's land, and tried to eliminate their culture. They hear their grandparent's tell stories of being brutalized by white teachers for speaking Hawaiian! They hear about how the missionaries discouraging Native Hawaiian cultural rituals! And they feel that even today, some Euro-Americans still don't show their culture respect!

To say that there are no anti-white Hawaiian racists is to be dishonest! It is well known that white kids in areas like Waianae, Nanakuli, Waimanalo, etc get bullied. Not every Native Hawaiian in those areas bully Caucasians, but more than enough to show a pattern.

We might as well admit that are some conflicts going on!

5) Even USA Today is discussing the incident involving Paakaula beating up Drussell, as well as other racial issues in Hawaii.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-06-hawaii-cover_N.htm?csp=34

Somewhere in that article mentions one of the least reported issues of Hawaii!

Hawaii's unemployment rate was 2% in December, the USA's lowest. The hot economy is attracting poorly educated immigrants who can have problems fitting in. Groups of young Micronesians from Western Pacific islands such as Chuk sometimes fight with other groups in low-income Honolulu neighborhoods, police reports say.

The Micronesians only came to Hawaii in large numbers within the last 15 years. Many of them are still in culture shock when they come here! And many local people are in culture shock when they notice a lot of Micronesians move into their communities! Unfortunately, some local people of Hawaii don't respect Micronesians, and stereotype them as "uneducated", "ignorant", "uncivilized" and "criminals".

I remember hearing from this one Marshallese guy saying that he was bullied by Samoans and that him & his friends got into fights with Chuukese and Asians. He was also upset that people say there is "too many Micronesians". However, that Marshallese guy has made fun of other cultures as well, so he is no angel.

The USA Today article failed to mention that even Asian immigrants have trouble fitting in. Some Filipino and Vietnamese immigrants have formed gangs to defend themselves against Polynesian gangs.

I also remember this one Chinese guy, born to immigrant parents and growing up in urban Honolulu, saying that he "hated Polynesians", and mentioned that he was slapped and robbed by a Samoan gangsta, and threatened at work by a Native Hawaiian guy. He was also upset that many Hawaiians and Samoans make fun of how Chinese language is spoken!

So the racial conflict in Hawaii isn't just Hawaiians vs Caucasians!

6) Therefore, the people of Hawaii need to stop being in denial!

We got to acknowledge that not everyone wants to get along in Hawaii.

Yes, Hawaii has been more successful in integrating many cultures, has a high percentage of inter-racial marriages, and never had the deadly racial riots that other places in the world has.

But can we admit we're not always perfect?

The Life & Death of the Notorious BIG

10 years ago today, the rapper Notorious BIG, (aka Biggie, aka Biggie Smalls) was murdered. He was leaving party in LA when he was shot in a drive-by shooting. The killer has never been caught by police!

Biggie's death came 6 months after the death of another rapper, 2pac (aka Tupac Shakur). 2pac and Biggie didn't get along, and 2pac made insulting Biggie. Some thought Biggie was responsible for 2pac's death, and that Biggie was killed in retaliation!

(for my commentary on 2pac, go to http://pablothemadtiger.blogspot.com/2006_09_01_archive.html)

1) I still remember the first time I heard of the Notorious BIG. It was in the summer of 1994, between my 7th & 8th grade years. I first saw the video for "Juicy"The song was about Biggie's dream of being a rapper, living in public housing, his trouble with the law, and how he was trying to live a more positive and successful life! The video illustrated that even better than the song itself!
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/notoriousbig/juicy.html

That song was part of Biggie's 1st album "Ready to Die". It also had another song "Everyday Struggles", another song about how hard it was for someone in the ghetto to survive, and that getting in trouble with the law isn't glamorous at all!

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/notoriousbig/everydaystruggle.html

I also remembered the song "Big Poppa" which was his 1st mainstream hit! It was a more happy song, about living a life of luxury and being a stud. Every guy my age loved that song because we wanted to live that Big Poppa lifestyle!

http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Notorious-B-I-G/Big-Poppa.html

2) That song also had a beat that was popular with West Coast rappers at the time. Though Biggie was from the East Coast, and most of his songs used East Coast beats, he used a West Coast beat for "Big Poppa" because 1) West Coast rappers were the most popular that time, 2) he wanted to have fans in both the East & West coast!

However, Biggie had problems with 2pac (who was born in New York, but moved to California as a teenager) and it was seen as a "East Coast vs West Coast" war!

However, 2pac did make songs with East Coast rappers like Naughty By Nature, Method Man, Redman and the Outlawz.And Biggie made songs with West Coast rapper Too Short (the Word is Filled ..), and made a solo hit "Going Back to Cali" (another song with a West Coast beat), which he stated he loved to visit California!

3) While Biggie had some serious songs, he also had some funny stuff as well. Just go to the following website and you'll find some interesting stuff!

http://www.azlyrics.com/n/notorious.html

4) "Ready to Die" was Biggie's 1st album. "Life After Death" came out 2 weeks after he was killed.

The other 2 albums listed, "Born Again" & "Duets: The Final Chapter" had mostly stuff that Biggie made, but wasn't planned for release. However, the fans wanted more stuff, so Bad Boy Records released them.

Most of the stuff wasn't as great as his 1st 2 albums!You could also find more stuff with Biggie on Puff Daddy's (aka Puffy, now known as Diddy) album "No Way Out"!

Puffy and Biggie were good friends, so they made a lot of songs together! "No Way Out" came out a few months after Biggie's death, and you'll find some great stuff there!

5) I remembered when I 1st found out Biggie was dead.

It was early in the morning, and I just got up. I was still tired!

I could hear my mom's radio (usually tuned to KSSK, which mostly played slow songs).

The hosts Perry & Price were talking about 2pac & Biggie's feud, and I was wondering why were they talking about it, since that radio station didn't play rap music! I was wondering if Biggie was being questioned by police about it!

Then about a 1/2 hour later( when I was finally wide awake!) , the TV news mentioned Biggie was killed!

Then it finally hit me! That was why Perry & Price were talking about it!