A U.S. appeals court has ruled that a Native Hawaiian man convicted of a hate crime against a white man must be re-sentenced, potentially adding years to his prison term.
  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
    286·
    24 hours ago

    Central to the case was the use of the word, “haole,” a Hawaiian word with meanings that include foreigner and white person. Dennis Kunzelman testified that the men called him “haole” in a derogatory way.

    Attorneys for Aki and Alo-Kaonohi said it was not Kunzelman’s race that provoked them but his entitled and disrespectful attitude.

    Yeah. That’s not a hate crime.

    I’d get called a haole 5x walking two blocks to the beach. Especially in an area that’s still mostly native, they ain’t going to just jump to using the same words for you they use with lifelong members of the community.

    You’re literally an outsider and need to make an effort to be welcomed into the community. Until then, you’re going to be called the word for outsider. Well, technically it means “soulless” but it’s not as bad as it sounds.

    Edit:

    To clarify like a lot of Asian communities a lot of importance is put on family units.

    So amongst themselves, everyone is: auntie/uncle niece/nephew brother/sister/cuz

    If you’re not part of their family group, they ain’t going to call you that.

    You’re a “haole” and that’s all it means, one translation is just “not of the island”. It’s not automatically a bad thing, and rarely is.

    But lots of haoles are dicks too. So sometimes you get checked to make sure you’re cool.

    • 𝕱𝖎𝖗𝖊𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖈𝖍@lemmy.world
      18·
      22 hours ago

      Racists will kill a native man because his partner is trans after torching their home and beheading their beloved dog, and cops will shrug their shoulders and argue that it’s not a hate crime

      Meanwhile…

      (RIP Jonathan Joss)

    • the_crotch@sh.itjust.works
      11·
      24 hours ago

      The simple answer is if you have a legitimate reason to beat someone’s ass don’t use any racial slurs while you’re doing it

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
        56·
        24 hours ago

        I was putting an edit in before I saw your reply.

        But it’s just a stand in for when something like auntie/nephew/cousin/etc isn’t appropriate because the person isn’t native.

        It’s not a racial slur. It’s just what they use for someone that isn’t family.

        So it could 100% be coupled with insults at someone because of their race, but the word itself isn’t inherently racist.

    • dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net
      61·
      20 hours ago

      I grew up in Hawaii, I got called a haole by everyone. It wasn’t hateful.

      One of my favorite anecdotes is about a class at UH-Manoa taught by a haole woman who had moved to Hawaii in the late 60s. A student complained about being called haole, and the professor responded “if you’re white in Hawaii you can be one of three things: a haole, a dumb haole, or a dumb fucking haole.”

    • Zaktor@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      6·
      22 hours ago

      Haole means white. There’s history and original translations that have different meanings, but in modern usage I’ve only ever heard it meaning white. It’s definitely not used for “not family” and it’s not really applied to other races unless it’s to describe them as being like stereotypical white people. Uncle/auntie is just an informal honorific for anyone older than you (no race or family restrictions). I’d be described as a haole and referred to as uncle by people younger than me with no implications about where I’m from. There are plenty of white people born in Hawaii that wouldn’t think twice about being labeled haole, even some with Native Hawaiian ancestry.

      It’s not necessarily a slur though, that depends on context, but in the context of threatening or beating the shit out of someone it’s kind of hard to argue they were just using it neutrally. Like it’s not impossible, but you’re really starting at a disadvantage.