I’m white, born, raised and living on Oahu my entire life– so far. I don’t talk pidgin and don’t look “local” (although what does “local” really mean, someone who doesn’t have light colored skin, or someone with dark brown or black hair?) so naturally people think I’m a tourist or someone who is originally from the mainland.
My husband is Japanese, born and partially raised on the mainland (moved to Hawaii when he was 13). He speaks without the local inflection but is also able to turn the pidgin on Everyone assumes that he is the “local” and I am the “mainland haole”.
When we went to get our marriage license, the clerk made the comment, “are you sure you didn’t get your places of birth mixed up with eachother on your application?”
Here’s another: I was in the waiting room at the doctors office, I was the only one in the room. The nurse came into the room and called out “Mrs. Suzuki,” she looked around the room, scanning the area for a black haired woman, when she realized I was the only person in the room, she quizzically asked “Mrs. Suzuki?” I said “yes that’s me.”
You’d think that people in Hawaii would be used to interracial marriages by now. What I have found out through personal experience is that we aren’t so color blind after all. And I find that the “locals” (anyone who is not white) are more likely to be the ones who make the disparaging remarks!
Jackie
