AUTOETHNOGRAPHY

“Some say that you have no right, to play the roots cause you white!

Stupid Haole, who you tink you is?  You no can play on the same stage as Bruddah IZ

The Hawaiian Culture, strictly da roots way of life, sometimes was the only way I could survive

Reverse racism killed me inside, physically battered, ho you lucky you live Hawaii

Cock-blocked, no could pu in sai, even though Wahines was on the wide

No share any kind of ride, waves and women, dats Hawaiian pride?

Hawaiian Pride

100% Hawaiian in the heart

When I no stay I fall apart

That’s the place I like die

You like die? Or you like cry guy? Don’t yous know yous on da East Side

Meth addicts pound your face, tell you, you is one disgrace

So, I paddle out in the waves, local buddah says ‘not today’

‘To da shore dat’s where you should stay, disagreement means your own board to your face’

Captain Cook made this hate, no more anger should be misplaced

If not US, than another’s fate?  No worries, you can’t take the Hawaiian out of dis place

Hawaiian Pride

100% Hawaiian in the heart

When I no stay I fall apart

That’s the place I like die”

Every time I play this song (Hawaiian Pride) and sing these lyrics I have memory after memory of being mistreated by people in Hawaii, who were of a different race than me.  Almost all of my life, I personally felt ashamed of the things that happened in the colonial days as well as of the racism that still surrounds our society.  I truly did not understand it until I experienced it and the first lines of this song begin to express these feelings.

“Some say that you have no right, to play the roots cause you white!

Stupid Haole, who you tink you is?  You no can play on the same stage as Bruddah IZ

The Hawaiian Culture, strictly da roots way of life, sometimes was the only way I could survive”

Roots, Reggae music is of extreme importance in island life and culture.  Most of reggae music has strong messages of peace, love, and unity.  However, Reggae music also has a very strong tie to Rastafarian culture and religion.  There are many fractured sects of this religion, and some of the militant “Rastas” use reggae music as a vehicle to “cope with Babylon.”  Babylon is a term that refers to any system that oppresses or discriminates against the black race, and Rastafari is defiance of Babylon.  Originally this defiance was directed towards white Romans (because the Italians tried to take over Ethiopia), and many Rastas extend this to all white people.  The only exceptions are that some militant Rastas make is for true Israelites.  Rastafarian religion is based on both Judaism and Christianity, and as the Jewish people have also endured slavery and oppression, the Africans and Jewish people have united against the oppressors, and have created their own dialect Iyaric (Rastafari vocabulary) to deal with these issues positively.  The Hawaiian culture relates to these ideals as well, because some believe the English explorer Captain James Cook has oppressed them, and the other colonists that followed as they brought diseases and dissimilated their culture.  This is why some of the people in this culture believe that any non-Black or non-Jewish people should not play Reggae music.  I experienced weariness many people as I played reggae music as a white person, who did not come from either of those backgrounds.  Even “friends” that would play music with me, would even bang up my ukulele, which seemed to be on message from my perspective.  Other people from African decent have asked me not to cover certain songs, because it was offensive to them for a white person to sing those songs.  Countless people would give me “stink eye” or evil eyes when I played my music, they would look at me with discontent.  This is how I got the perception the many people thought that I had no right to be playing Reggae music.  Numerous times people would call me a “stupid Haole” (a derogatory term for a white person or foreigner).  They would ask me:  Who you tink you is?  How much Hawaiian you get?  Who yo faddah?  How much Hawaiian he get?  You like cry or you like die guy?  Ho buddah, I guarantee my faddah gon lick yo faddah, what Haole?  You like dirty lickings oh wat?  It seemed to me that they were very protective of their culture, and that they didn’t want some white guy to play music on their prominent stages, where legends like Israel Kamakawiwo’ole would sing and play is Ukulele before he died.  The ironic thing was that even though there were feelings of extreme hatred towards me because I was white, I would still go to every Reggae concert or Reggae party that I could and skanking (dancing) to the music helped me cope with the negative feelings and physical harm directed toward me, it was the only way that I could survive, and trudge along the path I had chosen for myself.

The animosity that was directed to me and other white people that I have witnessed tore me up inside and out.  It is indescribable to be absolutely hated because of your skin color.  I remember the first time in sixth grade at Koloa Elementary School in Kauai, Hawaii that those feelings had already been instilled in my peers.  In some parts of Hawaii, I have heard that they have a “pound the Haole” day, and groups of locals would physically batter white students in schools.  This happened to me a few different times in school, one happened when I was 12 and two students attacked me from behind.  They both started punching me in the back of my head.  They continued to do this repeatedly, until the teacher finally came much later, and it seemed to me that they were never properly punished.  This happened again at Kauai High School, another boy came up from the side/behind me and gave me a “false crack.”  A false crack is a punch that is not expected and comes from an unblockable angle, and often is for no reason at all.  This aggressor, after the scuffle, went with the police, but ended up only having to pay a small fine and write me a letter apologizing for it.  Even though all of these negative things were happening to me, I never developed a hatred for Hawaiians and the other rich cultures of Hawaii.  There were numerous other times where groups of locals would throw punches in my car as I drove by, dent my car, cover my car in mud, wrestle me down at any time, throw sand at me, punch me when I was looking or not, try to get me to drink their urine pretending it was beer, and challenge me to body blows or boxing.  No matter what happened people always told me, “You lucky you live Hawaii.”  What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but is this still right?

“Animosity killed me inside, physically battered, ho you lucky you live Hawaii

Cock-blocked, no could pu in sai, even though Wahines was on the wide

No share any kind of ride, waves and women, dats Hawaiian pride?”

Racism definitely hurt, but I would try to block some of this out with surfing, but it did not always work, as this culture seemed to be most protective of “their” waves and “their” women.  There are some unwritten rules in surfing that basically state that you can’t get on a wave that another person is on, among others.  If I were to “drop in” on someone I would be yelled at, hit, vibed on, or sent out of the water.  However, any of the waves that I was on, many locals purposely tried to cut me off and get on the wave that I was on.  They would laugh and smile when they actually kicked me off of the wave, and I perceived it as they thought that it was their land and their waves, and that I shouldn’t be on either one.  It was worse with any women (wahines) that I would try to talk to, flirt with, or be friends with.  Many of the local men would prohibit their daughters, sisters, female cousins, and other female family members or friends to date or marry white people.  Many times it was blatant, such as the multiple times at parties or at the beach where I would be talking with a local girl and a local man or boy would come up and interrupt the conversation, shake their head at the girl, take her away from me, or he might get in my face and threaten me from further communication with local girls.  This phenomena was not just with me, but with numerous other “Haoles” that were around, and I remember many times when white tourists would flirt with local girls then the local boys would beat them up severely as they mobbed the tourist.  It is important to note that even though the things I am talking about here shine a dark light on this aspect of Hawaiian/Local culture of Hawaii, this is not the case the majority of the time.  One of the most famous aspects of the Hawaiian/Local culture is the “Aloha Spirit.”  “Aloha” in the Hawaiian language means hello, goodbye, and love.  It also signifies the joyful sharing of life energy in the present, and as the people share this energy and use this incredible power lovingly it is seen as the secret for the attainment of true health, happiness, prosperity, and success.  This side of Hawaiian culture hugely impacts the whole world with positive energy, and people from almost all nations worldwide come to Hawaii to experience this feeling.  So, the final question I pose is to ask the culture of Hawaii what type of culture do they really want to promote:  The true aloha spirit? What kind of sense of pride do you really want to promote?  

As I have lived in Hawaii for at least 8 years of my life, I have experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly.  However, when you truly connect with a place with all of your heart, you really wish the best for everything about that place.  You can’t really connect with a place without understanding all of the intricacies about it, and you can’t really wish the best for it without knowing ways that could promote, benefit, and raise consciousness for it.  This is why in the chorus:

“Hawaiian Pride

100% Hawaiian in the heart

when I no stay I fall apart

that’s the place I like die”

I write about the sense of pride and how much I truly care for the islands, people, culture, and the education of the people there.  Even though I personally do not have any Hawaiian blood, I connect most with this place than any other place on Earth that I have been.  I also am extremely thankful for the locals in this culture that have taken me in, taught me more about the culture, accepted me as family, and protected me from violence.  I feel that my heart is full with Hawaii, and that when I am not there I am like a fish out of water.  I believe that this is the place that I was meant to live my life, and that in order to truly give back to this culture that I love so much, is to get the best education that I possibly can, and then come back to Hawaii to fight for the reduction of diabetes, a more physically active lifestyle for everyone, an underserved education system, a deterioration of traditional Hawaiian language and culture, and an awareness of racial issues.  These are the dreams that get me through each day, the islands of Hawaii is the place I want to live the rest of my life, and be laid to rest there. 

“You like die? Or you like cry guy? Don’t yous know yous on the East Side

Meth addicts pound your face, tell you, you is one disgrace”

The next lyrics in this song (as well as many others) are written in the local dialect of English called Pigeon.  This line tells the story about when I went to a party on the east side of Kauai with local girl.  I was the only white boy at the party that night, and many of the locals were on meth, which also gives reference to the major drug problems they have in Hawaii.  The local boys didn’t want a white boy at their party, especially a white boy hanging out with a cute local girl. They spotted me almost right away, and confronted me and started getting really hostile.  I went back into the car that we came in, and they all followed.  Six crazy local boys on meth started throwing punches at me through the open windows of the car.  We struggled to get the windows up and they would not let up.  Eventually I ran out of the car, because I didn’t want them to damage the car any more, and they all chased me through the forest, and I was beaten repeatedly, and finally stumbled back to the car, where the people we came with decided to leave to get me out of there.  It was a clear message the as a white person I was not allowed to be at their party, that I should be disgraced, and that I should fear for my life.  After nights like this, the first thing I would want to do is escape and try to find a place where I could surf the waves to myself.  Sometimes this would mean going to a rural beach, where there were not many people, but this turned into be a major problem as well, as these beaches were supposed to be “secrets” and the locals believed that only themselves should be able to surf these spots.

The next section in this song details an experience at Waipio Valley in the Big Island (Hawaii).

“So, I paddle out in the waves, local buddah says ‘not today’

‘To da shore dat’s where you should stay, disagreement means your own board to your face’

Captain Cook made this hate, no more anger should be misplaced

If not US, than another’s fate?  No worries, you can’t take the Hawaiian out of dis place”

When I would paddle out in to surf in remote areas, I would always be especially careful to respect the surfers in the water.  One day surfing in Waipio I was not careful enough.  I paddled into a wave and a very strong local surfer was paddling for the same wave.  I thought he was going to go the other way, but he didn’t, and all of the sudden we were heading right at each other almost like we were playing chicken.  I swerved around him, and missed him, but he was furious.  There was no real fault in this situation, however, this man was raised in this valley, and believed that he had every right to have the waves at his home beach break.  He paddled up to me, punched me in face, and threw me off of my own board.  I fell into the water, and when I came out of the water my own board was coming right at my face.  He repeatedly tried to hit me with my own board; I finally pulled it back to me and started paddling away.  I was paddling to another section of the surf break away from him, but he followed me.  He said, “to the shore, I am sending you in, go home Haole.” I firmly believe this hate is attributed to colonialism, and is rooted from when Captain Cook came to this island in the 1700’s.  He brought diseases, took Hawaiian women, and killed off thousands of Hawaiians.  With the last words of this verse I want to promote awareness of their feelings, and demonstrate that this happened a long time ago, and that we all don’t have to suffer any more.  It is also important to think about that if the US didn’t take over the Hawaiian Islands then someone else (most likely Japan) would have.  The final message I give is that no matter who else is in Hawaii that there is absolutely no way they can take the “Hawaiian” out of this place.  Polynesians settled in Hawaii between 300-800AD, and the culture has and will stand the test of time, as long as we can work together to preserve and promote it.

The final lyrics are repetition of the chorus that has been described earlier.  However, following the second verse I believe it is a little more powerful, as that verse depicts vivid violence, and it may be perceived to be more of an inspiring gesture to still have love and pride for the culture that has caused my so much harm.  This is an example of the compassion that I would like to demonstrate to show everyone how we can still take pride in, support, and be a part of a culture that may have caused you and your ancestor’s physical and mental pain.  By having intentions to truly help a culture other than your own through helping combat major issues such as health, education, and the loss of traditional culture one can make gigantic strides to make a conscious global community.  It is also important to look at the implications this has for instruction.