University of Hawaii System newsletter

UH alumna Judy Rohrer and the University of Hawaiʻi Press published Haoles in Hawaiʻi, which strives to make sense of haole (Hawaiian for “white person”) and “the politics of haole” in current debates about race in Hawaiʻi.

Recognizing it as a form of American whiteness specific to Hawai‘i, the author argues that haole was forged and re-forged over two centuries of colonization and needs to be understood in that context. Haole reminds us that race is about more than skin color as it identifies a certain amalgamation of attitude and behavior that is at odds with Hawaiian and local values and social norms.

By situating haole historically and politically, the author asks readers to think about ongoing processes of colonization and possibilities for reformulating the meaning of haole.