Number of Hawaiians in prison disputed
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Census gives more snapshots of Hawai'i |
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By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
Newly released census figures reaffirm that Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders make up a high proportion of Hawai'i's correctional institution population, but the actual number of Hawaiian inmates is much larger, say prison officials, scholars and former inmates.
The 2000 census shows that 22.3 percent of prisoners identified themselves as solely Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, making up the highest proportion of prisoners who identified themselves by one race. Those who identified themselves as white made up 17.6 percent of the prison population; Asians made up 15.3 percent; American Indians made up 1 percent; and other single races made up 1.5 percent. Another 38 percent are from two or more races.
The Department of Public Safety uses different ethnic categories and regularly reports that Native Hawaiians and part-Hawaiians make up the largest segment of the prison population — generally from 34 to 40 percent over the past decade.
Both the census and state numbers miss the true size of the Hawaiian prison population, said Ka'alaaumoe Inciong-Ako, director of the education program at the Women's Community Correctional Center in Kailua. She estimates that as much as 90 percent of the men's and women's prison population has some Hawaiian blood.
Until his release last year, Roland Kauanui was surrounded by Hawaiian inmates during the 15 years he was in prisons — whether he was serving time on O'ahu or as part of the prison transfer programs in Minnesota or Texas.
"Everywhere I went, I would say 80 percent were Hawaiian," Kauanui said. "You've got all kine nationalities, but mostly Hawaiians. I really don't know why. I guess there ain't very much things for them to do on the outside, except get into trouble."
The numbers reported by the census and Department of Public Safety may not be completely accurate because some prisoners have abandoned their Hawaiian culture or didn't realize they had Hawaiian blood, Inciong-Ako said.
In a multi-cultural society like Hawai'i, others may simply fail to document all of the ethnic blood in their backgrounds, said Meda Chesney-Lind, a University of Hawai'i criminologist.
Although the number of Hawaiian and Pacific Islander prisoners is disproportionately high compared to Hawai'i's ethnic mix, they coincide with what Chesney-Lind calls "the poverty communities."
"In the Islands, we are stratified on the basis of class and on the basis of race," she said. "We are a land of haves and have-nots. The ethnic population in Hawai'i prisons is definitely made up of the have-nots."
Inciong-Ako oversees a prison Hawaiian immersion program that includes Hawaiian language, history, hula and cultural values. And she believes that some answers can be found by reconnecting prisoners with their Hawaiian roots.
The program includes non-Hawaiians and is designed to help prisoners discover their identities and improve their self esteem.
Inciong-Ako said, "We ask them, 'Who are you? Who are your people?' These things help anybody, of any blood."
You can reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.
