Posted on: Friday, February 4, 2005

EDITORIAL
No racism here? Let's not kid ourselves

In Hawai'i, we take great pride in what we like to think of as a culture of interracial aloha, despite local banter that is often peppered with stereotypes.

And it's true that compared to the sharp racial divisions in parts of the Mainland, racial tension between various ethnic groups can appear much more subtle partly because of our strong ethnic diversity.

Unfortunately, that also makes us more quick to dismiss accusations of racism, even when the evidence suggests otherwise.

A series of post-basketball- game brawls at Radford High School has brought the issue of racism to the surface, particularly against African Americans, who represent less than 2 percent of the state's population.

The Hawaii chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is investigating the incidents, at the request of parents who say the attacks against black students whose families are stationed here with the military were racially motivated.

Radford Principal Robert Stevens has said a group of students trying to establish a gang presence is to blame.

We may never know exactly what motivated these brawls. But the matter must be taken seriously and given the scrutiny it deserves. It's unfair not to recognize that many students here — of all races — face bigotry, and it's unreasonable to think that our students all blend into one big melting pot, with little or no ethnic conflict.

Consider these incidents: In 1997, two Kalaheo High students filed a $14 million federal suit against the school and state Department of Education after a yearbook photo of African Americans was accompanied with racist captions.

The state agreed to pay $80,000 to settle the lawsuit and give yearbook advisers sensitivity training.

Then in 1999, the mother of a 14-year-old black student, who said she moved to Maui from the Mainland to escape racism, filed a civil rights complaint alleging that students and staff at 'Iao School on Maui verbally and physically harassed her son. That case, too, was settled out of court.

Indeed, there are incidents of racism across all ethnic groups.

Folks here have discriminated along racial and ethnic lines since the plantation era, when various immigrant groups formed separate camps.

Intermarriage, of course, has mixed things up for the better. But prejudice remains in our society, and can often play out in our schools.

We can talk all we want about sensitivity training and teaching tolerance. But we must also open our eyes to the fact that racism exists here; only then can things change for the better.