Post from Kuʻulei

Iʻm posting this for Kuʻulei since she had a difficult time getting online.

There are so many thoughts that come to mind from Candice Fujikanes’ introduction to “Asian Settler Colonialism in the U.S. Colony of Hawai’i.” I never before thought about the idea of “local” being contradictive to being Hawaiian, however, that is the argument that Fujikane buts forth in this introduction.  She says that, “the essay in Asian Colonialism focuses specifically on Asians in Hawai’i as settlers and the position they occupy in relation to Hawaiians (p.7).” She argues that although Asians have been oppressed over time, they do not have the same type oppression as Native Hawaiians. Furthermore, they are not capable of legitimizing themselves as Hawaiians (no matter how long they have lived in Hawai’i) because, ultimately, they are not original people of the land. Fujikane says on page 21 that, “as kuʻualoha hoʻomanawanui  argues…Asian settlers cannot insert themselves into a genealogy of the land in Hawai’i, no matter how long they have lived on it or how much they or their ancestors have suffered on it...Asian settlers may not be able to identify with the Asian homeland many of them have never seen, but that does not change their condition in Hawai’i: in this colonized location, they are settlers in another’s homeland.” Personally, I feel that I’ve grown up in an area where seeing a lot of Asians does not affect me. I’ve somewhat accepted the idea that Hawai’i is practically a melting pot. However, questions that arise when I read this section are in relation to how we deal with this elimination of the “Native issue.” Growing up in Hawaiʻi, I’ve always heard the idea of how we are all locals of Hawaiʻi and that my struggle is the same as others who are from Hawaiʻi.  Andrea Smiths’ article, “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy,” somewhat speaks to Fujikanes' thoughts as well. 

 The three pillars (slavery/capitalism, genocide/colonialism, and orientalism/war) of white supremacy, talks about how the issues of being a native and having equal rights are continuously being oppressed in society. She says that “first, it tends to presume that our communities have been impacted by white supremacy in the same way. Consequently, we often assume that all of strategies often run into conflict (67).” This induces the idea that all minority people have been oppressed in the same fashion. In relation to slavery and capitalism, we see that there are always people who seek to gain profit off of others (mainly, the others being natives). When dealing with genocide and colonialism, we see how the “native” is slowly being eliminated or disappearing. And finally in relation to orientalism and war, we see this idea that anything “white” is better than being “native.” The West defines itself as being “superior to the ‘others’ (68).” Therefore, I first question if we should, as indigenous/ minority groups, should recognize that we have been oppressed on separate accounts (and continue to play this game of “olympic oppression”) or if we should all be clumped into a major category of “the oppressed?” I secondly question how and if we should fight the idea of being erased/ invisible in todays’ society?