Judy Rohrer has written an extraordinary and long-needed examination of the historical and contemporary place of haoles in Hawai’i. This study goes far beyond the typical ways that haoles are talked about: as wrong-headed and evil colonizers, dumb “malihini” who don’t know how to act, or, more recently, victims of reverse discrimination. Her lucid and witty prose as well as her mastery of our homeland’s brand of English will make readers laugh as well as think. Rohrer writes that the aim of this long overdue study is “to begin to imagine how (people) might become haole in different and better ways.” Haoles will gain a better understanding of why they sometimes get “stink-eye,” and everyone else will gain a greater understanding of the workings of power in “Hawai’i nei.” Everyone in Hawai’i should read this book! – Noenoe Silva, University of Hawai’i

“Haoles in Hawai’i” strives to make sense of haole (Hawaiian for “white person”) and the “politics of haole” in current debates about race in Hawai’i. Recognizing it as a form  of American whiteness specific to Hawai’i, the author argues that haole was forged and reforged 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. 

About the author: Judy Rohrer grew up a haole girl on Kaua’i and O’ahu. She received her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.

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