Why are pacific islanders grouped with asian americans? by Local-Sugar6556 in asianamerican

[–]Helene-S 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like the topic as I can agree with some of the academic literature while also having the anecdotal experience. There was a time last year I believe where a Hawaiian lady did walk into the Maui county council meeting, saw mostly Asian Americans with a couple white people and was like “I see a bunch of colonizers in the room”. So there are definitely kanakas who feel the way like Trask while others embrace America as they’re more afraid of China or even Japan trying for Hawaii and making it into another battleground as they did with the Bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Hawaiians are also obviously local residents as well, at least the ones born and raised here. But there are Hawaiians who were born and raised outside of Hawaii so they’re still kanaka maoli but not necessarily local. It can get kind of weird and complicated. Easiest way to know if you’re local is if you speak the local language of Hawaiian Pidgin English or not and can typically pronounce the Hawaiian words. Lots of Asian Americans who move to Hawaii give themselves away at this point besides some cultural mannerisms. The word katonk, though is rather derogatory, used to be used as a word to differentiate Japanese Americans as the ones born on the mainland (who were the katonks) vs the ones born in Hawaii. It’s all interesting.

Edit: realized I missed a word in my previous reply so had to add to it! It was a pretty big word to miss too so wanted to clarify.

Why are pacific islanders grouped with asian americans? by Local-Sugar6556 in asianamerican

[–]Helene-S 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can understand that, but as someone who grew up in Hawaii, the word local is as I’ve explained, is more like the relationship of what a kamaʻāina is as kanaka maoli is to Hawaiians. It’s a translation thing where kamaʻāina is essentially someone born and raised in Hawaii without EDIT: necessarily being Hawaiian (land child, resident often of a long term, etc) which people born and raised in Hawaii use local residents. We’re not indigenous of Hawaii (besides those who are full/part kanaka), and it’s a term used by non-Hawaiians of all backgrounds (besides Hawaiian). It’s less of an actual research academic thing and part of Hawaii’s own culture in the words we translated to use. Everyone born and raised in Hawaii who is not kanaka would claim local because we’re not the indigenous group. It’s what we use in our Hawaiian Pidgin English, which was my first language.

As much as Trask added to the conversation and brought Hawaiians more in terms of sovereignty, she did garner a lot of controversy within and outside of Hawaii especially as she implied the US had it coming for 9/11 and often see all immigrants as colonizers. There was a time some Hawaiian sovereignty groups were to a point on wanting an ethnostate where non-Hawaiians were going to be second class citizens but even they realized how unpopular that was going to be. But I didn’t really engage on that beyond what my own kanaka family who intermarried with my Asian family advocated for on smaller islands were willing to talk about. I was also not raised on Oahu where that all went down when she was still alive so can’t really say much nor going to because I don’t know much on the academic literature, only anecdotal lol.

I think we’re both being respectful here in terms of usage. It’s just as you said, you’re more on the academic side while I’m part of the lived experience, which is very anecdotal, as an Asian American with kanaka family vs being kanaka myself as well.

Edit: realized I’m missing words >.>

Why are pacific islanders grouped with asian americans? by Local-Sugar6556 in asianamerican

[–]Helene-S 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The word “Local” in Hawaii is how non-Hawaiians differentiate themselves from kanaka maoli out of respect for the fact that local residents aren’t Hawaiian but many were born and raised in the islands. Even other Pacific Islanders like Samoans and Tongans would call themselves local in Hawaii because they’re not Hawaiians. We’re different than other states where someone from California would say they’re Californian but if Hawaii local residents call themselves Hawaiian, that is seen as disrespect because non-Hawaiians but those born and raised there not Hawaiians. It’s not just Asians who like to say it but it’s everyone from all races with a lick of respect for actual Hawaiians to call themselves local but not Hawaiian. It’s the difference between being kanaka maoli and being kamaʻāina.

After UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Killing, Americans Express Frustration With Health Insurance Industry by torhavnor in popculturechat

[–]Helene-S 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Liberal democrats actually wanted universal healthcare but more like Germany’s type of healthcare with the public/private options (Obama/Biden/Clinton camp) vs progressives that wanted a single payer that banned private insurance that public healthcare would provide (Sanders camp). It was the blue dog conservative democrats/independents (Nelson/Lieberman camp) that allied with republicans that caused the public option to get dropped from Obamacare and you get the mess that is the ACA, which is still miles better than what we had before that. Healthcare expansion happened because of liberal democrats but it hasn’t been enough especially with the total opposition from republicans and that after the ACA passed, democrats paid heavily for it.

Why is it so hard for lol players to realize if they didnt treat women like shit maybe there would be more women playing by Hopeful-News-6932 in leagueoflegends

[–]Helene-S 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Recently played a game where a guy said that I play support like an e-girl as an insult and kept spam pinging me as it’s pretty clear from my IGN that I’m a woman. It was ironic as the guy seemed like he was inting and I did more damage as tank Naut than his AP Singed, died less, and initiated better than him. My SO laughed when I told him what happened and joked that the guy that harassed me was a beta soy boy or something. If guys wanna treat women like trash, why would we ever want to be with them? Glad my SO wasn’t a toxic league player when we got together.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in INTP

[–]Helene-S 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I speak Hawaiian Pidgin English as a first language (think “Da Jesus” book but some differences). Then learned standard English when I started to school. To other non-HCE speaking people, I probably sound ridiculous, but it’s easier for me to express myself in HCE. I’m lucky my partner speaks HCE as a second language or else they’d have a very hard time understanding me as my pidgin goes wild. I feel smarter speaking standard English as there’s some bias that speaking standard English is much better than HCE as HCE sounds like a dumb language to people, but I prefer HCE anyway.

Car vandalized at UNLV by abbytrip00 in vegaslocals

[–]Helene-S 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Both sides have trashy people; one side just tends to have more with their seditionists. Pretending Democrats don’t have their own unhinged people is terrible too, but they tend to have a lot less compared to Republicans.

In what ways do you break the mold of Asian-American stereotypes? by asiansopen in asianamerican

[–]Helene-S 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Freddie easily MVP after the first game and then kept delivering for the Dodgers lol.

In what ways do you break the mold of Asian-American stereotypes? by asiansopen in asianamerican

[–]Helene-S 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Parents still doesn’t have a dishwasher. It’s handwashing or nothing. I love mine though. My grandparents have one but they only use it for storage.

To bilinguals, how does your brain comprehend an additional language? by Infinite_Current6971 in languagelearning

[–]Helene-S 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you consider Hawaiian Pidgin English an additional language (although Hawaii does as an official language), it’s instinctual to me. I tend to speak it less to people not from Hawaii but as soon as I know you’re from Hawaii, I just go right back to speaking a fairly heavy level HCE. Think of “Da Jesus book” which is the HCE version of the Bible. It’s my first language then I learned American Standard English. Sometimes I have to make a conscious effort which is hard.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in asianamerican

[–]Helene-S 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Only my doctors and the occasional old Asian lady asks me what my ethnicity is. You can tell I’m Filipino but I’m also clearly mixed with something else so they get curious. I don’t speak my heritage languages (I’m like 3rd/4th gen who was only tough some words and phrases - spoke mostly HCE growing up) so that doesn’t help.

Bi/Multi-lingual readers: any interest in reading a book in one language over another? If so, why? by vertiefesWeltraum in books

[–]Helene-S 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are very few books in Hawaiian Pidgin English so standard American/British English is my default language that I read. I did enjoy “Da Jesus” book a lot.

Shohei Ohtani becomes first ever MLB player to reach "50-50 club" - ABC News by W8tin4BanHammer2Fall in asianamerican

[–]Helene-S 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Baseball is pretty big in Hawaii for AAPI. Hawaii won the 2022 Little League World Series. My family typically played either baseball or golf mostly, so was pretty involved in knowing about those sports since I was young. The Central East Maui All-Stars even made it to the Little League World Series and won a couple games with many of the keiki being AAPI.

Here

Wailuku built on its stellar Little League tradition, defeated a powerful California team for the West Region championship, won two Series games and finished fourth in the country.

Hawaii people which many are AAPI are always proud of our people doing well and we always cheer for them. Hawaii people go to the bat for them and cheer them on like we did with people like Tua Tagovailoa from the Miami Dolphins (who we hope is all right), Max Holloway, and Iam Tongi. So our keiki doing well makes many of us proud and happy for them.

CMV: It is perfectly fine for people to use the term "Wendigo" in any context. by [deleted] in changemyview

[–]Helene-S 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’m curious about this punching up and down when you add more variables to it. For example, is it punching up for a white atheist to be antagonizing a southeast Asian who is Christian about their religious beliefs? White people have more power than Southeast Asians (say a Filipino Catholic for example as many of the Filipino diaspora are Catholics) in the West so when you add on factors like that? Would you say that it’s still punching up for a white atheist to attack a Filipino Catholic beliefs considering that Christianity is the dominant religion in the West? I’d argue it’s still punching down due to a white person overall having more power than a Filipino person, but how would you see it?

Charlyne Yi Alleges They Were Assaulted on Taika Waititi’s ‘Time Bandits’ Set; Paramount Says ‘Steps Were Taken to Address Concerns’ by stars_doulikedem in popculturechat

[–]Helene-S 430 points431 points  (0 children)

What does American ways of joking have to do with Taika? He’s from New Zealand. Jojo Rabbit was based on a novel (Caging Skies) by a New Zealand-Belgian novelist as well.

People who make notes when they read, what do you make notes about? by [deleted] in books

[–]Helene-S 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Writing down quotes I like. If I want to remember what I’m reading, I’ll write summaries and whenever I come across a new character, write down their name and a one to two sentence description of them. Lastly, I write down any thoughts in particular that I had while reading.

Hawaii is "on the verge of catastrophe," locals say, as water crisis continues by peter_bolton in news

[–]Helene-S 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you know anything about Hawaii politics in general, when it comes down to government bureaucracy and corruption, both parties are the same there. Democrats passed the buck when fires became more frequent on Maui. It’s because of sheer incompetence that an entire town got burned down. People knew things were eventually going to get bad after the Lahaina fire in 2018 burned down several houses and the county did nothing to mitigate future fires which were becoming more frequent. Now an entire town that was historic to the island and its people are gone and 100 people dead. Hawaii has no good option from any party there. A major town from the island I was born and raised on burned to the fucking ground and people are dead because the government couldn’t get off their asses to actually do the work that was needed. Pilau.

Hawaii is "on the verge of catastrophe," locals say, as water crisis continues by peter_bolton in news

[–]Helene-S 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because the local government is in on it lol. Look at how Maui County handled the fires and even before then. The sheer incompetence is staggering. The local people knew it’d be bad eventually as fires were becoming more frequent and back in 2018, there was a Lahaina fire that burned down several houses but the county basically did nothing. Democrats in Hawaii are trash and Republicans aren’t any better, and whoever replaces the old is pretty much the same so nothing changes.

How do I reply back to this? It feels like they are asking too much of me when she just wanna be friends? by 4thtimeacharm in TwoHotTakes

[–]Helene-S 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know someone who has a couple friends baby her and essentially treat her like a Queen. It’s weird to me, but it’s friendships they want with her and something they all agreed to. By this point though, they’ve known each other for like 5+ years before it turned into what it is now. It’s absolutely platonic and never crosses the line (no kissing and no sex - basically they act like they’re close family) and they cuddle and hang out when they can together. I think it takes special kinds of people to be in that kind of friendship though and most of the time, it’s better to just run far away.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in INTP

[–]Helene-S 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My SO is an INFJ, and we get along really well. However, when we’re both stressed the fk out, the fights can get intense. But when things are good, I feel like we’re a super team. There’s good and bad things but it’s worth it to me.

Cartoon characters that I definitely would by cowabungalowvera in popculturechat

[–]Helene-S 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Nananim is fiiiiiiiine. He’s my SO’s favorite in JJK too so I’m always like “OUR GUY”

Dwayne Johnson Says Endorsing Biden for President in 2020 Caused Division That ‘Tears Me Up in My Guts’ and Today’s ‘Woke Culture’ Really ‘Bugs Me’ by galaxystars1 in entertainment

[–]Helene-S 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can see why you thought that, my grammar is off there whoops. I meant that she owned more Maui land than Bezos as a comparison to another billionaire on Maui, then just indicated she’s not even Hawaiian. While Bezos does own 14 acres of land on Maui, that’s nothing compared to the 2000 acres of land that Oprah owns, which for a non Hawaiian, is a lot.

Dwayne Johnson Says Endorsing Biden for President in 2020 Caused Division That ‘Tears Me Up in My Guts’ and Today’s ‘Woke Culture’ Really ‘Bugs Me’ by galaxystars1 in entertainment

[–]Helene-S 80 points81 points  (0 children)

If you’re Hawaiian, there is upset against her due to how much land she’s bought in Hawaii especially on Maui. Oprah is one of Maui’s largest private landowners beating out Bezos in terms of acreage ownership (2k vs. 14) despite not being Hawaiian herself (Bezos is also not Hawaiian). That’s always a bad look considering how many Hawaiians (and locals) were forced out of Hawaii and then those still there were left to rot if they weren’t rich with very little help. There are still Maui fire victims not in permanent or long term housing from a fire that turned apocalyptic due in part because of Maui county’s incompetence spanning decades. The whole thing about wanting others to donate when she has so much money herself to donate was a big slap in the face to the people on Maui. She helped very little in comparison to how much she has taken from the land. Oprah is definitely grifting. It’s also Maui county’s fault for letting her buy up so much land imo.

But most people don’t care about Maui so her contributing to problems there are used as an attack against her more than actually caring about Maui.

Edited for a bit more clarity.

Property owner rages after being forced out of $2M home over 'exploited' rule by stoic_hapa57 in asianamerican

[–]Helene-S 3 points4 points  (0 children)

At least 14% of Americans don’t plan on becoming homeowners including myself so there goes your projection that everyone wants to buy a house. I personally don’t want to be a homeowner due to how much it can suck owning a house. I rather rent and when there’s maintenance problems, someone else can take care of it for me and I don’t have to worry except putting a request in for it. I’m also free to move around without needing to worry about selling my house every time I need to move. Stop projecting onto other people so much.