Kokua needed. I am deep in a world-class flamewar in GD over the correct use of the term "haole".

[Hekate]

12. Oh good lord. I am SO glad I missed that.

Sorry I'm a late arrival to this thread, but the print on my iPad mini is so mini that I often land where I didn't intend to these days.

After 8 years trying to explain on DU how Hawai'i and Hawaiian culture differ profoundly from the Mainland, I have just about given up.

I went to my HS reunion last October -- it was wonderful. I reconnected with folks I'd known since 5th grade at Kainalu Elementary. Kailua High School was where we ended up. Then graduated UH Manoa. Public school all the way.

As for African Americans, despite the military presence, there were all of 3 AA kids at KHS in the mid 60s in a school of almost 2,000. They were a tiny tiny minority, all military dependents, in a population of Asians, Polynesians, and haoles. Like me. I'm a haole, and was never a military dependent.

I read once that Michelle tells her husband's newer friends that they won't "get" Barack unless they "get" Hawai'i, and I believe that. It formed me deeply -- many of my classmates are expats like me, and a subtext to our reunion was how we carry Hawai'i with us wherever we are.