That would be my guess as well and I agree that it doesn’t justify violence. Hawaii has a very low crime rate so so don’t want to give the impression that behavior is socially acceptable or they want all white people banned from the island.RIZZY_1 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 21, 2022 1:03 pm Gosh, they could have killed that man. How scary.
I can believe that the Hawaiians were not using the term in a racial sense. Possibly. But I do not believe that they didn't mean anything by it. They were clearly using it in a derogatory and pejorative sense and they clearly did not want a foreigner living there in their village. So, I still think this qualifies as a hate crime.
Hawaii has a lot going on with native islanders and foreigners. They're basically begging people to stop moving and vacationing there. After reading the article, it sounds like the white guy moved there with no other intention than to start a new life. But, he wasn't wanted there. I think his mistake was cutting those locks. His statement about being able to provide better locks and keys for everyone just sounds very much like white man's burden to me, and probably came off that way to the islanders. It's not an excuse to beat someone half to death. But I think it was a good idea for him to move to Puerto Rico instead.
But they do have a lot going on and all the political drama over here hasn’t made the mistrust any better unfortunately.
I hope one day that changes for the better because it is a beautiful place that everyone should experience.