Journal of the Korean Geographical Society ISSN:1225-6633(Print) 대한지리학회지

It has been widely believed that the ethnic relations in Honolulu and Hawai’i in the early twentieth century were little associated with racist ideology because the white race was minority in terms of the racial composition. In reality, however, the racial and ethnic issues have played a major role in forming the past and present relations among ethnic groups. This study shows that the white-supremacy ideology exerted a strong influence on minority groups in Honolulu throughout the immigration and settling-down process, as much as in the mainland U.S. Clear occupational stratification and residential segregation among the ethnic groups in Honolulu represented almost the same situation as in mainland cities. The social segregation and spatial propinquity of their residential neighborhoods facilitated the construction of dichotomized identity: “Local” versus “Haole”. Such transformed identities were a product of on-going inter-ethnic negotiation process embedded in the non-white multi-ethnic neighborhoods.