Some blacks in Hawaii downplay Obama's race - News - Starbulletin.com

http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20081109_Some_blacks_in_Hawaii_downplay_Obamas_race.html

Interesting perspective from the state where President-Elect Barak Obama spent his boyhood and also my hometown. Here ethnicity takes on a different color (pun-intended) that one can't really grasp unless you've lived here.

Obama went to the same school as I and graduated in the class between two of my sisters. We're proud when any kama‘aina makes a substantive mark on the world. We celebrate them with "Local boy/girl makes good!" — apart from color, race or creed. That’s the Island Way, the aloha spirit, and the way we look generously on the keiki o ka aina.

kama‘aina = long time residents of Hawai‘i whether born here or not
keiki o ka aina = children of the land
*poke (mentioned in article) is Hawaiian style sashimi made with cubed raw fish seasoned variously with soy sauce, onions, sesame oil, seaweed, chili peppers,

Posted by email from pam's posterous