A lot of people in Hawaii just don't get it about racial discrimination. Contrary to popular belief, it does exist here. Hawaii isn’t above
racial discriminationIt happens every day to people of all ethnicities, in variations too many to count. Granted, it is usually insidious. It takes forms like exclusion from a school clique or a "misplaced" job application, or the selective dress code enforcement at a nightclub or slow service at a restaurant.
These kinds of discrimination are easily disguised or attributed to something else. People who it's not happening to either don't care or take a passing glance and then forget about it.
But sometimes it's blatant and there for everybody to see, so they can act all shocked and surprised.
Well, here's a news flash. The world's changing. Hawaii's catching up and folks better get used to it.
Rob Wallace hurled what turned out to be a very expensive ethnic slur at Eric White during an angry confrontation at a University of Hawaii basketball game in 1995.
Partly because Wallace was representing the state as a UH team manager and White was a paying customer (a basketball booster, no less), the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission ruled that Wallace and the university owe White $30,000 and a public apology.
That sounds about right.
SURE, some of that money comes out of our pockets as state taxpayers, but it's worth it for the wake-up call it represents. Hopefully, even the lamest government agencies will take notice of this high-profile case and provide training to prevent similar situations in the future.
The fact that Wallace is the son of UH basketball coach Riley Wallace has little bearing here, except that Rob Wallace was arguing with White because White was berating Riley Wallace's coaching.
If White's heckling was offensive to those sitting around him, arena security -- not the team manager -- should have dealt with him.
A son standing up for his father is admirable, but Rob Wallace should have found a better way to express his anger.
The argument used in court, that Wallace was employing his right to free speech, is ludicrous.
Free speech. If I fill this space with racial epithets in the name of free speech, the people who pay me to fill this space would decide that I should go exercise my right to free speech elsewhere. And they'd be right.
Saying that the right to free speech justifies a racial slur delivered in malice is analogous to saying the right to bear arms justifies shooting people based on their race.
And people do get shot because of ethnicity. Not just in L.A. or New York or Alabama. But here in Hawaii, too.
OVERLY dramatic? Well, the thing about racism is that it's like an infection that gets worse and worse. Violence starts with words.
The difference between Hawaii and other places is that there is equal-opportunity racism here. There is no majority, only minorities, so everybody takes their lumps.
It's still OK to joke with friends about ethnicity. But these days, you'd better make sure they are your friends.
Racially discriminatory institutions have abounded in Hawaii for generations. But some are slowly being forced to change.
Kamehameha Schools may someday be open to children who don't have Hawaiian blood. AJA baseball's racial discrimination was recently challenged by a respected player.
One reason we love sports is that class and racial distinctions aren't supposed to matter. That Hawaii gets a racism wake-up call in a sports arena, a home of pure endeavor where, theoretically, nothing matters but ability, skill and desire, is sadly ironic.
That it's necessary at all is just plain sad.
Dave Reardon is a magazine editor and freelance
writer who has covered Hawaii sports since 1977.
He can be reached via the Star-Bulletin or
by email at dreardon@hmsa.com.
