Kill Haole Day
Date | The second to last day of school (May or June) |
---|---|
Location | Hawaii |
Kill Haole Day is the term for bullying incidents that occurred in some Hawaii schools, when non-white students would harass and attack white students. The incidents saw their height in the late 1970s.[1]
In his 2009 book, lawyer and former Hawaiʻi governor Ben Cayetano wrote that "Kill Haole Day" began as a news story headline about an incident between haole and local (not just Hawaiian) students. After that, "whenever there was a fight or an incident between haole and non-haole students, the news media", and newspaper editorial boards, "repeatedly reprised 'Kill Haole Day' in their news stories".[2]
In 1999, School Superintendent Paul LeMahieu said he was aware of "kill haole day" but not aware of any recent incidents. Also, in 1999, it became an issue for hate crimes legislation.[3]
Newspaper columnist Lee Cataluna wrote in 2010, "In terms of actual, first-person, eyewitness accounts of Kill Haole Day, no one had any [incidents] that happened in the last three decades. Not one teacher, not one police officer, not one victim or perpetrator."[4]
On December 31, 2008, the U.S. Department of Education released a report that concluded there was "substantial evidence that students experienced racially and sexually derogatory name-calling on nearly a daily basis on school buses, at school bus stops, in school hallways and other areas of the school".[5]
The report also concluded that school officials responded inadequately or not at all when students complained of racial harassment. Students who did complain were retaliated against by their antagonists.[6]
While the reports conclude that bullying occurs regularly in Hawaii schools, they do not confirm the tradition of "Kill Haole Day" being actively practiced.
See also
References
- ↑ Community Relations Commission. "Kill Haole Day". New community. 7–8: 267. ISSN 0047-9586. OCLC 615546790.
My students talked of the High Schools' 'Kill Haole Day' when a day in the school year was dedicated to roughing up the whites.
- ↑ Cayetano, Ben. Ben: A Memoir, From Street Kid to Governor (Watermark, 2009), p. 531
- ↑ "'Kill haole day' linked to hate-crime bill".
- ↑ Catalune, Lee (November 23, 2010). "Responses refute existence of any recent 'Kill Haole Day'". Honolulu Advertiser.
- ↑ United States Department of Education - Office for Civil Rights. "OCR Reference No 10051060" (PDF).
- ↑ Southern Poverty Law Center,. "Hawaii Suffering From Racial Prejudice".