Othering and microaggression.
It was only a matter of time and, honestly, a pure miracle that we have all gotten to enjoy the word “aloha” for so long. Gotten away wearing it on trucker hats, plastering it to the back of Teslas in sticker form, saying it to each other when landing at Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport smiles spreading across pasty faces in anticipation of that first Mai Tai.
A surprisingly long run but, alas, now officially over.
Into the cultural appropriation bin where it probably belonged all along.
Maile Arvin, director of Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Utah, explained to USA Today, “‘Aloha’ doesn’t just mean hello or goodbye. It’s a greeting or a farewell, but the meaning is deeper. One of my Hawaiian language teachers taught it to me as ‘Aloha means recognizing yourself in everyone and everything you meet.” And when non-natives use, it comes off as mockery.
Aloha isn’t the only word that we should keep out of our lily mouths, of course. The piece continues:
“We live in a multilingual world where we’re always influencing one another’s language practices hand where we might come into contact with a variety of terms or language practices that we have not grown up in,” says Nikki Lane, cultural and linguistic Anthropologist.
Intention matters most. Dropping an “hola” or “shalom” to someone you know who speaks Spanish or Hebrew, for example, isn’t something to worry about. Actively don a fake, exaggerated accent and say those words? Therein lies the problem.
Like saying “ni hao” to someone Asian-American who isn’t Chinese; this could be both othering and a microaggression.
So there you have it, amigos, I mean friends.
Nyet on dropping foreign words into bland English sentences.
Khalas.
Also, are you now considering applying to the School of Pacific Island Studies at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City?
Maybe you should.
So let me get this straight, it is now considered cultural, appropriation to use the word aloha, but it’s OK for the person to be racist calling white people “haoles1” (derogatory) and that we have “pasty white mouths”. But that is ok, right? Imagine, if you will, saying something like that about ANY other race. So here’s a Hawaiian word for you: lolo.
Aloha you fuckn haoles
If you pull out your micro penis in public does it count as a micro aggression?
This is why I hate liberalism. It has created an entire population of mentally ill people who do stuff like this. Yet even a conservative like me has sense enough to know that I will say any word I want I will do my hair anyway I please I will dress anyway I want to dress I will raise my children as I desire to raise them and y’all can go screw yourselves. Fluently!
Aloha motherfucker
Does ‘intent’ not count for anything anymore these days? This being offended BS about every goddamn thing is tiring.
It’s not very aloha to not share the word aloha,mahalo
You can always spot the mainland haole, if not from their desperate attempt to powerjaw the pidgin, then it will be their chronic overuse of “Aloha”, saying it as much as humanly possible.
Real mainland haole sign ALL their emails with “Aloha” as well –
Am I still allowed to write this comment in English? it’s not my mother tongue. I might miss the deeper meaning of some of the words I use…
Was Mike Brady banging Alice or Sam the butcher?
brudah!
are the Utes hiring coaches, influencial cultural peeples…or am I Steve Lopez covering my daughter’s v-ball game? or writing recruiting pieces for the WSL..
Coach
Just another kid delivered raw into the world…
“From a gleam in your Daddy’s eye…”
Unaware of routine, talent, knowledge, worth, or girth…
Shaped by forces and Mother’s intent…
Driven to find another meaning…
A meaning to life…
And on occasion when I needed a dime…
Can I borrow five bucks?
To play, to school, to surf or date…
“And don’t do that Tim…”
I usually did…
Mentors have developed, matured, and rolled over with time…
A who’s who of heavy men…in books, in movies, on tv…
Today’s sport hero is an old radical named Bill…
“Can’t stand to hear him behind a mike…”
But Dad, he was once young like you…
Dribbling then heaving round balls through square nets…
________________________________________________________________________
Sports…
Heroes…
And coaches…
________________________________________________________________________
He had John Wooden…
And I have you
Ethnic studies are the toilet of academia. It’s where the useless take a shit. The title these classed should be changed to “problem finding” so the kids can’t trick their parents into paying for them.
Aloha hard.
Throw as many of those loose shakas as you can.
Clock is ticking.
Would not bang
Ok, A little levity here. The setting – 1976. The Roasted – Muhammad Ali, in his f’n prime. The Roast master – Dean Martinelli. The roasters, All manner of celebrity and comic. Freddie Prince snr is one of the best. Even a young Bill Crystal makes an appearance doing the best Ali impression I’ve ever seen. Some of the jokes are hackey, some are straight up racist but most of all, it’s goddam funny, and not meant in any mean-spirited way. You can see how much everyone loves to laugh and I dare anyone to watch this beast of a special and not crack up and cringe a bit at how far we’ve come, but also – how low we have sunk since. Bless the YT alogo on this nug showing up on me yest’y.
Since we can’t say Aloha anymore, I’ll just say peace y’all. And that word is only allowed to be used by Judaeo-Christian nationals. Cause that’s what we do now, ban shit.
https://youtu.be/zcvuQ9YPzhM
i’ll watch it later, after a few Primos, a toke of maui wowee and laugh like the warrior/stoner i am
Perfect prose!
so can I still say w’sup nigga , Aloha Haole , bonjour bitch, just askin for John Tate
Because Mormons, they all can’t go to BYU Laiea Chuck.
At least I can still say Mahalo.
Best sitcom story arc…ever?
Vincent Price was…Priceless.