Micronesians in Hawaii

This paper focuses on a story that was published in the Honolulu Weekly on February 25, 2009 addressing the multitude of issues that face Hawaii’s newest immigrant group, Micronesians. This growing immigration of residents of the islands of Yap, Chuuk, Kosrae and Pohnpei is a agreement between the governments of the United States the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) allowing Micronesians to travel to the U.S., visa free until the year 2024 in exchange for the U.S. military and civilian “exclusive access to the FSM’s territorial waters.” (This access has been underreported and includes U.S. missile testing of Kwajelin Island.) In exchange, the U.S. government provides economic and financial assistance to FSM residents. At approximately 20,000 in total population (75 percent of which live on O’ahu) Micronesians are moving to Hawaii to obtain medical care, jobs and education for their children. As a result, more and more Hawaii residents – especially those who have lost their jobs because of the current economic downturn and Native Hawaiians who are entitled to their piece of family land, are watching Micronesians making use of our medical facilities, having expensive surgeries done, etc. Most people, however, do not realize that many Micronesians are here seeking medical treatment for diseases they have contracted as a result of exposure to radiation from U.S. nuclear tests in the 1940s and 50s.

What results is an example of present day conflict theory in the making. As indicated on Page 11 in The Study of Minorities, analysts of this concept focus on the inequalities between groups that create hostility and animosity between ethnic groups, in this case, current Hawaii residents and Micronesians. Interestingly, Hawaii is all about minority groups dating back to the plantation days of the late 1800’s when the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipino and Portuguese were brought over to work for imperialist Missionaries who purchased land for profit from the Ali’i. Southeast Asians and Samoans were the last group to arrive. In Kuhio Park Terrace, where many Micronesians live because they can only afford low income housing are now at the bottom of the pecking order and Samoans are doing the pecking.

As also indicated on Page 11, racism affects the retention of power and control of wealth. When residents of Hawaii exhibit false consciousness (this writer included) about Micronesians because they do not assimilate with the Hawaii population, they remain a mystery and “different from us” and fear dictates why “we shouldn’t accept them”. Because Micronesians speak only their language, many small skirmishes and sometimes physical fights result because of inability to communicate with non-Micronesian neighbors. In another incident here in Hawaii, Mayor Wright Housing, a Micronesian was harassed to the point where she filed a petition for a temporary restraining order when her neighbors “tried to kick her and beat her up, and stood outside her door brandishing knives and other weapons, shouting, “You fat bitch, you fat Micronesians, you fat pig, you fat frog.”

Class consciousness becomes a very important concept to understand when, as pointed out on Page 59, para. 3, Parillo states that social class status will dictate how quickly the said group will be accepted by the new culture. If they are an educated middle class as were the Vietnamese and the Cubans in their immigration to the U.S., adjustment is easier. For Micronesians, fisherman by trade and illiterate, they face much negativism and their climb from the bottom is a tremendous challenge. The author states that these dissimilarities in values and standards of living will most certainly be the basis of conflict and tension.

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