I’m sorry but I’m just so unbelievably angry today.
Hawaiians are dying. My people, our way of life is dying. Everyday homelessness, illness and age take my people.
And it all boils down to money.
Native Hawaiians only make up about 21% of the state’s population, but over 50% of individuals experiencing homelessness in Hawai’i are Native Hawaiian.
Which means most of my people who live on our land, live without a home.
Native Hawaiians make up around a quarter of Covid-19 cases and around 40% of Covid deaths.
Which leads me to my next point.
Distrust of the government.
Many Native Hawaiians hesitated to get the vaccine, because the American government cannot be trusted with my people. We mask and be safe, in fact, Hawai’i had rules about masking in your car as well as outside for a long time. We care about our communities, our elders. But we do not trust the government to care for us.
I myself am fully vaccinated, with my booster scheduled for next week. But I understand the mistrust of government present in my community.
The US government has let us down endlessly. Our land was robbed from beneath us. Our sovereign money, money that should be distributed amongst the people is wasted on half finished unless monorails and new hotels. Billions have been poured into a useless monorail and nothing is ever completed. Recently it was delayed 10 YEARS and has cost us 12 BILLION DOLLARS while my people starve to death in the streets.
Government assistance is slow if available at all. The Hawaiian Housing is a joke. A fucking joke. My parents have been on that list for almost a decade, and it doesn’t matter. We never heard anything. We lived in a concrete apartment the size of one bedroom.
And for a long time, only people 50% or more Native Hawaiian could benefit from the program. Which is so so rare. Because my people have been murdered and killed and reduced to nothing. Only older generations are commonly 50%, or if your parents are older like mine, you can be 40%. But even that is a lot. Now you have to be 25% which is becoming rarer and rarer. Most people my age are less than 25%, mostly mixed with other Asian or Polynesian races.
Native Hawaiians can attend college for free. But your GPA has to be competitive, and in lower income communities like Indigenous communities, GPA rates are lower due to the struggles of poverty.
My people suffer and die and never get help. And we rarely get noticed.
I’m so tired of watching my people fade away.
Fund Native Hawaiian communities. Restore our sovereignty. Respect our sacred land and listen listen listen
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