Institutional Racism: The Case of Hawaii

This book describes how institutional racism arose in Hawai'i, why it arose, what kept it going, and how it can be dismantled. It describes the history, statistical patterns, ideological disputation, and political underpinnings of institutional racism in a particular state, indeed, one often thought to be relatively free from it. The book specifically focuses on racial problems related to education, employment, health care delivery, and public accommodation. It concludes that White-constructed institutional racist policies, practices, and procedures persisted even after statehood in 1959, when political power shifted to affluent Japanese-Americans, who used the same forms of institutional racism to hold back Whites and poorer non-White ethnic groups. Although affirmative action is often improperly thought to involve quotas and reverse discrimination, the case of Hawai'i shows that institutional racism can be dismantled through affirmative action without lowering standards of education, employment and health care.