This week, I was a bit inspired by Kara's lecture about Hawaii, so I decided to research a bit about the dark side of tourism in Hawaii. Within ten minutes, I found an article about homelessness in Hawaii and a huge tent city in Oahu's Waianae, which was the biggest tent city in the US in 2013. (Link to article here.) The population of this "tent city" is made up of around 300 native Hawaiians, many of who have jobs that don't pay nearly enough to afford a house on the islands, but do not wish to leave their home state. These jobs, usually within the tourism side of Hawaii, refuse to pay a living wage for their workers, yet the state saw $14 billion in revenue from the tourism industry in 2012, and Oahu had more visitors than any other island in Hawaii. The intersection of tourism, economics, and colonialism is clear here; why pay more, when an indigenous people can be forced to work for less? Queimada echoes Kincaid, and Kindcaid echoes current post-colonial business sense- pay the lowest wages possible to make the most profit. (It says nothing for morality in business practices, but to be fair, that's not usually a thing.)
Unfortunately, many of the people in this homeless encampment are children, who live in tents with their entire family; there are an estimated 700 children in Waianae's tent cities (oh yes, there's more than one), and most go to school close to the encampments. Each tent city is hidden just behind bus stops, schools, and even gold clubs and tourist areas. One teen named Maelia would make shell necklaces to sell to visiting tourists in her spare time. This was a small detail in the larger scope of things, but I felt that is was an exemplar for the poverty that the tourist industry can ingrain and perpetuate on previously colonized lands. Why haven't tourists felt ashamed for bringing so much money to the islands, only to pour it into corporate business and cheap tourist attractions? Why hasn't anyone brought up legislation to make a living wage in Hawai'i? (And if they have and I'm just a dumb Californian, why hasn't that legislation helped?) Why isn't the federal government pouring federal aid into an island that has been used as a military base and R&R destination for over a century? And why is that that tourists are so comfortable with their island vacay that they cannot see the homeless? The homeless in Hawaii may be out of sight, but in a time we claim to be post-colonial, why is the US leaving them out of mind?
Thanks for sharing the article and your thoughts. These tent cities sound a lot like refugee camps. It also makes me think of the communities in Japan who are still displaced and still in temporary housing from the tsunami. I think a lot of times, tourists don't look into the realities of the places that they visit, or maybe they choose not to and that's an active choice that they make. It's a lot like how people will avoid eye contact with those on the street asking for money. They become "invisible". It's unfair these people have to live through these conditions. And who's to say when the US will really look and reach out to help, especially since the access to higher education alone has taken a huge dip.
ReplyDeleteI have to echoe Sabrina's thoughts on the similarities that tent cities share with refugee camps, but at the same time, it's kind of weird because they are refugees of this tourist monster that corporate Hawaii has become. It's really unfortunate that so many working natives are forced to live in this substandard living conditions when they work full time. Thanks for providing some useful options and encouraging us to remember the people in the tent city who are too often forgotten. There was a tent city called the Jungle which was recently shut down in San Jose. If you are interested you should search it up! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Selina, I appreciate your engagement with Hawaii/California connections. Like all states, Hawaii does have a minimum wage, but it is pretty low, $7.75/hour. Meanwhile, Hawaii is one of the most expensive states to live in, with one of the highest cost of living in the country, so there is that. many places that cater to tourist employ people at minimum wage, since it's considered "unskilled labor" so there's not much room to maneuver.
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