Tex Swain's Ay Haole At The Beach

“Ay haole!” is a term that Tex Swain has endlessly heard. Haole, pronounced hauli, is a Hawaiian term used to reference a person who is usually caucasian and from the mainland. This discriminatory term and thinking dates back to pre World War II days. Before that, tourism had begun in 1936 with the starting of commercial air service, yet locals were uncomfortable with the U.S. military people, who were often caucasian. Tourism died down after Pearl Harbor, but soon exploded again, which created some trouble between the locals and military, and fights would break out at bars or beaches. Yet, tourism soon became the top industry in Hawaii, and loads of caucasians were moving to Hawaii from the mainland. Over time, although violence has declined, resentment still lies deep within. Natives are seen harassing “haoles” at the beach or harmlessly intimidating some, but on a rare occasion they go rogue and do violent actions. These instances are fast disappearing, but there are still areas in Oahu where “haoles” are encouraged to not venture into, like Waimea Bay where locals are often unpleasant to travellers. Still, millions each year visit the picturesque island of Oahu, with increasing numbers

Although Mark and Nancy couldn’t be reached, I asked Tex and Junko if their perspectives had changed since then. Both replied with a simple, one worded answer: “No.” This was flabbergasting, as it was hard to comprehend why this humorous yet disastrous story was fun for them. Going deeper, I found that Junko did not even care about the natives or their threat, and had hardly considered them in the event. “I was so nervous about the jump.” So nervous that she in fact did not even care that the natives could’ve killed them, much less think of them. In fact, Junko even said that she would jump off that cliff again if she had the chance and the