"Ethnic"

[Glen Miyashiro]

OK, I guess I'm in a grumpy mood today, but over at the Honolulu Advertiser (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Aug/26/il/il01a.html):

Liliha might be the last of the old-time places on O'ahu. The population remains elderly and predominantly ethnic; the pace, slow and pedestrian.
"Ethnic"? What, pray tell, does this mean in Hawai'i? I suspect that they mean "non-white", but good lord, in a state where only 35% of the population is white, this isn't a very meaningful word.

Actually, I have always been annoyed by that use of the word ethnic, because it's very Eurocentric. It assumes that white people aren't "ethnic", and everyone else is. I liked a SF story I read once where Bach was described as European ethnic music. :p

[Linkmeister]

Grumpy, meet another one. That annoyed me a little too. It's unclear, for starters. Is Whitmore Village "ethnic?" Is Chinatown? Hawaii Kai?

[pzarquon]

I wish I had an AP stylebook handy. I thought this was one of those words it's best to avoid. IIRC, "ethnic" as an adjective to describe a community isn't as politically incorrect as it sounds - I don't think it neccessarily means non-white (where "minority" would otherwise work, except again in Hawaii). It just means that it... um... well, here (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=ethnic&r=67): "a sizable group of people sharing a common and distinctive racial, national, religious, linguistic, or cultural heritage."

So, my old neighborhood would be "ethnic" as the demographics skewed heavily Korean. Chinatown could thus be "ethnic," as could Lanikai, for that matter. :) What's missing is exactly what ethnicity predominates... and if they're going to specify that, why not just say a "largely Filipino community," or a "largely Elbonian community"?

Its meaning isn't clear and vague or inaccurate terms relating to race and ethnicity in the islands in particular are something best avoided.

[kamlost]

Time for a letter to the editor!

[kimo55]

"Ethnic"? What, pray tell, does this mean in Hawai'i? "

" Its meaning isn't clear and vague or inaccurate terms relating to race and ethnicity in the islands in particular are something best avoided."


welcome to contemporary journalism!


you were expecting more?!

[hikiee]

Did any of you guys write?
I missed this one.