Letter: Make things better for Micronesians in Hawaii

It was great to see the positive aspects of the Micronesian cultures being celebrated recently at the Bishop Museum (“Pacific Island cultures showcased at Celebrate Micronesia Festival,” Star-Advertiser, May 20).

The fact that the East-West Center was a major sponsor is noteworthy. The Micronesian community as a whole seems from this outsider’s perspective to have made some progress from the time period when Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner made a video of her “Lessons from Hawaii” poem, which chronicled the mass amounts of discrimination that they have suffered in Hawaii.

Though the Micronesians’ darkest days in Hawaii might be behind them, a recent study indicates that relations with the police are still deeply troublesome. This study showed that Micronesians are still 6.5 times more likely to have police force used against them than whites. This is progress? What is going on here? Cultural sensitivity training, community policing, and an active recruiting of Micronesians into the police force are all possibilities that can make things better. How much of this is happening on a continuing basis, if at all?

I hope we realize that helping to make things better for the Micronesian community makes things better for all of us.

Roman Leverenz

Aliamanu

>> Contact: 529-4831 (phone), letters@staradvertiser.com, staradvertiser.com/editorial/submit-letter Opens in a new tab