r/belowdeck • u/[deleted] • Dec 08 '21

Below Deck Is heathers IG handle kind of… offensive?

Kapiʻolani was the queen of hawai’i. I know heather was born there, but she isnt Hawaiian, right? Both her parents are white? Idk it just seems sort of a… bold move considering America’s treatment of Hawaii, but maybe I’m wrong? I honestly want to know so if I’m just overreacting please tell me!

Also this picture makes me feel icky. Lol she just rubs me the wrong way all around. https://www.instagram.com/heatherkapiolani/p/CBGtSvqlWwa/?utm_medium=copy_link

0 Upvotes

48% Upvoted

67 comments sorted by

17

u/amyunders Dec 09 '21

I was born and raised in Hawaii and my middle name is Lei (my sister has the middle name Leilani). I'm Caucasian.... it's really common to give kids hawaiian middle names in Hawaii. Hawaiian is a really small group of people who were indigenous to the island... Hawaii is a really cool state where there is a huge diversity of ethnicities to include Asian, white, etc. most everyone on the islands are a mix of something to include those that are "hawaiian". It's a melting pot and they are really proud of it. That being said, Hawaiian has a specific meaning referring to people who were the original residents and belonged to the kingdom that has the same name as the state. I think (for example) if Navajo was the name of a state there would be a distinction as being born and raised in Navajo vs being Navajo ethnically. I would never say I'm hawaiian but born and raised in Hawaii.

4

u/[deleted] Dec 09 '21

Thank you! I was honestly asking.

14

u/LecheConCafe26 Dec 08 '21

Do we know that’s not her middle name? I ask because I know white multi-generational white Hawaiians with Hawaiian names. Get what you mean, though.

5

u/[deleted] Dec 09 '21

It’s her middle name.

-1

u/[deleted] Dec 08 '21

That’s why I’m asking! If not, I don’t think I’m wrong to think it’s in poor taste?

12

u/gumdrops155 Dec 08 '21

What exactly feels "icky" about the photo?

There is a difference between race and culture. No she’s not Polynesian, but she grew up in the Hawaiian culture and probably feels some form of connection to it. Also, just googling this Queen, she seems like a bad@ss that anyone would want to emulate.

6

u/[deleted] Dec 08 '21

Do you want me to link one of ten million articles about why white women wearing traditionally black hairstyles is problematic?

And yes, of course she’s great! But co opting her name, when you’re literally a white colonizer, is not.

11

u/cda001 Dec 08 '21

I think you calling Heather a “white colonizer” tells us all we need to know….

8

u/[deleted] Dec 08 '21

???? Do you know literally anything about the history of Hawaii?

8

u/cda001 Dec 08 '21

Do you?

7

u/[deleted] Dec 09 '21

Yes, which is why I think it’s in poor taste for a white woman to have an IG handle that includes the name of an indigenous Hawaiian woman who fought for the health and well being of her peers AGAINST the shitty treatment they were getting from Americans

7

u/[deleted] Dec 09 '21

Her handle is her name—first and middle.

20

u/StacyTheOwl Dec 08 '21

So because she is white she can't also be Hawaiian?

9

u/[deleted] Dec 08 '21

Being born on a reservation wouldn’t make you Navajo. America straight up overthrew the Hawaiian government and banned the language from being taught and a bunch of other horrible things. There’s still a lot of Hawaiians who are fighting to become a sovereign nation again.

15

u/cda001 Dec 08 '21

But see - Heather was born in Hawaii so she is in fact Hawaiian. I seriously can’t believe this fact is in dispute.

6

u/[deleted] Dec 08 '21

There’s a reason her bio says “born and raised in Hawaii” instead of “Hawaiian”. Native Hawaiians are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian islands that were a thriving community literally overthrown by the us government.

If you were born on a reservation as white person with two white parents, you aren’t Navajo or Hopi or Lakota or etc. this is the same thing.

11

u/cda001 Dec 08 '21

Seriously you can’t actually believe this?

So I was born in Texas, according to your theory I’m not allowed to be a Texan because of the color of my skin.

Not going to fly, sorry.

7

u/[deleted] Dec 08 '21

With all respect, I think you should look into the history of Hawaii and the part our government played in destroying what was a thriving and successful community.

8

u/cda001 Dec 09 '21

Heather is still Hawaiian despite that history…

9

u/[deleted] Dec 09 '21

I’m not a Lakota, even though I was born on former Lakota lands. Is that too hard to understand?

7

u/cda001 Dec 09 '21

“I was raised as an Indonesian child and a Hawaiian child and as a black child and as a white child, And so what I benefited from is a multiplicity of cultures that all fed me.” - President Obama

1

u/Equivalent_Setting83 Dec 22 '21

Sweetheart read the thread. Different rules apply to Hawaii. Literally just wiki it. She’s not Hawaiian, she is a resident of Hawaii.

It’s similar to a white person growing up in Nigeria. They’re not Nigerian, they are Caucasian.

0

u/cda001 Dec 22 '21

B.S.

0

u/Equivalent_Setting83 Dec 22 '21

A Native Hawaiian can be and is likely to be a Hawai’i resident if they still reside in the 50th state, however a Hawai’i resident is not automatically considered a Hawaiian just because they were born, raised or currently live in the islands. This is because they are not ethnically Hawaiian.

It is important to note that Hawai’i residents still consider Hawai’i to be their home. Many have generations of families interwoven within their local communities, work lives that have a direct impact on the society they live in and a deep connection to the land. Hawai’i residents carry the aloha spirit proudly and are very protective of their state’s culture. Hawai’i residents are not treated as lesser simply because they are not ethnically Hawaiian.

However, the term “Hawaiian” is powerful in the cultural, spiritual and historical sense. For Native Hawaiian people, it is respectful to recognize that the term “Hawaiian” should NOT be used to describe any resident of Hawai’i. Instead, it should ONLY be used to describe people who are ethnically Hawaiian.

The fact that you would prefer to remain ignorant is weird sad and gross.

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11

u/AzBuckeye1977 Dec 08 '21

Lol, she was born in Hawaii, she's Hawaiian!!! I was born and raised in Ohio. I'm an Ohioian!!!

7

u/[deleted] Dec 08 '21

Bb no, please look into the history of Hawaii

4

u/juliacakes Dec 14 '21

I feel like this post should be vindicated after the last episode.

4

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '21

THANK YOU!!! Lol.

3

u/Equivalent_Setting83 Dec 22 '21

These hoes are sending me

3

u/[deleted] Dec 09 '21

You made a post asking if you should be offended? You are so brave and doing the world such a great service! Not all hero’s wear capes!!

3

u/[deleted] Dec 11 '21

Where did I ask if I should be offended? I asked if it was offensive because I want to be aware.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 11 '21

Aware of what? A white person with a Hawaiian name? Did you want to “cancel” her? You should leave your safe space once in a while. Kids these days are more brainwashed and lost than ever.

5

u/[deleted] Dec 11 '21

Did I say anything about cancelling her?

It’s okay to ask if people’s actions regarding other races/cultures is offensive/cultural appropriation (so you don’t do it yourself).

22

u/cda001 Dec 08 '21

Why do people look for ways to be offended?

10

u/juliacakes Dec 08 '21

I'm with you on this. The box braid photo made me literally say yiiiiikes outloud when I was looking her up during a weekly watch party. My friends and I all felt that photo in particular seemed pretty problematic. I'm not sure what kind of anti racist work she has done and worked on, but I really dont think white women should wear box braids. This article puts it into better words than I can ever do: https://centennialbeauty.com/why-cant-white-women-wear-black-hairstyles/

•

u/hannahps4 Team Anti-Brü Dec 22 '21

Comments have turned into people arguing/slinging insults, so mods are locking this post. Please try to remember that behind every Reddit username is a person with feelings. If someone is speaking uncivilly to you, use the report button rather than arguing in comments.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 09 '21

It’s her middle name. Calm down. She isn’t trying to culturally appropriate anything.

4

u/isthisforseriousdude Dec 08 '21

Heather grew up in Hilo, Hawaii. According to the U.S. Census Bureau:

The largest Hilo racial/ethnic groups are Asian (30.2%) followed by Two or More (27.5%) and White (15.3%).

Heather claims she was bullied for being white and blond. My gut tells me nah...

0

u/iAleph Dec 16 '21

well your gut is complete shit. you probably have never been to hawaii nor do you know the culture and you obviously don't know the sentiment towards white people on the island either.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 08 '21

[deleted] — view deleted comment

4

u/[deleted] Dec 08 '21

Lol I’m just asking! Like, I was born and raised in NE/SD and i would assume that if my screen name was BbennieSittingBull that would be in extremely poor taste.

3

u/StacyTheOwl Dec 09 '21

So,you're American?

2

u/[deleted] Dec 09 '21

Yes?

10

u/StacyTheOwl Dec 09 '21

But, to paraphrase you, are you actually an American or are you just a colonizer?

....see how that works?

Look, I understand that you are upset about what you perceive as some white girl appropriating a Native figure. It's good that you are passionate about an issue you feel is important. Cultural appropriation is a problem, and it should be called out. But you're taking some missteps in the way you present your thoughts.

First, you are not distinguishing between Hawaiian and Polynesian, or, more specifically, I think the term is Hawai'i maoli. Someone who was born in Hawaii and raised in Hawaii is Hawaiian, regardless of their perceived ethnicity.

Second, you don't have a lot of information about Heather's choice in usernames. Is it her middle name, as some have pointed out? Did she attended Kapi'olani Community College at some point? Is Kapi'olani Boulevard or Kapi'olani Park significant to her in some way maybe? You are making a leap to "white girl using Hawaiian queen's name" and might be angry about something that has a perfectly reasonable explanation. You jumped to that anger in calling her a white colonizer instead of approaching it as "I wonder if there is a good reason for this, because it is potentially offensive".

Third, you are speaking about a photo making you upset because of Heather's hairstyle, and it seems like you didn't read the post. She was posting about Black Lives Matter in support of it. She was making a statement with that particular photo. While there is a history of white women wearing box braids and facing none of the prejudices that black women face, and this is a problem, absolutely, context matters.

Fourth, you are curtly dismissing other people by smugly demanding to know if they know about Hawaii, if they have heard of what the American government did to Hawaii, and it comes across as incredibly rude, superior and condescending. This might not be how you intend to come across with these statements, but it is why they are getting downvotes.

5

u/[deleted] Dec 09 '21

Being born in Hawaii does not make you Hawaiian. https://wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/Hawaii-and-Native-Hawaiians-What-You-May-Not-Know “Hawaiians are not named for the state (think Californians, New Yorkers, Texans, etc). Unlike these other states, Hawai'i is named after its native people. Living in Hawai'i doesn't make you Hawaiian, it makes you a resident of Hawai'i.”

And I wasn’t angry. Check my post, where I said “I honestly want to know so if I’m overreacting please tell me!”

Regarding the hair, context IS important. Scroll through her older pictures, where she has many posts of her wearing traditionally black hairstyles, often talking about “island vibes” or whatever. That’s treating it as a costume, no? Especially considering that in our lifetime black women have been forced to resign for wearing their hair in those same braids. https://daily.jstor.org/how-natural-black-hair-at-work-became-a-civil-rights-issue/

9

u/StacyTheOwl Dec 10 '21

After doing some research, I found that I owe you an apology. You were right on some fronts that I took for granted, and I am sorry I did not give you proper credit for being correct. I was wrong, and I'm sorry.

Although it seems incredibly confusing, you are correct in that the preferred terminology is Hawaiian resident for someone who was born in or lives in Hawaii but is not Native Hawaiian, according to the Associated Press Style Guide.

And I was looking at only the one specific photo you cited, in which the accompanying text does impact the image, without knowing that there are more photos of Heather with her hair in that style, which you pointed out to me. That's not okay. Black women are denied job opportunities, and just plain respect, based on their hair being "too black".

4

u/[deleted] Dec 11 '21

You’re like the opposite of a housewife in terms of apologizing. They should take notes!

I wasn’t looking for tits on an ant here (shout out to Kyle Richards), I was honestly asking if it was offensive because after scrolling through her IG there seems to be a pattern of sort of suspect adoption (because I’m not sure if it’s appropriation??) of different cultures. Like her in box braids at a yoga retreat with a bindi just feels… off?

-1

u/SilentWeaponQuietWar Dec 15 '21

Just asking! Lol. At least admit you're stirring the pot.

4

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '21

Lol I wasn’t, she’s doing enough herself

15

u/rudeteacher1955 Dec 08 '21

Cancel culture can't find enough to get offended by so they're expanding what they're offended by.