Hapa-haole

Hapa is a term for a person of mixed ethnic heritage. The term originates in Hawaii from the Hawaiian word for "half", "part", or "mixed". It is in itself loaned from the English word "half". In Hawaii, the word refers to any person of mixed ethnic heritage, regardless of the specific mixture. In California, the term has been culturally appropriated recently for any person of part Asian Pacific American descent. Therefore, there are two concurrent usages.

The term hapa comes from a Hawaiian word that denotes a part or fragment of something, itself a loan from the English word half. When applied to people, this denotes that such people are of mixed descent.

Used without qualification, hapa is often taken to mean "part White" and is shorthand for hapa haole. The term can be used in conjunction with other Hawaiian racial and ethnic descriptors to specify a particular racial or ethnic mixture. An example of this is hapa haole (part European/White).

Pukui states that the original meaning of the word haole was "foreigner". Therefore, all non-Hawaiians can be called haole. In practical terms, however, the term is used as a racial description for Caucasians (whites), with the specific exclusion of Portuguese. Portuguese were traditionally considered to be a separate race in Hawaii.

Some see the use of the term as a misappropriation of Hawaiian culture. Others take a stronger stand in discouraging its usage and misuse as they consider the term to be vulgar and racist. However, the term, unlike other words referring to mixed race people, is not and has never been a derogatory term when used in its original Hawaiian context, although it was later degraded by non-Hawaiians such as Japanese-Americans. As Wei Ming Dariotis states, "...'Hapa' was chosen because it was the only word we could find that did not really cause us pain. It is not any of the Asian words for mixed Asian people that contain negative connotations either literally (e.g. 'children of the dust,' 'mixed animal') or by association (Eurasian)."

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