Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 4, Number 5, 1 May 1987 — Change Sought in Classifying Hawaiians [ARTICLE]

Change Sought in Classifying Hawaiians

By Wendy Royto Hee Planning and Development Officer Over the past several years the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has been asking the Bureau of the Census to reconsider the way it collects and presents data on Hawaiians. Currently, the Census Bureau classifies Hawaiians under the general heading of Asian and Pacific Islanders. As we recently said in a letter to Senator Daniel K. lnouye who shares our view, we think it is very important that the Bureau of the Census reclassify Hawaiians in recognition of our native status. OHA would like to see Hawaiians classified separately just as the other Native American groups (American lndians, Eskimos and Aleuts) are. In contrast to OHA's position that Hawaiians be recognized as Native Americans, the Census Bureau is in effect equating Hawaiians with immigrants by classifying us under the heading of Asian and Pacific Isiander. With the exception of Hawaiians, all the groups included in this category are immigrants to the United States or American nationals. In addition to Hawaiians, the category includes: Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos, Koreans, Asian Indians, Vietnamese, Guamanians, Samoans and other Pacific Island peoples. OHA is taking several steps to achieve the desired change in the classification of Hawaiians. In addition to making our eoneem clear to John Keane, Director of the Bureau of the Census, we are also submitting testimony to the U.S. House of Representative's Sub-Com-mittee on Census and Populahon of our concerns and assisting Senator Inouye with his study of the issue. Aecording to the Bureau of the Census, the Office of Management and Budget dictates a standard definition of ethnic and racial categories to be used by all Federal agencies reporting statistical data. Because OHA be!ieves that it is important that Hawaiians be consistently regarded as Native Americans in all federal programs, OHA has also been in contact with the Office of Management and Budget. One of the reasons OHA is being so persistent about the federal classification of Hawaiians is that such recognition would increase the awareness of others that Hawaiians are Native Americans and therefore entitled to all the benefits of other Native Americans. Through the efforts of many people, particularly our congressional representatives, Hawaiians are increasingly being included in federal programs for Native Americans and

are even the subject of their own legislation based on native status. We think it is important that agencies and programs outside the federal government recognize Hawaiians as a native and underserved minority group. Many na tional opportunities available to other minorities, such as scholarships for minorities and special consideration for college admittance, are often not extended to Hawaiians because the offerer is not aware of the status of Hawaiians as a minority group. OHA has been in contact with several college programs asking them to include Hawaiians among their list of eligible minorities in an effort to increase educational opportunities for Hawaiians. The response from these programs has been favorable and we anticipate our efforts to be even more fruitful when the impact from changes at the Bureau of the Census and the Office of Management and Budget take effect.