Central to the case was the use of the word, “haole,” a Hawaiian word with meanings that include foreigner and white person. Dennis Kunzelman testified that the men called him “haole” in a derogatory way.
Attorneys for Aki and Alo-Kaonohi said it was not Kunzelman’s race that provoked them but his entitled and disrespectful attitude.
Yeah. That's not a hate crime.
I'd get called a haole 5x walking two blocks to the beach. Especially in an area that's still mostly native, they ain't going to just jump to using the same words for you they use with lifelong members of the community.
You're literally an outsider and need to make an effort to be welcomed into the community. Until then, you're going to be called the word for outsider. Well, technically it means "soulless" but it's not as bad as it sounds.
Edit:
To clarify like a lot of Asian communities a lot of importance is put on family units.
So amongst themselves, everyone is: auntie/uncle niece/nephew brother/sister/cuz
If you're not part of their family group, they ain't going to call you that.
You're a "haole" and that's all it means, one translation is just "not of the island". It's not automatically a bad thing, and rarely is.
But lots of haoles are dicks too. So sometimes you get checked to make sure you're cool.