A year ago, a Kalihi nonprofit launched a massive project to root out housing discrimination against Micronesians — a problem, advocates at the agency say, that has grown with the influx of Micronesians to the Islands.
So far, Kokua Legal Services has settled one lawsuit with a landlord — who agreed to pay more than $10,000, though admitting no wrongdoing — has filed another and is pursuing some half-dozen other landlords, the nonprofit said.
Under the ongoing program, some 500 landlords with rentals on the market have been called, with Micronesians and Caucasians posing as potential renters.
Members of the Micronesian community say the project raises much-needed awareness for renters and landlords, and is a vital step toward creating a fair housing market for Micronesians.
The project adds teeth to efforts to enforce fair housing laws and overcomes one of the main obstacles — victims being reluctant to come forward. And it could become a model for other advocacy agencies trying to stop housing discrimination against Hawai'i residents in all sorts of protected classes.
On the Mainland, several organizations, including the National Fair Housing Alliance, have kicked off similar projects and achieved positive results.
Micronesian leaders in Hawai'i hope the project has lasting effects.
They say blatant as well as subtle housing discrimination against new Micronesian immigrants and longtime residents alike continues to go largely unchecked. They also say it goes largely unreported because of fears about coming forward, language barriers and a lack of services to address the need.
"It seems to be getting worse," added Maria Narruhn, a founding member of Micronesians United, which has been trying to address housing discrimination, but whose resources are limited.
Narruhn said she knows 10 families who have been turned away from rentals on the market in the last year, and were likely discriminated against. Some of the cases involved the landlord actually saying Micronesians weren't welcome.
She believes two of her own family members were also victims of housing discrimination, including her son-in-law, who inquired about a one-bedroom for $995 and was told, when he looked at the unit, that the rent had jumped to $1,020.
With more Micronesians coming to the Islands every year, looking for employment and medical care, advocates say more attention needs to be paid to complaints of housing discrimination against them. Some also say the housing issue could be symptomatic of a larger discrimination problem.
Narruhn and others said many people hold negative stereotypes about Micronesians, which affect not only whether they get into a rental unit, but could affect whether they get a job. Micronesians are already at a disadvantage when they come to Hawai'i, Narruhn added, because many speak little English.
A GROWING POPULATION
Estimates put the Micronesian population in Hawai'i between 10,000 and 20,000. State officials and service providers say they are struggling to meet the needs of the growing group. And since many Micronesians need help with more immediate needs, such as healthcare and housing, advocates say the issue of housing discrimination has been put on the back burner.
That's left those trying to address the problem hard-pressed to pinpoint the scope of the problem. No service providers in Hawai'i collect data on the extent of housing discrimination against Micronesians and few have housing discrimination services tailored to members of the population, with interpreters and outreach programs.
In fact, agencies have little way of determining just how pervasive housing discrimination is among the entire population, much less a segment of the state, because of underreporting and an unwillingness among victims to follow through with complaints, which can take a year or more to adjudicate or settle.
Of the 43 cases of housing discrimination filed with the state Civil Rights Commission in fiscal year 2007, nine were based on race, national origin or color. The category of discrimination was the second most common among cases filed. The top reason for housing discrimination was disability status.
The commission does not track complaints by ethnicity or race and so could not say whether any ongoing cases involve Micronesians. Christopher Jones, deputy director of the commission, also said he did not know whether housing discrimination against Micronesians was any worse than against other groups.
Members of Micronesians United and other advocates say part of the reason the problem is so difficult to quantify is because many Micronesians don't come forward, either because they are afraid to or because they don't know where to go. Language barriers also prevent reporting.
Michael Shiroma, city fair housing officer, said Micronesians also have few places to turn for help, since many nonprofits do not have the money for interpreters and outreach programs.
"Micronesians aren't an underserved population, they're an unserved population," Shiroma said.
The problem is even more acute on the Neighbor Islands, where services are fewer and further between. Ron Fujiyoshi, a supporter of Micronesians United on the Big Island, said churches that serve Micronesians have started to address the problem, mostly by urging people to stick up for themselves against housing discrimination and other injustices.
"We're telling them to be like Jesus, be bold and persistent," Fujiyoshi said. "Micronesians themselves are so polite that they're easy to turn down. Even if they know they've been treated badly, it's not easy to get them to take action on their own."
But not everyone agrees housing discrimination against Micronesians is solely based on their national origin. The Rev. Akendo Onamwar, who leads the Micronesian congregation at Church of the Crossroads, said he has heard of cases that would likely qualify as housing discrimination against Micronesians, but he said the discrimination was likely based on the number of children a family had, the number of extended family members or other factors.
"It may be because of our big families," he said. "It may because of our language barriers."
Onamwar also said Micronesian custom dictates that families help each other, which means one family could invite several other families in need of shelter to live with them. He said he understands why a landlord would be wary about having several families living under the same roof.
HOW THEY HELP
The Kokua Legal Services project started in January 2006, after board members at the nonprofit saw several cases dealing with housing discrimination and heard from community members that the problem was real.
Jory Watland, president of Kokua Legal Services and a founding member of the board, said most of the clients the nonprofit sees are Micronesian. Of the 150 cases it handles a year, about one-third deal with housing and a number of those are often linked to discrimination, he said.
"We want to address the need in the community," Watland said. The project, he added, is designed to "rectify the unwarranted ... discrimination" against Micronesians.
There are four employees at Kokua Legal Services working on the project, along with civil-rights attorney Lunsford Phillips, who gained notoriety in the 1990s for filing a host of lawsuits against businesses that were allegedly not in compliance with American with Disabilities Act requirements. Phillips could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The project is similar to landlord testing work the Legal Aid Society of Hawai'i has also done.
But Cynthia Thomas, manager of the Fair Housing Project at the society, noted that the society has never filed a lawsuit based on landlord tests, and also has never focused on discrimination against Micronesians.
Thomas said there is legal precedent for testing projects suing landlords for discrimination. So far, though, she said Legal Aid has not found conclusive evidence through its tests.
Testers have found "hints of discrimination," she said, in which cases Legal Aid attorneys call or write the landlord to give them more information on state and federal fair housing laws.
The first lawsuit Kokua Legal Services filed as part of the project involved a landlord, who was advertising a two-bedroom unit in 'Aiea. According to court documents, a Micronesian tester at Kokua Legal Services called the 'Aiea landlord to inquire about the apartment and was told it was not available. The landlord also told the caller that he had no other units available, the documents allege.
Fifteen minutes later, a Caucasian tester at Kokua Legal Service called the landlord to inquire about the apartment and was told it was available. The landlord also allegedly told the tester he had other rentals that were empty.
The lawsuit filed by Kokua Legal Services in July 2006 said the Micronesian caller identified herself as Micronesian before inquiring about the rental.
The case was settled in May. The landlord and his attorney declined comment on the case, citing a confidentiality agreement as part of the settlement. The terms of the settlement agreement were not made public, but Watland said the landlord agreed to pay the plaintiffs more than $10,000.
Kokua Legal Services filed its second lawsuit as part of the project in September, alleging that two landlords who were renting a North King Street unit for $2,000 a month discriminated against a Micronesian tester, then offered the unit to a Caucasian caller.
In an October answer to the complaint, the landlords denied the allegations. The landlords could not be reached for comment, and lawyers for the two did not return calls.
you all need to realize that hawaii is not home and get with the program. its getting embarrasing how many times you are quoted in newspapers and you talk
of " at home " on "our island" "back home" - you are obviously not at home and language barriers , i guess you expected everyone to learn your language and do
things like they do " back home " just to make your stay more accomodating. life in hawaii is hard. its hard to live. 29 people living in a house in itself is a fire
hazard. its hard - everyone is trying to make a living not only you micronesians, even people such as landlords- your reputation is the way it is because of past
experiences , i, as a landlord need to keep things in check to make sure the rent is paid and that other neighbors not complain of too many people in the the
apartment next, i as a landlord need to follow guidelines when you sign up the 15th person to be living in your unit its violates laws that ive put down for everyone
else renting from me to follow- so you get evicted, thats just too bad. so when other micronesians come by no matter how God-fearing they are - i have my
personal interests to protect and i say NO to you and yes to a Caucasian and when that caucasian takes in 15 other people to live in their unit i will evict them.
life is hard , hawaii is hard, pick another state to whine about its living standards and conditions.
Thank you 12345 for posting this up. As soon as I read this on HonoluluAdvertiser.com, I wanted to post this up also. My main concern is that the woman, "Maria Narruhn" is Chuukese. If they were to do an article referring to Micronesians as a whole, why not get four people, each from Kosrae, Yap, and Pohnpei to participate in the research because I think this apartment discrimination is mostly happening to Chuukese people here in Hawaii. If there was an influx of Samoans or Tongans in the Mainland, I don't see any articles being referred to as Polynesians. That's just wrong. I would like to know if anyone is offended by this article stating " ...influx of Micronesians to the Islands."
It is offensive indeed that a few has now made a generalization of the entire Micronesian region as " unwanted guests. " The number of Micronesians in Hawaii is less than 1% of the total population of Micronesia combined and yet, these few have made significant negative impacts of the Micronesian name in the face of the Hawaiians. Why wouldn't this be offensive?
Yes, there is a problem with the grouping of all Micronesians together. The article doesn't clarify whether the term "Micronesian" represents all island groups within the region of small islands: CNMI, RMI, ROP, Gilberts, Nauru, and FSM, or if it's referring to FSMers only.
I personally think that the word "Micronesian" itself is politically incorrect to use. If the term is used to describe FSMers only, other countries within the region are ignored. If the term is used to describe all the island groups together, the individuality of the nations as different political entities is also ignored. Either way, the term "Micronesian" is problematic to use.
In regards to the alleged rental bias against Micronesians, it's hard to form an opinion when the demographics aren't clear.
would someone please notify the so called "Micronesians United" to stop speaking on my behalf. The last time I checked the organization comprised of mostly Chuukese. It has become a routine for the Hon. Advertiser to interview the Micronesian United group as though they can speak clearly and accurately on behalf of "all" micronesians. Although, I agree with everyone on the need for specifications when it comes down to the term "micronesians", for the time being, everyone, someone, anyone, pls. tell the micronesian united group to answer questions specifically relating to them and STOP speaking for everyone by making comments such as . "us, we, in micronesia," etc.. everytime Micronesians are in the paper and as expected the organization is interviewed, the comments always come of inaccurate and confirming the notion that Micronesians are ignorant in many many ways......
micronesians in hawaii. if you can't make the cut maybe its time to go home . you make it hard for other sincere people who are out there trying to make a living and simply reap the benefits of another country , welfare and etc. this article ties into the micronesians homeless article in which 50 people live in a house the other six line up every day and night at the homeless shelter so that they can get more houses to roof another 50 so please - so youve found a loophole in the system with your overcroweded houses and welfare bought cars lets not forget your popping of kids to increase your welfare benefit timetable.
alalal.. i can't agree more with you.. and who are these Micronesians United??? One thing for sure, a few spoiled coconuts ruins the whole sack of coconuts. And as alalal simply put it: "you all need to realize that hawaii is not home and get with the program"..
alalal, your tone has some very sad discriminatory taste in it. so tone it down a bit and let's discuss what's the issue is. I'm sure you're here to put down a group of people (Micronesians), by even typing away in here. You have to understand one thing first. When this topic was posted, we all understand the circumstances. But what makes you sure you'd deny renting to a Micronesian as a landlord not even knowing who's gonna be staying at the house or apartment. You see, the article or the cases that has been filed was about a Micronesian calling to inquire about a rental apartment, there's no where in there that he/she mentioned that there will be 15 or 29 more people be residing in the unit. The landlord of that particular unit turned he/she down just because he/she said "I'm a Micronesian". It could be you for all I know that was on the other end telling that Micronesian that you have nothing available to rent. Why is it that we suspect discrimination in your comments here.
"Micronesians in Hawai'i, if you can't make the cut, maybe it's time to go home"? What is there to make a cut for. Is there like a certain group that must be accepted in Hawaii in order to be given the rights to rent from the socalled landlords like yourself? Sure, I can relate on the fact that Hawaii is not home, meaning, it won't be the same like Chuuk for instant, and that you have to get with the programs soon. We all have to go thru the culture shock of going to or moving to a new place. After all, this nation was built by migrants or Immigrants. I'm sure the very landlords were immigrants or came from immigrant parents as well. Most landlords in Hawaii are not native of Hawaii anyway. The landlords are either filipinos, japanese or chinese and haoles. Even native Hawaiians strugle to have better housing for themselves. When I say native, I mean people with lineage to ancient Hawaii or blood. Not because you were born in the State of Hawai'i. So let's stop the bias and first allow these people to work in peace and get equal opportunity and housing first like everybody else. Now, of course by law when a tenant or an employee can't abide by certain rules and regulations, then you do your actions necassary to deal with it. We or you, alalal can't go right off from the get-go and deny opportunities for housing or even employment. If they meet the criterias, then by law, you can't discriminate against Micronesians. Until they violate the rental agreements, i.e., allowing more people to live in with them, then yes, do your part and take the necassary steps. One thing is to violate rental agreements and get evicted and another is to get turned down from renting due to your ethnicity. Let's not condemned those that are doing great in this country. A question if I may, alalal. Would you say the same thing here to the Samoans that have been residents of the housings in Hawaii for the longest or been renting in Hawai'i wiht multiple family members. I'm sure they are in the same predicament. Thank you.
KETEU I read the article and I understand that it was straight out discrimination. The whole rental perspective was that just a perspective I don't rent out apartments
and honestly if I did I would save myself the trouble and not rent out to a Micronesian. Im sorry if I think we could and should aspire to being with the common-
pool of other immigrants suffering from discrimination because of those examples set by the few or many before them. In our case , the many. Lets join hands
with all races who have proven themselves unworthy of living up to rental agreements, then making discrimination towards Micronesian renters a reality. What Im
saying is you have to get with the program, I can understand the discrimination and although he could simply just hate Micronesians he could also be looking out
for his best interest which Im sorry to say I would understand, the world doesn't work out of the good will of heart. Eviction papers, Evictees rights to be
respected, possiblity that the evictee could want to get money out of the situation (maybe a lawsuit), having the place renovated all things im sure I would want to
avoid , then comes along the Micronesian couple with five kids , living off welfare, and my heart starts to hurt and I want to say yes, but when I think of how can
anyone be on welfare with one kid then somehow hop on to five , your welfare wasn't really an issue,reaping the benefits of the hawaii govt was 1 on the agenda
and really doesn't seem like a bad idea.
ps. do you really think the rental guy woke up one day and just choose Micronesians as people to not rent to. I don't know it could.
alalal, To your ps., No I don't think the landlord just woke up and said to himself not to rent to Micronesians. It's just that when you categorize or rather stereotype Micronesians. You said to save you the trouble by not renting to Micronesians is straight out discrimination. Equal opportunity is a law that until you show your true colors of incompetent or can't abide by what is said in writing, you can't just discriminate. No landlord can deny renting if there's no proven fact that a certain tenant/tenants are violating their leases and what not. You can't just come off denying anybody that right to rent. You also have the law on your side that says you can refuse services to anyone but not until they show otherwise or you have proof that they're not abiding by your rental agreements. Tha'ts all i'm stressing here, mr. alalal. No depate is needed, but you and I or us forumers all need to understand the basics or the fundamentals of the American System here. I agree that anyone who violate anything shouldn't be given the services, in this case, renting or leasing. The notion that Micronesians are popping babies and increasing the number in the household is pretty much everybody. Now, that is done not to increase their welfare incomes. Micronesians like all of the Pacific Islands have a common belief that the more the merrier. Samoans do this all the time, nothing against the great people of Samoa, they are truly great people and I have a lot of friends from Samoa. But they've been doing that in Hawaii way longer then Micronesians, I just don't see you (alalal) or anybody making a big fuzz out of them though.
You see my friend, alalal, we should be focusing on bigger illegal issues like illegal immigration, or apartments being used as drug havens for addicts or drug dealers. I think, the least problem is Micronesians overgrowding an apartment or using the welfare system in Hawaii. I can't disagree with you more on violating of any apartment lease, what must be done to fix the problem is very important, oh and by all means let's stress the issue. The only thing is, so far, it's about discrimination, not wanting to rent it to a Micronesian or Micronesians. This is straight out wrong. I'm a Micronesian with a wife and a daughter, you mean to tell me we can't get an apartment lease because we're Micronesians? Even though the number of people in my household is 3 and that I can affort the rent? Do you think my family and I should be denied a place to rent just because we came from that region in the Pacific? So you see, my friend, the reason I wanted us to have an understanding here. And don't get me wrong, I'm an advocate of equal opportunity and equal housing. If somebody is violating those set of laws or rules, then by all means, they should be dealt with. I'm just stessing this so my family can have a place to live if ever residing in Hawaii.
Who would want to rent to a Chuukeese? 1. They pack 25 non working and screaming kids in to a 1 or 2 bedroom unit 2. They hang out and get drunk and yell and fight all day 3. They don't pay rent on time 4. They are dirty and nasty people
I don't blame the land lords. I wouldn't rent to these people either.
I'm not a Chuukese, I'm only saying what I said because of Micronesians that are doing good in this country, let alone in the State of Hawaii. A discrimination is a discrimination. That's the beginning of this topic. I don't even reside in Hawaii, back in the early 90s, yes I was living in Hawaii trying to get an education but now I'm in the Mainland. Yes, Pissed, all the circumstances you mentioned above must be dealt with and swift. But what about the rest of us Micronesians that can abide by the Leasing and Rental Laws, should we get scrutinized because we're Micronesians. Do you ever think of those that are lease abiding people and never violate their leases, but they get the wrath of the discriminating landlords just because they're Micronesians? We must look at the issue from all corners like I was kindly saying to mr. alalal above. Thank you very much Mr. Pissed, for hearing me out here without throwing the rocks at my nonsense self. Just a thought that maybe you wonderful people in here can give me the opportunity to comment freely within good taste. And by all means, I mean no disrespect nor disagreement on most part. Thank you Pissed and everyone else.
Look pal, The chuukeese discriminate against their own people here in Chuuk. I am a white guy living here in an apartment. The owner is Chuukeese and will not rent to Chuukeese. Other owners are the same way. Why? for the same reasons I listed above. I get discriminated against here for different things but no big deal for me. My sole mission here other than my job is to bring more evidence against Mr. Nakamura (CPUC) and a couple of others so they can do some time in US Federal Prison.
Honest truth..... Locals here in Hawaii are bias and Micro haters!!! Few months back, I almost got into a fight with this one local middle aged son of a you know what for his racist comment about us Micronesians. All that just because i accidentially drive up his private driveway. Another bias incident i've encountered was with a landlord. The moment i told him my nationality, he just went cold on me. He told me that he had Micro tenants in the past and "they are dirty!!!" Ohh man was i pissed; i almost punched him in the nose. You all better believe it, the locals here are bias, lazy, homeless and welfare. I hate to think that the taxes I pay goes to feed their fat okole's! But it's true that Micronesians (especially chuuk) is taking advantage of the system here in Hawaii. So many of them are in Housing all over the island. It's a shame too because they don't want to work. They just wannna stay home and collect welfare. Ngrrrrrrr!!!! So for all you back home who are planning on coming to Hawaii to live on welfare, PLEASE dont come and add more SHAMEFUL REP! Thank you,
Number three is the correct answer. 9 months more and I will be off the trash dump named Chuuk. Only think keeping me here is my $6,000 monthly salrey and contract. Face it, most chukeese are island trash.
whaooooooo! is that mean " I am an Island Trash"? wheeew, I am not going to deny that aaa, nge pwal emon island trash, ngang pwal emon diparoch and so forth. kinsou Pissed, ren kan neniengawen ei inis me ena epek.....lol I don't mean to sound like I am michy en! lol ewe tonen god ewpe nom ren emon me emon kich ekei sia kan poporous non nouch ei mecha
.......any chance I can borrow some of that 6,000.00 dollars? draft out a contract and fax it to me. thanks. I need money for food and for safean feita chaaa
LMAO@Pissed. poor guy. got screwed over by a chuukese? you probably deserved it. you sound so spiteful. poor bitter heart of yours. i hope you will find forgiveness and some peace of mind.
you have such a complex mind Inemez. i have no idea what you are talking about. did i apologize to you without my knowledge? and thank you being so kind and wise enough to "love" me. you are a good man. just a bit confused. but still good. lol. i love you too Inemez. how are the padres over yonder? are you not at a jesuit school? are they 'good'?
Nipocharu, amusano nge ngang use sukun, u chok angang non en ew restaurant....ukan doton sepien chon ette mongo...waiooooooooo, use kan karap ngeni dipachememi chona au kan sukun xavier mwa pwipwi....ka mo ngeni chon seatltle ai kan kechiwe ngaaw me tong.....achocho, nge tumunuk pun iei ei fansoun kich aramas siken kuff ren pekin sosotun setan. waioooooo,
Nipocharu, a kan complex ai mind pwe sia kan rukken chinapp nge angang chok non restaurant. etto upwe kamo borrow fite chana me reom?
Inemez pwata kose fen wisen ngeni chon Seattle, WA ach kapong since you are only several hours away. I am too far to atoura omw na kapong. nge eni kefen sinei kan ai broke ina ke tigor moni rei. pwata usun kopwene aani an mei kroun tigor fetan senis ruemenimu? lol. iwe kopwe omusana esapw pwan ngang ami kana ami mei sikun Xavier. esapw en class of 80? omw classmate ken urumolug?
Nipwo, ewe ngang class of 80 nge use kan naff ai upwe fakkun sochingo me Xavier....mani ke fan kuna ukukun ai ei diparoch kan.....waiooooo, ka kan pwal ekepi ukukun diparochan anowe ngang....use mo kan classmate ngeni ekoch chon palau...ngang mi chok sinei ekoch chon palau nupwen ai we ita kan mwaren pengkio me Utah......nekukunii we....lol Nupwen uwa kan tou ren tiparoch uwa kan chok kechiw fetan ren fakkun ai nafangaw ese wor met upwe kan monii ngeni enei me ai rent. uwa kan no angang non ewe titin pik me Utah uwa mwaren kuna mesan money......waioooooooo. echok wes ai we angang me non ewe tit iwe uwa kan nape-ngaw fetan....up until now...ngang mi kan chok torongaw ese kan wor neni ei...uwa kan chok emon ekan homless me ikei. uwa kan mongo seni ekan trash cans, pwal no tungor kechiwe ngeni aramas re fetan won street ren aninis won twenty five cent.
ke kan dairi ei ika iei ke kuna nge ngang mi kan ningengaw use tour ngeni ningen neniom o ningen nimenimen inisum....a mo wes upwe mo mongo lunch uwa fion. take care my bro in christ
alalal you must be one of STATES DHS EMPLOYEES! I know for sure that no one other than someone who dealt with Micronesians will write such hateful comments. I share with you the pain of living paycheck to paycheck because of these Incompetent individuals. what we don't share is your iqnorance and lack of knowledge about the Micronesian region! You need to study your geography first before BLABLA-ING AWAY! AHAHAH!!! I am sad that you felt that way because the democratic government that we are living in would not tolerate your racist views. i guarantee you will get fined for your racism soon and if not soon, maybe it already did happen and that is why you are soooo pissed!
Inemez keep guessing keep guessing. you are not even close. lol@atin tamatam. just out of curiosity. do you think i am MrFSM? hahahhaohoho! good one good one. ok, next guess please. you are getting warmer though. keep digging.
Nipwocharu, ewer ngang i mi sine en io.....lol u chok i erra ena ren anowe kan atin Tamatam pwe a men kan nanangaw me non coco...lol woii, i pwal atin Tunnuk. e fen pin nom tunuk akkom.....he ought to go back to Tunnuk and pay the village what the village had given him interm of being a wise mayor of Tamatam.....lol........MrFSM, amusana...sikan chok ii urumot...lote pwal nenengeni an Nipwocharu kei angang. lol
Kehlak, I so so so so very much agree with you on that....them DHS employee need to shut up and mine their own business. why complaint about them being on welfare, teach them, love them and dont' put them down.....be darn supportive man/girl!
Pissed, you shouldn't have came out and said what you said here. You're putting your life at risk there on the island of Chuuk. What's so hard about finding a pissed off white dude and beat the living shi* out of him. I advise you to keep it within good taste on the comments for your own safety. Not that I want to rock the boat but boy, you are really pissed. I'm sure your good salary alone can't buy you happiness for the fact that you maybe scared to come out and spend some on the local economy for being afraid of getting beat down for a quarter. Either that or you a typical white racist dude from the Mainland but covers up the fact just because you're not in the trailer park anymore. Once you land back here in the states, then you'll get back on your pickup truck and go mudding or shoooting deer and drinking beer along the country road. But in the meantime, you have to make the best of it while down there in Chuuk. I advise you not to come out at nites or after dark. This is not a threat my friend, just a mere facts about Chuuk and what comes out at nites over there.
alalal, Go easy tiger, you know what I mean. We should try to come to an understanding that discrimination is wrong. We're here legally to begin with. So what's the problem. Maybe you should get the article of the Compact II and read up on it. No, I'm not saying that you're ignorant, but we should read and understand that we have rights and shouldn't be discriminated against. We have equal rights that are protected by the laws in the American legal system in accordance with the Compact of Free Association to be treated equally and must excercise our civil rights like the rest of America. There shouldn't be any complications from that. Anybody can understand that. I'm not the subject matter expert on the legal issues or the compact but I do have a copy of the book and it's clearly written in there. We are here legally as non-immigrants permanent residents. We just don't vote but other then that, be given the same treatment like the rest. I think I can live within those guidelines of the Compact here in the Mainland better then Hawaii for that matter. Maybe the bias is coming from those that are minorities themselves who don't really understand fully the extend of our agreement with the United States.
Just as I suspected, complaining and no one is even doing anything about this situation. Has anyone called up Mary Vorsino at Honolulu Advertiser to let her know that she was plain out wrong to have not done accurate research before writing this article? Yes, someone from the so-called, "Micronesians United" should stop speaking on behalf of all of us, that group is indeed comprised of Chuukese. Let's learn from this, not fuel the fire. You all are feeding ignorance!
Aside from "Micronesia(ns) United" there are several, well one for sure, another organization called "Micronesian Community Network". These organizations regularly conduct and hold meetings. This is one of those moments that they should be leaping into action to seize this opportunity and make a voice. Unless their meetings are geared for some other goals then...hhmmm yeah!
who is running this other Micronesian Organization?...."Micronesian Community Network" are you a member?....i would like to be part of it or become a member.
Yes, I'd like to know what's ricomiko is inquiring here. And are these organizations ever meet with the FSM office in Hawaii to further investigate these discrimination acts so our 2 nations can resolve this bias.
Ricomiko if you have time, come to the PREL office on the 24th of November (Saturday) at 10:00 in the morning. We are having a meeting on a separate matter with members of a certain state office. I will introduce you to the people who are in the Micronesia Community Network as well as Micronesians United. Otherwise just e-mail me: isohlap@yahoo.com.
Good thing you guys have organised a lot better nowadays, Ninsei. But do you guys ever visit the counsolate office to voice the issues with our representatives there. Maybe in turn, they can contact the agencies of the state of Hawaii Gov to deal with the matters. Right?
Pissed, you are not who you say you are. If it is true you'd know that the name Nakamura at CPUC is a fib. Unless they hired a new Nakamura instead of Nakayama, you're a chicken shit we can use for manure. I'll pray very hard that the devil doesn't drive me downtown with a machete to make you eat it instead of your words here. Onom puse!
Being from Saipan, I do not wish to be classified in the same category as these welfare collecting, free medical hording people. To all of you out there the fact that this discussion has turned into a race war and threats being made only shows why people think the way they do. There are a lot of hard working "micronesians" out there, what we need to do is start looking at the ones that feel they are "owed" this right of collecting because of what the US did. No way! have any of you read the Compact yet? http://166.122.164.43/archive/special/fsmcompact.pdf ask where that money is going and why the state of hawaii has to pay for the many that choose to milk the system. What these organizations should to doing is helping those problem "micronesians" and rehabilitating them to become productive members of society, if they can't then get their families to make sure that they can provide for them.
Calm down people! Let's try to examine this issue from a different angle.
1. Who are these people trying to help the so called discriminated Micronesians? How are they getting paid?
2. Are they magnifying our problems as Microneisans to ensure employment? *lol
3. Are they using the "blinds" to accomplish their personal agendas?
4. Do we have cultural experts assisting with the issues? If not, then we need to consider that option, because the non-Micros are defining our problems and living!
5. The United Micronesians Organization is encouraging people to settle for less and not aim high...they are helping them to achnor on welfare level...
Calm down people, these few Microneisna who are fighting on our behalf are not representing the rest of us.
Let's stop blaming our FSM Office here in Hawaii for all the problems! IT IS TIME WE, AS MICRONEISANS START TAKING RESPONSIBILTY FOR OURSELVES!
The FSM Office is there to assist us should we need help, but they are not there to plan the rest of our stay here in U.S. It is time our state governments start some sort of program to educate people before they get on that plane to come to U.S. to look for opportunities. THINGS ARE CHANGING, AND WE MUST ACKNOWLEGE THAT FACT!! We can not plan on going to U.S. and not have a plan...we must not depend on uncle or autie so and so without some prior arrangement with them.
The underline problem here is the fact that we are reaching out to western way of living and yet we or should I say MANY refused to adjust their mentality and ways of doing things to ensure survival. Yes, NEVER LOOSE YOUR CULTURE, and never ever forget our roots, but we must be open and reach for better learning on how to make it here in U.S. because our old ways in the islands HAS NOT, AND WILL NEVER WORK!!