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The latest census figures boosted Hawaii’s claim to fame as the most racial and ethnically diverse state in the United States, with a 76% chance that two people chosen at random would be from different racial groups.

I disagree with that claim, especially compared with California, which has a population of more than 39 million and far more racial and ethnic groups, including many that are not even present in Hawaii.

However, it reflects the in which ethnic and racial diversity is viewed positively, consistent with the widespread representation of Hawaii as a multicultural paradise of harmony and tolerance.

The “” report on the 2020 census figures, which was published this year, provides information on the ethnic composition of the state population of about 1.4 million, which is much more useful and meaningful than the data previously released based on race.

Beyond establishing the racial and ethnic diversity of Hawaii, that information needs to be used to advance fairness, justice and equality among our ethnic and racial groups and not simply to create colorful pie charts.

When , the census figures show that Asians make up the largest part of the population at 37.1% followed by whites at 25.2%, Hispanic or Latino at 11.1% and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders at 10.3%.

I, however, will cite the population figures for “detailed race alone or in any combination” because the “race alone” data pertains to those who are racially or ethnically unmixed and hence excludes about 30% of the state population.

In my opinion those more accurate categories show that whites remain the largest group in Hawaii at 609,215, or 41.9% of the population, as has been the case since statehood in 1959. This total number includes people of white ancestry who assert another ethnic or racial identity in their daily life as their primary identity, such as Chinese or Native Hawaiian, insofar as those or other groups are also part of their ancestry and are more significant to them.

At 26.3%, Filipinos comprise the second-largest group at 383,200, including those who are unmixed (223,205) and mixed (159,995). They continue as the foremost group in annual immigrants to Hawaii. 

As I had been telling students in my classes for much of the 2010s, the 2020 census showed that Native Hawaiians (317,497) have exceeded Japanese in population and risen to third in rank at 21.8%, despite ongoing kanaka migration to the continental U.S. where they outnumber those in Hawaii.

Asserting Identities

The figure for Native Hawaiians with unmixed ancestry, 94,025, is revealing insofar as “full” Hawaiians are thought to number just a few thousand. Those who indicate on the census form they are only Native Hawaiian are declaring that being Kanaka is their most significant racial or ethnic identity, although they are likely aware they are of mixed descent.

Claiming to be Native Hawaiian only may be a political assertion in support of the sovereignty movement or for greater power and status for their people.

Non-Kanaka also may choose to complete the census form in a comparable manner, for example, someone of Filipino and Chinese ancestry may mark only Filipino on the form as a way to increase their number, representation and status.

Answering the race and ethnicity questions on April 1 every 10 years for the census or when filling out other forms is just one expression of a person’s ethnic or racial identity, which can be asserted in other and much more frequent ways, such as through language, religion, values or other cultural behaviors.

Japanese Drop To 4th

As I had predicted, Japanese (312,668) at 21.5% have declined to fourth in population rank, which can be attributed to their lower birthrate and ongoing migration to the continental U.S. of yonsei or fourth-generation Japanese Americans. Full Japanese (167,362) continue to outnumber those of mixed descent (145,306), although both men and women outmarry at rates comparable to the state average of about 45%. 

Chinese (216,800, including Taiwanese) persist as the fifth largest group at 14.9%. They are able to maintain that position due to immigration from China and to a much lesser extent from Taiwan. But about three-quarters of Chinese are racially or ethnically mixed, reflecting historical intermarriage with Native Hawaiians and contemporary outmarriage particularly with Japanese and Whites. 

The subjects of a previous column of mine — Portuguese (91,003) — constitute 6.3% of island residents.

Koreans comprised nearly 4% of the population at 52,696, including those who are Korean only (23,398) as well as those who are Korean and some other race or ethnicity (29,298).

No other racial or ethnic group numbered more than 50,000, including Samoans at 40,817 and African Americans at 26,041.

The number of Micronesians, 39,608, seems especially high. Figures for Compacts of Free Association citizens include Marshallese (9,910) from the Republic of the Marshall Islands; Chuukese (5,705), Pohnpeians (1,222) and Kosraeans (915) from the Federated States of Micronesia; Palauans (1,380) from the Republic of Palau; and other smaller groups each numbering less than a few hundred. COFA citizens hence total about 19,700.

That information needs to be used to advance fairness, justice and equality among our ethnic and racial groups and not simply to create colorful pie charts.

Non-COFA Micronesian groups include Chamorros (6,933) from Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. In addition to the groups indicated above, the census includes a category, “Other Micronesian alone or in any combination,” which numbers a considerable 12,704, but exactly who they are is not evident. 

Hispanics or Latinos (138,923) constitute a significant 9.5% of the state population. Unlike most race and ethnicity scholars, the U.S. Census Bureau considers Latinos — a category it first used in 2020 — an ethnic group (rather than a race), whose members belong to different racial groups, such as white, African American or Asian American. If that is the case, what are Latino ethnic groups such as Mexicans, Puerto Ricans or Cubans because they certainly are not races?

In Hawaii, the largest Latino group is Puerto Ricans (46,229), who began migrating to the islands as plantation laborers in 1900. They are followed by Mexicans (42,941), who have a much more recent immigration history beginning in the 1990s. The considerable Latino population includes members of the U.S. military temporarily stationed in Hawaii and their dependents.

Fair Representation Needed

One can ask why is it important to have accurate data on the different percentages and population sizes of ethnic groups in Hawaii? Having such information provides for determination of the relative representation of a given group in various public and private sectors of society, such as state government employment, legislatures, prisons or high- or low-status occupations.

From a fairness perspective, a group should be represented in those and other areas somewhat proportionally to its percentage of the state population. For example, if Filipinos are one-fourth of island residents, about a quarter of our state legislators should be Filipino or a quarter of our lawyers. 

If a group is not so represented, an argument could be made that it is underrepresented or overrepresented in a given sector, as the case may be, and that efforts should be initiated to rectify that situation to be fair to all concerned, at least in a just and egalitarian society.