Thirteen staples. That's what it took to close the head wound on one member of a California family after approximately 30 people swarmed them at the Kaanapali Alii resort in West Maui on Friday night. The family's crime, apparently, was being white on vacation.
The alleged attackers had a phrase for it: "We're going to beat up the haole boys." Haole is a derogatory term for outsider, specifically White people, in the Hawaiian language.
The attack unfolded at a barbecue area on the private resort property. Joseph Headfield, a family member who witnessed the assault, described the moments before it turned violent. "There were three females, one of which was the ringleader. She got up in people's faces, said 'We're going to beat up your boys tonight. We're going to beat up the haole boys,'" Headfield recounted.
At least six people required medical attention after being slapped, punched, and kicked. One victim was struck with a chair, resulting in the gash that needed those 13 staples. The family member identified as Daniel put the scene in perspective: "Our group consisted of ages from 85 to 11. We were just not expecting any of this. We were on a private resort property, and we were just overwhelmed, completely, totally overwhelmed."
The Maui Police Department responded around 10:00 pm and found approximately 15 people still gathered near the pool area. A 20-year-old Maui resident was arrested on suspicion of assault, but later released by police. The investigation remains ongoing, and the family believes the attack was a racially motivated hate crime.
Now here's the part where we all pretend to be surprised: the national media has treated this story like it doesn't exist. The local media was able to hide this story for six days before the family arrived back home in California and spoke out. Local police have thus far refused to investigate it as a hate crime.
The "hate crime" machinery only runs in one direction, and if you're White, Jewish, or Asian, you know it's not in your favor.
Some will argue this is an isolated incident, that "haole" doesn't carry the same weight as other slurs, that the context is different. That's a fascinating standard. Try applying it to literally any other racial group targeted by a mob screaming slurs and swinging chairs, and see how far "context" gets you.
When the system only counts hate crimes in one direction, the word "equal" is just decoration.
