Get a free quote

Hawaii’s hidden homeless

If you look closely, hidden among the graceful palms waving around Honolulu International Airport, away from the gaily-appareled women placing the leis on vacationers, you will find makeshift tents occupied by a growing number of native Islanders and long-time residents who represent a growing segment of Hawaiian island life. The homeless.

Beverly Paracuelles wakes up each morning with a beautiful view of the palm trees, the golden sands and the deep blue tropical seas, the finest view one might have from her battered Toyota van. The certified nursing assistant has been without work for three years, having exhausted her unemployment and other job-search options. She doesn’t see things getting much better in the next few years, so she is learning how to cope.

Paracuelles is one of some 4,000 openly homeless of Oahu’s total population of around 950,000. She is among that group which Hawaii is trying to hide from public view rather than help. Despite the “aloha” attitude openly on display to visitors of the ultimate tourist Mecca, behind the scenes Hawaiian officials are taking harsh measures to paint over the state’s current national homeless ranking–they are third highest, behind only behind Oregon and Nevada. Homelessness is never good for the tourist business after all. It’s not good at all in a state whose main business is tourism.

And indeed Hawaii’s state department of tourism is busy these days hiding an additional 96,648 “hidden homeless” away from the grand hotels. One doesn’t have to wander far from the high-rise glamour of Waikiki Beach to be overwhelmed by beggars thronging the traffic lights with signs. Tourist’s money is good for them too, after all.

With the looming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit (APEC) scheduled to be held in Honolulu in November, Hawaii’s governor, Neil Ambercrombie, has unveiled a “90-day plan” to reduce homelessness so that Hawaii might avoid international embarrassment before the eyes of visiting international delegates.

Major plans are afoot to preserve the image of Hawaii as a tropical paradise. However, rather than taking measures to help the underlying causes of homelessness,  state officials seem more preoccupied with hiding the problem in advance of the visit of foreign dignities and press. They have begun to conduct intensive sweeps of homeless encampments in “touristy” areas in order to sweep the problem well under the welcoming red carpet.

Worse, state officials are also hiding the fact that they are conducting such sweeps, thus hiding (arresting, forcing evacuation) the homeless while trying to hide the fact that they are hiding them.

It’s a major problem for Obama’s fabled birthplace, this paradise on earth. With tourism as its chief industry, Hawaii is confronted with the possibility of suffering the consequences of the New Deceit, which is but an extension of the historic deceit upon which modern Hawaiian society was built.

Finally, one must ask the moral question. Who would want to visit a place that is so deceitful in its contemptuous treatment of its own people?

Well,uh…me.

One Response to “Trouble in Paradise”