The concept of settler colonialism, the system of power which displaced native indigenous populations with white settlers over time was very prevalent in Hawaii. In Hawaii, white settlers gained control over native Hawaiians, Chinese and Japanese by playing off of public fears of asian imperialism. According to the lecture on April 6 by Professor Matsumura, Yellow peril was a prominent fear of Japanese imperialism that many white settlers possessed, which caused the U.S. government to annex the Hawaiian kingdom to protect themselves against Japan (Matsumura, 2021) Thus, settler colonialism would serve to advance U.S. imperialism as the land of native Hawaiians and Chinese people in Hawaii were forcibly bought by white settlers from the United States. This would adversly affect the Native and Chinese Hawaiian populations as they would be forced to work for the white American settlers who now owned the land that they previously had. The white settlers would eliminate the foodways of the Native Hawaiians which caused “…low wages and dangerous work conditions experienced by many Asian groups on the sugar plantations.”(Saranillio, 291) Due to settler colonialism, many Asian groups suffered discrimination and bad living conditions as many white settlers were fearful of asian rebellion. Thus, U.S. imperialism caused racialized violence and much suffering for Native Hawaiians and Chinese Hawaiians in a misdirected attempt to combat Japanese imperialism.
Relating to Goffe’s piece, British imperialism also attempted to racialize Jamaican citizens who did not fit into certain racial identities. Goffe states that “The state attempted to determine Chineseness…” for mixed race artists.(Goffe, 114) Thus, Goffe proves that settler colonialism has a detrimental effect on communities as a whole as it causes people to be put into strict racial categories. Thus, British imperialism made it difficult for mixed East asian and African Jamaicans to exist in their own individual racial identities.
