Hawaii

The diversity that flows through Hawaii is intense, to say the least. Hawaii's strange history, which led it ultimately into becoming a state, is filled with conquests, contracted foreign workers, and political powers which were overthrown continuous times in the battle to make these islands into the claimed land they are today. Surprisingly enough, the story behind Hawaii's migration patterns is similar with Sacramento's, and each area do share the same idea about diversity, through each area is diverse in its own way.

I wish I was one of those people sitting on the beach right now enjoying the day.

(Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Oahu_North_Shore_surfing_watchers.jpg)

Hawaii did not start out as a diverse area. Around 1500 years ago, the Polynesians, a group of islanders whom live on the islands that surround Hawaii, discovered the land and claimed it as their own. Their population peaked to 300,000 on the islands until it was discovered by Captain Cook in 1778. The news about the discovery spread throughout Europe and North America, causing people to settle there. Soon, the French, British, and the United States all shared land throughout Hawaii. The French had a strong influence on the islands from 1820 to 1850, and Britain claimed the land as their own in 1843, until the plantations from the United States overthrew the government in 1893 with their larger numbers of people. During this time, America began to contract workers from Asian countries in order to keep up with the required labor force that was needed to work at the plantations. After these laborers had completed their work on these plantations, many of them decided to stay on the islands. As all of this was going on, the Polythesians began to slowly die out. It is believed that less than 10,000 Polythesians are still on the islands today.

Don't you wish you were here right now, instead of sitting somewhere looking at a computer screen?

(Source: http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/files/images/hawaii-surfers.jpg)

Needless to say, with all this activity going on, Hawaii became very diverse through European, Asian, and American influences. According to the US Census Bureau, the largest population percentage in Hawaii for one ethnic group are Asians, totaling 38.8%. The second largest are whites, who make up 30.1% of the population, with 25.1% who are not of Hispanic origin. This is followed by Native Hawaiians at 9.1%, Hispanics at 9.0%, Blacks at 3.2%, and Native Americans at 0.6%. 18.2% claim that they are of two or more races (census.gov.) With this type of diverse mix, it would be common to see inter-racial relationships occurring in many different fashions.

A happy diverse group of people within Hawaii. They're probably happy because they get to spend their time in such an amazing place.

(Source: http://www.kanuhawaii.org/images/photos/kanubeginning.jpg)

Sacramento, on the other hand, has its own story on its diversity as well. According to city-data.com, Sacramento's history started around 10,000 years ago, where Indian tribes had established their living before any other settlers had arrived. In 1808, Spanish soldiers discovered the Sacramento and American rivers, and made some of these Indians their slaves. Many Indians had been taken as slaves by the Spanish. In 1839, John Sutter established a small town which he called New Heveltica. 11 years later, as the Spanish were being driven off of this land, the area would become Sacramento, and 4 years after this in 1854 the city would become the capital of California. The gold rush, which was occurring during this time, brought a rapid influx of people who came to "strike it rich" from overseas (citydata.com). During the late 19th century (and entering into the 20th century) immigrants from China began to filter into Sacramento in order to escape the wars which were occurring in their homeland, and as cheap laborers who came under contract to work here. Though they faced major discrimination by others, many Chinese immigrants decided to stay in Sacramento. Even through today, Sacramento continues to take in immigrants from Asia and other countries. Sacramento's diversity is well-known. It is so well known, that Time Magazine published an article in 2002 that called Sacramento the "most diverse city in America" (Stodghill).

These kids whom come from a variety of different races look happy in Sacramento, but could you imagine how much happier they'd be in Hawaii?

(Source: http://images.dcheetahimages.com/www.cheetah.org/ama/orig/SequoiaCheetahDay2008.jpg)

In either case, the diversity in both Sacramento and Hawaii has helped enhance these areas to be more welcoming to others, build better interracial relationships, and has created a more positive environment. People in these areas seem to be more open-minded about different topics and issues, which inspires development and creates a strong community among ethnically different people.

Now that I'm done with the majority of the work for this class, I'm going to Oahu. Now I just need some money...

(Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Hawaii_Maritime_Center_from_Aloha_Tower.jpg/400px-Hawaii_Maritime_Center_from_Aloha_Tower.jpg)