USA Today tells us to stop saying culturally sensitive words like 'aloha'

Brett T. | 4:32 PM on January 16, 2023

We’ve all been lectured on cultural appropriation for years, and woke universities are even handing out lists of banned Halloween costumes. Meanwhile, neither Gov. Ralph Northam nor Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suffered any consequences for appearing in blackface.

USA Today is now telling us to stop sprinkling simple greetings and phrases from other races and cultures into our speech. For example, don’t say “aloha,” a culturally sensitive word taken out of context.

Stop saying words like 'aloha' out of context (@USAToday): On the surface, simple greetings and phrases from other races and cultures may seem fine to sprinkle into our vernacular. Inclusive even. But… https://t.co/t2z1HhVOdH #hawaii #hawaiian #aloha

— Ryan Kawailani Ozawa (@hawaii) January 16, 2023

David Oliver is the butthurt party and writes:

“Aloha.” “Hola.” “Shalom.”

These are ways to say “hello” in Hawaiian, Spanish and Hebrew, respectively. But just because you can say something doesn’t mean it’s always appropriate.

On the surface, simple greetings and phrases from other races and cultures may seem fine to sprinkle into our vernacular. Inclusive even.

But did you know that “aloha” doesn’t just mean hello or goodbye? “It’s a greeting or a farewell, but the meaning is deeper,” says Maile Arvin, the director of Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Utah. “One of my Hawaiian language teachers taught it to me as ‘Aloha means recognizing yourself in everyone and everything you meet.'”

If you’re not Hawaiian and you say it, it could come off as mockery. And that’s just one word to think about.