Low minimum wage perpetuates systematic racism in Hawaiʻi
One policy clearly perpetuating systematic racism in Hawaiʻi is the state’s oppressively low minimum wage.
Census data shows that the average full-time Black workers around the nation earns $10,000 less per year than their white counterparts. These racial earnings disparities hold in Hawaiʻi as well, but Native Hawaiians, Filipinos and other Pacific Islanders also experience these large income gaps when compared to both white and Japanese residents.
After researching racial injustices across the nation, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Ferguson Commission both recommended raising the minimum wage to help end our racial income disparities.
Democratic states across the nation have done just that. Eight are already on their way to a $15 per hour minimum wage. The national Democratic Party Platform includes a $15 minimum wage, with presidential candidate Joe Biden advocating for it as well.
Hawaiʻi’s Democratic Legislature, led by House Speaker Scott Saiki and Senate President Ron Kouchi, however, have ignored these calls to help provide economic justice for Hawaiʻi’s workers for years.
