Data Source: U.S. Census 2010, Summary File 1. (Graph: Leah Sakala, May 2014)
This graph is a part of Breaking Down Mass Incarceration in the 2010 Census: State-by-State Incarceration Rates by Race/Ethnicity, a Prison Policy Initiative briefing.
Several factors lead us to believe that our analysis understates the extent of the disproportionate incarceration of Hawaii's Native Hawaiians. The Department of Public Safety (which runs the prison and jail system) says that the state's incarcerated population is 39% Native Hawaiian or part Native Hawaiian. Some organizations and individuals who work in the correctional facilites report higher numbers. Can the Census data shed new light on how many Native Hawaiians Hawaii incarcerates?
We find three data points that suggest that the Native Hawaiian people are inaccurately reflected in a lot of reported demographic data from both the state and the U.S. Census Bureau:
It matters how race/ethnicity data is collected, by whom and for what purpose. Often, the data collected by the Census Bureau on the race and ethnicity of incarcerated populations comes directly from correctional facility administrators, and so it will be compromised by any methodological shortfalls in the original data collection. For example, a person who identifies as Native Hawaiian and participates in Native cultural programming might have been classified by the administration as white without that person ever having been asked to self-identify. This problem is particularly important in the Native Hawaiian context because many Native Hawaiians are of more than one race, but many correctional systems are still collecting data under the antiquated conception that people can be of only one race. On the other hand, sometimes the Census Bureau collects its data directly from incarcerated people and we can get a new piece of data to compare with the correctional facilities' data.
Data variations suggest that the Census Bureau relied on Hawaii Department of Public Safety records for the race and ethnicity of incarcerated people in the 2010 Census, but may have directly enumerated incarcerated people in the 2000 Census in at least some facilities, which then allowed at least some incarcerated people to select more than once race.
Allowing people to select more than one race makes a large difference in the case of Native Hawaiians. Using our detailed analysis of the Halawa Correctional Facility, we can see that the U.S. Census was clearly conducted differently at this facility in 2010 than in 2000 in a way that moved people of more than one race into single-race categories:
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander alone | Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander in combination with other racial groups | Native Hawaiian alone or in combination with other racial groups | More than one race (of any kind) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Halawa Correctional Facility, 2000 Census | 24.5% | 31.3% | 55.8% | 40.0% |
Halawa Correctional Facility, 2010 Census | 43.6% | 1.5% | 45.1% | 2.3% |
And, although the Census Bureau doesn't break down the demographics beyond "Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders," Native Hawaiians are a vast majority (85%) of the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population incarcerated by the department. (In 2008, the department reported that its population was 39% Hawaiian/Part Hawaiian, 5% Samoan, and 2% "Other Pacific Islander.")
Clearly, there were more people labeled "Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone" at Halawa prison in 2010 than there were in 2000, but the dramatic difference in the number of people reported as being of more than one race raises many questions. As the data from the federal facility (in point #2 below) suggests, the answer is unlikely to be a massive change in the race of people sent to prison.
While the above comparison focuses on Halawa, we found other correctional facilities in the 2000 Census where we could determine (because the facility was the entirety of its block) the portion of the incarcerated population that was Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander:
Facility | Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and other racial groups |
---|---|
Halawa Correctional Facility | 55.8% |
Waiawa Correctional Facility | 52.8% |
Kauai Com Correct Center | 42.7% |
Other researchers may find those figures useful.
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander alone | Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander in combination with other racial groups | Native Hawaiian alone or in combination with other racial groups | More than one race (of any kind) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Federal Detention Center Honolulu, 2010 Census | 21.0% | 27.3% | 48.3% | 34.9% |
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