Has Social Work Met Its Commitment to Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders? A Review of the Periodical Literature (Report‪)‬

Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (NHOPIs) contribute to the panoramic landscape of racial diversity in the United States. In 2000, NHOPIs were recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau (2001a) as a distinct racial group, along with other groups, including whites, blacks or African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, and Asian Americans. People of Hispanic origin were also enumerated. Before 2000, NHOPIs were combined with Asian Americans in studies of race and ethnicity. This first-time classification of NHOPIs in their own category is significant because all federal activities are guided by racial and ethnic standards established by the U.S. census. In particular, federal agencies' efforts to distribute funds; to issue grants; and to determine the social, economic, and physical health of populations in the United States must be in concordance with the census-designated racial and ethnic groups in the nation (U.S. Census Bureau, 1996).