In Hawaii everyone was race-conscious, but there seemed to be very little overt racism. My eighth-grade (haole) teacher had a theory that racial resentment in Hawaii was defused because each race could point to its own wealthy, powerful representatives (Chinese real estate moguls, Caucasian businessmen, Japanese politicians, etc.). Also, there were very few African-Americans in the islands; most of the ones I saw were in the military, and they certainly appeared "normal", not like the activists who were in the news.
The passions that triggered the civil rights movement and the Watts riots became real when I went to the Mainland for college. Many of my fellow students were obsessed with racial identity; they told me that I should feel angry about the way Asian-Americans were treated, and that white Americans resented all Asians because of Vietnam.
For guidance I turned to the writings and speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. They were consistent with traditional American ideals and were a call to action to ensure that all Americans had the rights to which they were entitled under the Constitution. To spur a recalcitrant society towards that goal he fleshed out the theory and practice of non-violent civil disobedience. I came to understand, less than a decade after his death, why he is so revered.
Today Martin Luther King, Jr. would have turned 95. The assassin's bullet cut short his life at the age of 39, much too soon.
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