In “Want to Be Less Racist? Move to Hawaii,” Velasquez-Manoff expresses his interest in the racial studies of Dr. Pauker. Kristen Pauker originated from Hawaii, but moved to the East Coast to attend Dartmouth University. When she arrived, she was shocked by the way the students segregated themselves based on race. This intrigued Manoff and he followed Pauker’s studies in schools throughout Boston. He notes one of Pauker’ findings in the article, saying that lager populations of mixed race people “serve as a kind of jamming mechanism for people’s race radar, Dr. Pauker thinks. Because if you can’t tell what people are by looking at them — if their very existence blurs the imagined boundaries between supposedly separate groups — then race becomes a less useful way to think about people” (Velasquez-Manoff). This portion of the article very clearly summarizes what fascinated Manoff the most about the different views of race in Hawaii versus other parts of the United States.
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