I think about this topic sometimes myself - so glad to see a post down at Reappropriate on the subject.
Here's a smidgen to get you going from the post "Dear Asian Americans: Stop Erasing Pacific Islanders" by Guest Contributor: Conrad Lihlihi (@clihilihi):
As far as umbrella terms go, Pacific Islander is probably as generic as you can get; it’s kind of like calling a person “white”. Under the Pacific Islander umbrella, there are many groups, including Filipinos, which deserve their own conversation about culture identity. However, the three main groups I am referring to who are unknowingly receiving an “Asian Pacific Islander” label are Polynesians, Melanesians, and Micronesians. Micronesia includes the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), along with Guam, CNMI, Republic of Marshall Islands, etc. Under Melanesia are folks from Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, etc. Then, in Polynesia are folks from Hawai’i, Samoa, Tonga, etc. Travel to any of these places and you’ll find there is absolutely nothing Asian about them.We do all get lumped together and we sometimes do lump each other together (myself included).
Something to think about for dinner conversations.
