Hawaiian or Hawaii resident?

The AP has issued a new style guideline that the term Hawaiians should be reserved for those of native descent:

Hawaiians are members of an ethnic group indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands, also called Native Hawaiians. Use Hawaii resident or islander for anyone living in the state.

This has touched off the usual sharp-tongued discussion at Testy Copy Editors about the problems of being sensitive to people's ethinicity and ancestry while also dealing with general perceptions (if someone from California is a Californian, wouldn't someone from Hawaii be a Hawaiian?).

It's easy in South Carolina to think the discussion is a little overwrought -- how often are we likely to have Hawaiians and Hawaii resident competing in the same story? But in other areas, it can take on more signficance. The TCE thread is worth a read to understand how copy editors do tussle with such things.