Hate to do it folks but I have to throw a barb at the Republican governor of Hawaii – Linda Lingle, who is now making a whirlwind tour of Congress to gain support for the ill-conceived AKAKA BILL! For any who have been asleep – this is the “Hawaiian Balkanization” bill or you can just call it the “Hawaiian Apartheid” bill – or you can call it the “Racial Spoils” bill. This is the bill that is designed to give aboriginal Hawaiians their own sovereign government – much like an Indian tribe.
(One thing of note here – throughout this blog – when I refer to “aboriginal Hawaiians” – I’m speaking of the descendants of the original, indigenous Hawaiian Polynesians. I refuse to call them “Native Hawaiians” – a “Native Hawaiian” to me – is anyone that was born and raised in Hawaii – even if they are of Nigerian, German, or Russian descent.)
I love Hawaii – I lived there for almost ten years. For those of you who haven’t been there – Hawaii is the ultimate melting pot. It’s hard to figure out who’s in the majority there. I don’t think there is a racial majority there. Fully 50% of all marriages in the state of Hawaii are interracial and, of the pure aboriginal Hawaiians that remain there – that number is 75%. Hawaii is a beautiful example of the American “Melting Pot” and Hawaiian representatives even pointed this fact out when they asked to join the United States …
“Hawaii is the furnace that is melting that melting pot. We are the light. We are showing a way to the American people that true brotherhood of man can be accomplished. We have the light, and we have the goal. And we can show that to the peoples of the world.” — Testimony of Frank Fasi, Democratic National Committeeman for Hawaii, before the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, June 30, 1953.
Now, it seems though – that the “light” of the world has changed it’s mind and now wants to racially balkanize itself – with full support from the Republican Governor – Linda Lingle.
This bill is so amateurish that I don’t even know where to begin shooting the holes…
I guess, in the first place, I should start out by asking the question … why is Lingle throwing her political support behind this bill when it is not even clear that a majority of Hawaiians even support it? Most of the reputable polls show that Hawaiian’s oppose the AKAKA BILL by staggering figures ranging anywhere from 60-70%. Some polls even indicate that up to 49% of ABORIGINAL Hawaiians oppose it.
Why is Linda Lingle asking Congress to support this bill when her own government has sponsored little, if any, debate on the issue in her own state? Is it too much to ask the Governor of Hawaii that, prior to making this bill an emergent issue for the U.S. Congress, she should get her ducks in a row in her own state so that everyone knows what Hawaii really wants out of this? I mean, the bill is supposed to benefit aboriginal Hawaiians right? Do you really want us to take such a bold step if there may only be 51% support for it among aboriginal Hawaiians?
So I guess that my first problem with this bill is the fact that the Governor, and the Hawaiian Congressional Delegation has come directly to the United States Congress with a half-baked plan. They should go back to Honolulu and do some homework here and then try to re-attack this issue when there is some consensus among Hawaiians (aboriginal and native) for what they really want here.
On to other problems …
If we wish to bring back Queen Liliuokalani’s government – why then are we seeking to do so in a manner based on RACE? Citizenship in Hawaii, under the Queen, was not based on race. At the time the Queen was “overthrown” – all manner of races were equal partners in the Hawaiian Kingdom – all citizens. You can see this throughout the old Hawaiian Constitution. If the U.S. “overthrew” Queen Liliuokalani – then the U.S. overthrew a multi-cultural kingdom that did not stipulate a racial standard for citizenship. Why then, in an effort to “right” the “wrong” of overthrowing that government – are we replacing it with a RACIALLY BASED Hawaiian government? Citizenship in the Queen’s kingdom was open to ALL races – even immigrants. Why then are we trying to reinstate it with one that is racially based?
Here is the oath of allegiance that the Hawaiian Kingdom required for the naturalization of foreigners …
The undersigned, a native of
Subscribed and sworn to this _______ day of _______, A.D. 18__, before me, ________
That’s cut and pasted folks – directly from the old Civil Code of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The civil code goes on to say …
Every foreigner so naturalized, shall be deemed to all intents and purposes a native of the Hawaiian Islands, be amenable only to the laws of this Kingdom, and to the authority and control thereof, be entitled to the protection of said laws, and be no longer amenable to his native sovereign while residing in this Kingdom, nor entitled to resort to his native country for protection or intervention. He shall be amenable, for every such resort, to the pains and penalties annexed to rebellion by the Criminal Code. And every foreigner so naturalized, shall be entitled to all the rights, privileges and immunities of an Hawaiian subject.
Clearly, anyone could be a citizen of the kingdom. Why are we now basing citizenship on RACE? Under the AKAKA BILL – a descendant of a white naturalized citizen of the old Hawaiian Kingdom cannot be considered a citizen in the restored Hawaiian Kingdom. That’s not fair!! ONLY THOSE with the “right” DNA in their blood can be considered for citizenship in this “new” kingdom. That’s NOT how it was under Queen Liliuokalani folks! This is “new” kingdom is NOT the government we supposedly overthrew – and we have no reason or obligation to install such a race based system now!
Did the Queen have “naturalized” foreigners in her army? It can be stipulated from her constitution and civil laws that she did. Did any of these “naturalized” soldiers give their lives in defense of the Queen’s kingdom? It can be assumed that at least some did. Can any descendant of these soldiers be a member of the “new” kingdom that the AKAKA BILL seeks to restore?
Not unless they have aboriginal Hawaiian DNA in their body.
We know that nationalized foriegners were allowed to participate and hold office in the Queen's government. We know that many did. Why are we now saying that this is all a race issue?
This is a problem folks. But …
On to other problems …
The AKAKA BILL continuously refers to the aboriginal Hawaiian “people” or “community”. These are two entities that no longer exist with respect to aboriginal Hawaiians. The descendants of aboriginal Hawaiians are not segregated. They compose no distinct “community” in Hawaii or anywhere else. They have been assimilated into the melting pot of Hawaii and the United States and other places throughout the world. Indeed not even everyone with aboriginal Hawaiian DNA still reside in Hawaii. This is different from an Indian “tribe”. An Indian “tribe” is a distinct community. Aboriginal Hawaiians – in the 21st century – are not.
Additionally, under the AKAKA BILL – all you have to do is prove that you are a direct lineal descendant of an aboriginal Hawaiian to gain membership in this new Hawaiian “tribe”. It doesn’t matter if the last aboriginal Hawaiian on your family tree was a great, great, great, great grandfather who married an Irish woman – and YOU personally only have a speck of this aboriginal Hawaiian DNA in your body. You can still be a member of this new “tribe”. Now tell me – what good does this bill really do for real aboriginal Hawaiian descendants if you’re also going to include blonde-haired, blue-eyed stock brokers on Wall Street who only have a faint biological claim to anything originating in Hawaii?
If you’re stupid enough to ask the government for a solution to something – don’t be surprised when the government gives you a stupid solution. The AKAKA BILL proves that axiom in spades! But …
On to other problems…
Who is responsible for FORMING this new Hawaiian government?
Well, WE – the U.S. government – are! And we’re also going to fund the bill to get some of these aboriginal Hawaiian descendants together in a restaurant or convention hall someplace so that they can form an interim – then later a permanent government! I’m sure air fare and first class accommodations will be included for these folks also and the way I read the AKAKA BILL – you and I – Mr. and Mrs. U.S. taxpayer will be footing at least some of this bill – if not all of it.
Note - if we tell Hawaii that THEIR STATE must foot all of the bill that this proposal attaches - you will hear nary another word from the governor or the Hawaiian state legislature about "Hawaiian Independance".
The fact of the matter is – there is no Hawaiian government “in waiting”. There is no “deposed sovereign” in existence. There’s no clear indication of who can take the role of a supreme Hawaiian monarch – or even if there will be a Hawaiian monarch. Is it too much to ask these aboriginal Hawaiian descendants to form a community and elect some representatives and vote on a proposed constitution and THEN – when they have their ducks in a row – then come to us and ask for independence? I’d like to know what the ultimate relationship between the new Hawaiian Kingdom and the U.S. will be before I go off and vote it into existence. Would you buy a car from a dealer who refused to let you see what it looked like or even what kind of car it was? I don’t think you would – not even if the dealer told you “Oh, don’t worry – it’ll be really COOL!” Like Governor Lingle seems to be saying to us right now.
I mean, folks – they don’t need a congressional law passed to do these basic things – the Scottish Clans somehow manage to keep track of who the Chief of the Clan is – they’ve been doing it for centuries. They don’t ask the British government to oversee the process. The same goes for the Indian tribes here in the U.S.
The fact is – the type of government – who will lead the government – the sovereign limits of the government – the constitution of the government -- all of this stuff will be hugely contentious among the aboriginal Hawaiians forming this new government. And we, Uncle Sam – will have to oversee and referee these disputes. In the end – it’s an un-winnable situation because we’ll probably have to make a few calls that not every “subject” of this new “kingdom” will agree with. This will leave us open to further apologies and acts of “reparation” demanded of us by aboriginal Hawaiians in the future.
What does the Office of Hawaiian Affairs say about this legislation? Well, they say that the "subjects" of this new Hawaiian kingdom could somehow casually coexist right alongside regular Hawaiians - or they could be completely independant. That's quite a spread there folks - and I think it's fair to ask Hawaii where they are going to come down within this spectrum. But all they will tell us is that the aboriginal Hawaiians will "decide" on their own what the limits of their independance will be - after we pass the legislation and write the check of course!
On to other problems …
Why do we REALLY have this AKAKA BILL?
The aboriginal Hawaiians can already form their own communities (though they've failed to do so).
Like the Scottish Clans and the Indian Tribes – they can govern their own membership requirements (though they've failed to do so).
So why then do we need the AKAKA BILL?
MONEY!
Yes, there it is folks – the root of all evil raises it’s head! Even liberals know that you don’t go to Congress for a solution to anything – you go to Congress for one thing, and one thing only – MONEY!
And what a load of money this will be! This new Hawaiian “tribe” will have as many as 400,000 members nationwide! This will make it the largest “Native American” tribe in existence. And, it will compete for government resources with the rest of the Indian tribes out there – isn’t that just GREAT news for the Cherokee’s? It’s great to know that an Indian reservation in Nevada will now get less government support because some blonde-haired stockbroker on Wall Street who has .00001 aboriginal Hawaiian blood in his veins needs to tap into his share because the U.S. government “overthrew” his Queen over 110 years ago. The AKAKA BILL will dilute the federal resources that we currently have going to deserving Indian tribes.
On to other problems …
The AKAKA BILL leaves the U.S. government and the state of Hawaii (read: US TAXPAYER) – open to completely freakish and nightmare litigation scenarios. The “new” Hawaiian Kingdom will certainly get busy in the court system right away – launching litigation against land claims, private property claims, and demands for “reparation” payments to their kingdom. The guy who will, of course, pony-up the dough for all this and pay the price is the U.S. taxpayer – you and me. Of course - neither you nor I had anything to do with ousting Queen L. - but who cares? We have the DNA signature in our blood of those who did and that makes us just as guilty as they were right?
If the new Hawaiian kingdom wants to contend the U.S. military’s right to operate in PEARL HARBOR – the AKAKA BILL leaves the door open for them to do it. They probably won’t have a problem finding a liberal judge somewhere to support them and order the Navy to “cease and desist” all operations in the port - at least temporarily until the higher courts overrule them. That’s how badly this bill is written folks.
On to other problems …
But the U.S. Supreme Court is almost certainly going to rule this bill, if adopted, UNCONSTITUTIONAL. We’ve already been down this road folks. In RICE VS CAYATANO the Supreme Court addressed an effort by Hawaii to create a race-based entity of aboriginal Hawaiians and they ruled it UNCONSTITUTIONAL. The court further stated …
“One of the reasons race is treated as a forbidden classification is that it demeans the dignity and worth of a person to be judged by ancestry instead of by his or her own merit and essential qualities. An inquiry into ancestral lines is not consistent with respect based on the unique personality each of us possesses, a respect the Constitution itself secures in its concern for persons and citizens.”
Hmmm, makes sense to me! Not to Governor Lingle though.
On to other problems …
Advocates of the AKAKA BILL claim that it’s passage will be a “unifying force”. Is this a ridiculous claim or what? It will be EXTREMELY divisive in both Hawaii and the nation! Look what the debate on this bill has already wrought! See anything "unifying" thus far?
Neither have I!
I can’t think of any Indian Tribe that’s going to feel happy and “unified” when they start seeing their governmental support cut in order to support this new Hawaiian kingdom.
For NATIVE HAWAIIANS (note here I’m not talking about aboriginal Hawaiians) – are they going to feel “unified” when they have to follow different laws and a different tax code than their neighbor across the street does who is considered a member of this new Hawaiian kingdom?
Or is this going to cause resentment and racial strife? Clearly it will.
“Unifying force” my tukas! This is extremely divisive and will cause racial problems that don’t even exist right now!
I’m not going on to any other problems!
There are just too many other problems and I’m tired of typing!
The bottom line is – this piece of sophomoric legislation is the work of a bunch of junior high school students - if logic is used to judge it. It is ludicrous to think that we could somehow “regenerate” a multi-cultural kingdom that no longer exists. It is even more ludicrous to think that we could do so using racially based methods that the Queen of the former kingdom refused to use herself. And what of this former Kingdom? How different was it from the government that replaced it – the U.S. government?
Let’s look at the first line of the old Hawaiian Constitution of 1864 …
ARTICLE 1. God hath endowed all men with certain inalienable rights; among which are life, liberty, and the right of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.
Does this sound familiar folks? It’s basically a reworded plagiarism of the United States Declaration of Independence! The constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom was extremely similar to the constitution of the United States. Clearly, the kingdom shaped it’s laws and constitution to emulate those of the United States (which they clearly held in high regard even if their mischievious descendants do not) – with one major exception – they placed ALL sovereignty in a monarch.
This is something to be noted here – the MONARCH was sovereign – not the people. If the U.S. overthrew the Hawaiian monarch 110 years ago (which is a whole other subject I’m not going to get into) – then they replaced that sovereign monarch with the sovereignty of the PEOPLE. Yes, that’s right – we committed an unforgivable sin here because we took the Queen’s sovereignty and gave it to her subjects – THE HAWAIIAN PEOPLE. No good deed goes unpunished though – hence we have the AKAKA BILL today!
I’m telling you – this group of NEO-CONFEDERATES has a better argument for restoration of the government of the CONFEDERATE STATES than these aboriginal Hawaiians have for reinstating the Hawaiian kingdom – and both arguments are completely senseless!
Which brings up another question - how many of these sessesionist movements are we going to entertain? How many can we afford to entertain before the U.S. itself is in jeopardy? Even one is too many in my opinion.
Why are we trying to “undo” history? Is there any guarantee that, had the U.S. never annexed Hawaii that the Imperial Japanese wouldn’t have? Without U.S. protection – would the Hawaiian Kingdom have been able to keep the Imperial Japanese Army from committing a “Nanking” style occupation in downtown Honolulu during WWII? The AKAKA BILL assumes that, had we never intervened in Hawaii – that somehow the Hawaiian Kingdom would still exist today – and would be a complete paradise for all of the Queen’s subjects. It was us, the dirty old U.S. that came in and spoiled what would have been a great aboriginal utopian party that would have lasted forever! Who are we kidding here?
Nuff Said!
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