To The Forum: In response to Mr. Walter Lewis’s rambling exposition of his views on Susan Dixon’s column on the recent reconciliation hearings: he has ignored our history. He makes statements in contradiction to known facts. He does not understand
To The Forum:
In response to Mr. Walter Lewis’s rambling exposition of
his views on Susan Dixon’s column on the recent reconciliation hearings: he
has ignored our history.
He makes statements in contradiction to known
facts.
He does not understand that we, the people of Hawaiian decent,
will not allow our identity and history to be submerged, and that there’s a
lot more to our culture than ukuleles and hula skirts.
I believe he thinks
we ought to allow ourselves to be homogenized into a malleable mass amenable to
government by special interest fed by large campaign funds.
He believes
that addressing our grievances should be a process nurtured by reason. Let us
indeed be reasonable. So first of all, why not acknowledge that there is a
reason for all the groups that have organized for the purpose of achieving
restoration of at least some of the stolen lands, among other things.
His
suggestions about quality education and health care are all very fine but
beyond the hopes of those who need it most.
The final sentence of his
letter reveals what seems to be a proprietorial and paternalistic viewpoint:
“A better society will emerge when the well-being of Our Native Hawaiians
is assured.”
I would like to see a paradigm shift in Mr. Lewis’s
viewpoint. Perhaps he might come down off his platform and lend a hand in the
effort to secure well-being for “His” Native Hawaiians.
Frances
Frazier
