Civil disobedience not the answerTo the Forum:

As a state run organization, OHA has had the power to initiate programs that

would benefit Hawaiians. Because only Native Hawaiians were allowed to vote

for the members of the OHA board, this was an opportunity

for Hawaiians to

have a semblance of the right towards self-determination.

This was supposed

to be a transitory step at best—not the answer.

OHA was the 1978 con con’s

answer to assisting Hawaiians to survive in the midst of a government blind to

the needs of indigenous populations.

However, this “transit”

agency has been at best a divisive, dysfunctional department of the State of

Hawaii.

Now we have had a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Rice v. Cayetano,

and two of these trustees, Rowena Akana and Mililani Trask, advocate civil

disobedience.

Didn’t OHA have a contingency plan for this possible

outcome? Why is OHA again caught with its pants down? Have the Hawaiians

really exhausted all other remedies? Is lobbying legislative representatives,

the governor,

state senators, the international community no longer

viable? Is advocating civil disobedience and keeping the present trustees the

only recourse left?

Is this really worth going to jail for or

supporting?

The recent call for the Hawaiian community to support

non-violent civil disobedience to assist a dysfunctional arm of the State of

Hawaii with its present trustees is absurd.

Is this a responsible request

of some OHA leaders for the Hawaiian community? Where has reason gone?

I

do believe civil disobedience can be a worthy tool. But in order for it to

work, people have to be trained in non-violence, not just told about

it.

There needs to be a plan, a focus. What are those plans? What are the

possible short-term, long-term gains? Do you think Dr. Martin Luther King or

Gandi just told people to come on out?

In our current crisis and

situation, I can’t condone it’s use.

The focus should not be about

getting the same dysfunctional trustees reinstated, but making sure our

“entitlements” and “trust” assets under OHA don’t become

dismantled, dysfunctional and disappear.

How much money does OHA really

control? Who is held accountable?

If Gov. Cayetano replaces the trustees,

what happens to these programs and all the supposed assets held by OHA? Let’s

focus on that. In fact, let’s freeze those assets, place them somewhere out of

reach of the state.

Our plight needs to be taken to an international

level were the Hawaiians and the United States will be on equal footing.

However we can only do that if the Hawaiians unite.

One of the reasons

for the constant loss and misdealings is we are dealing with the wrong people

regarding an issue which should never have been determined on a

“state” or “federal” level. This is an international

issue.

Frankly the Hawaiian people deserve a better system and leaders

with true vision for the 21st century. Can we really settle for less?

The

United States has never granted sovereignty to native people’s who didn’t at

least present a unified front. Decrying the high court decision, and supporting

civil disobedience is a waste of time and energy that should be invested in

reaching consensus on Hawaiian sovereignty.

Bob

Meyers

Kalaheo