• Focus on Hawai‘i of today • Revision scurrilous at best • Hawai‘i and Tibet Focus on Hawai‘i of today I’m sure we would all like to thank Ken Conklin (“Equality of Hawai‘i’s people worth defending,” Guest Viewpoint, April 16)
• Focus on Hawai‘i of today
• Revision scurrilous at best
• Hawai‘i and Tibet
Focus on Hawai‘i of today
I’m sure we would all like to thank Ken Conklin (“Equality of Hawai‘i’s people worth defending,” Guest Viewpoint, April 16) and Adam Roversi (“On revising Hawaiian history,” Letters, April 17) for their eloquent and forceful depictions of history regarding our beloved Hawai‘i.
Of course, using our “modern” logic and taking into account the fact that we all have a tendency to see what we want to see, anyone can make valid points conveniently arranging history to fit any individual agenda that’s expedient for them. I’m sure both of these gentlemen are equally intelligent, but their opposite conclusions after speculation of the facts speaks volumes. No one alive today will completely understand what happened; what was said by the Queen behind closed doors as her subjects were rioting because of her exclusionary policies, why Prince Kuhio did what he did, who is to blame for the genocide of the Marquesians who were the first inhabitants of these islands, or what right the descendants of those murderers and rapists have to the islands after their successful genocide in the first place, blah, blah, blah.
Hawai‘i today is all we should focus on. Overbuilding, high taxes, traffic, expanding the job base without compromising our beauty or sustainability, improving education and preserving the aloha spirit are all concepts worth our efforts. Arguing, speculating, claiming ownership and pointing the finger at past generations is a ridiculous waste of time.
Get over it.
If Hawai‘i were not a state of the United States of America, it’s a safe bet we would all be speaking Russian, Japanese or who knows what else. Without the United States the future of us “Hawaiians” just may be bowing to Mecca at all hours of the day and watching our beautiful hula girls swaying their burkas to no music.
I submit we will never realize our potential as a community or make a better place for our children to live if we don’t stop speculating, whining, or sniveling about what happened hundreds or thousands of years ago. That behavior will only divide us. On the contrary, we should all work together with one voice to take better care of this island and each other, today.
Our children are relying on us to do so.
Gordon Oswald
Kapa‘a
Revision scurrilous at best
This settler from Massachusetts left out a lot of facts to strengthen his arguments (“Equality of Hawai‘i’s people worth defending,” Guest Viewpoint, April 16).
Interesting to note that Japan balked at the U.S. actions and privately condemned the U.S. but the Western countries over-rode Japan’s sentiments.
Today, Chinese Law Journal recognizes the fact that the Hawaiian Kingdom still exists albeit under the U.S. belligerent occupation. Under Jewish law, that most countries accept as common law, a signature under duress is ineffectual, null and void.
The Queen was under duress signing that abdication but she continued to petition the U.S. for redress. Kenneth Conklin conveniently fails to mention the Ku‘e Petitions of 1897 signed by the Hawaiian nationals in protest and that the cabinet members were part of the conspiracy and committed high treason.
Many Hawai‘i nationals were forced to sign the oath of allegiance in order to work within Hawai‘i. Many signed under duress just to feed their families.
I would call that extortion. Nonetheless the people protested up till today. Conklinites do have a habit to take facts out of context and twist them to suit their smug ego. It’s the wolf crying “sour grapes.”
They are truly the “ultracrepidarian” critics suffering from “oneirataxia.”
To believe this piggish man, is to be ailing from synesthesia and antipathy for the truth. His failing arguments and revision of history are scurrilous at best.
David Inciong II
Pearl City, O‘ahu
Hawai‘i and Tibet
Kenneth Conklin, philosophic pundit, subscribes to situation ethics (“Equality of Hawai‘i’s people worth defending,” Guest Viewpoint, April 16).
There are no known formal letters regarding Roman enslavement of numerous nations, nor are there to my knowledge, any formal declarations of condemnation of China’s overthrow/occupation of Tibet, by 19 nations.
However, this later abomination leads me to a proposition regarding recent events on Moloka‘i, an island which my wife and I love and have visited over many years. Our hearts, and philosophy, are with Native Hawaiians.
Our Supreme Court has ruled that eminent domain exercised by federal, state, county and city governments is not unconstitutional. It would be instructive to get answers from both Democratic nominees on this proposition: a federal bill to declare Moloka‘i Ranch seized using eminent domain and transferred to native people of Moloka‘i to own and operate as they see fit.
Obviously, money is available for two wars, why not use a tiny fraction at home. This may not please Communist Chinese but, hey, they don’t think Hawaiians are to be any more respected than Tibetans. We would accomplish a few things. Moloka‘i Hawaiians would have employment, now ruined by punishing closure and a clear message would be sent to China, that though they may own Hawaiian real estate, they have no philosophical right to abuse indigenous people who have suffered enough. Thanks to China for leprosy and landlord fiat.
Fred Crowe
San Diego, Calif.
