• Akaka Apartheid • Let it run • The true test Akaka Apartheid The Akaka bill was recently passed by the federal House of Representatives. I am opposed to this law for a number of reasons: Division: This law would
• Akaka Apartheid
• Let it run
• The true test
Akaka Apartheid
The Akaka bill was recently passed by the federal House of Representatives. I am opposed to this law for a number of reasons:
Division: This law would split the sovereign and democratic state of Hawai‘i into two separate and competing governments. Jesus said it quite clearly, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” This bill will split our state into two separate “kingdoms,” weakening our state to the point that we will no longer have the strength that comes from standing together.
In setting up the United States, the founding fathers gave a great deal of sovereign power to the individual states. Since then, the federal government has been slowly and surely taking power away from the states and centralizing power and decisions in Washington, D.C. The federal government knows what it is doing with the Akaka bill. It is the classic “divide and conquer” strategy. By carving Hawai‘i up into separate governments, the only government left that will be strong enough to make any major decisions will be the federal government. More and more of our lives will be dictated by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.
Racism: The Akaka bill is racist. This is a simple fact. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of the day when his children would be judged, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Guess what, the federal government now has a plan of formalized racism for Hawai‘i, the Akaka bill. This is a system of special rights and privileges for people with a certain percentage of a certain race. What kind of business can you do? How many fish can you legally catch? What kind of house can you legally build on your property? The answer to all these kinds of questions will depend on the color of your skin. The federal government will be forcing us to take a giant step backward, away from Rev. King’s dream and into a legally racist society. Even the old Hawaiian Kingdom was not racist like the Akaka bill. People of all different races were proud citizens of the old Hawaiian Kingdom.
Resentment: Nobody, especially in America, wants to legally be a second-class citizen. If they are forced to be an underclass, they will resent it. I grew up as a fourth-generation resident of Washington state. I loved hunting and, while I bagged several deer, I dreamed of one day bagging a magnificent bull elk. I never did get an elk. One elk would have been a lifetime memory for me. Yet, I would hear stories of Native Americans shooting down entire herds of elk in winter snows of the off-season, when they had nowhere to hide, cutting out the prime steaks, and leaving the rest to rot. There are also stories of endangered salmon runs starting up the river and Native Americans putting nets across the entire river, capturing 100 percent of the precious few salmon that made it back to lay their eggs and sustain the species. Whether or not these and so many other stories are true, the fact is that the apartheid legal system of Washington state allows for and promotes these kinds of inequities and abuses. As a result of this apartheid system, a great number of people in Washington (myself excluded) despise the Native Americans.
In Hawai‘i, just the opposite seems to be true. It seems that almost everyone here (including myself) loves and cherishes the Native Hawaiian people. We love their genuine spirit of aloha. We respect them for their great navigational history and are fond of their beautiful culture. We are sad to see some of them owning no real property in the land of their ancestors. I am afraid that if the federal government forces us into an Akaka Apartheid system, much of this love for the Hawaiian people would gradually be poisoned into resentment.
Mark Beeksma
Koloa
Let it run
I’m part Hawaiian and was born and raised on Kaua‘i. I’m tired of hearing about all the rhetoric on the Superferry.
Let it run.
I think it’s great that Gov. Linda Lingle and various government officials backed and amended the EIS law to allow the Superferry to operate while the study is being done. This law in original form is flawed. It does not address big businesses like the airlines, Matson, Young Bros., cruise ships, whale watching tours, etc. I read that some of these businesses were “grandfathered” in because they were operating before the EIS law was enacted. This whole issue is about our environment, or is it?
The protesters, Sierra Club, 1,000 Friends of Kaua‘i … environmentalists and their lawyers remain silent on these businesses.
The 323 luxury unit condominiums planned for Koloa Landing will bring in the rich malahinis that will add to our traffic. Maybe these come-lately protesters feel they are OK and not a threat. I believe that some malahinis and a few locals feel that their lifestyle will be threatened. How selfish. The majority of Hawai‘i’s people welcome this alternate source of inter-island travel. People will be able to visit friends and family or conduct business and return. It will benefit all the people of Hawai‘i. In closing, I’ll say to all the people planning on protesting, “Do it legally.” If you are arrested, charged with a federal crime and convicted, you may serve 10 years in a Federal Prison among murderers, sex offenders or in general, bad people. You will be away from family and friends. You will lose your freedom.
You may be given a pat on the back, cheered on from outside the boundaries set up and maybe even told, “Good Job.” Eventually only your family and a few others will remember you for the stand you took.
Is this worth it?
Paul A. Lemke
Kapa‘a
The true test
Janos Samu is possibly correct on his view of which are in the majority regarding the Superferry.
Time will tell, since the Superferry will be sailing soon.
We will be able to tell which group was in the majority. One might ask, “How will we know?”
The answer is: If the Superferry is successful then the proponents were the majority. If the Superferry fails then the protesters were the majority.
Either way, it is a win-win situation ‘cause the majority will have spoken and consequently won.
Gordon “Doc” Smith
Kapa‘a
