Opposing the Akaka Bill

Lecture notes from today's lecture/discussion at the Church of the Crossroads in Honolulu

A series of three 60-minute lecture/discussions about the Akaka bill were scheduled for the Church of the Crossroads in Honolulu on three successive Sundays in September 2010. The presentations were publicly announced ahead of time. I, Ken Conklin, was the speaker for September 12.

My topic was: "Unity and Equality vs. Racial Separatism -- Why the Akaka bill is historically, legally, and morally wrong; with bad consequences for all Hawaii's people including those with native ancestry"

Being a retired professor, I'm accustomed to using lecture notes. I wanted to make the notes available to the audience, including internet webpage links that would provide more detailed explanations plus citations of source material. Since the notes ran longer than a single page, and not knowing how many people might attend, I made the extended notes available on a webpage and gave its URL to the audience. That webpage is at
http://tinyurl.com/akakabad091210

Below is a greatly shortened version of what's on the webpage. This article is to the webpage as CliffsNotes is to a book. All the internet links have been removed; some paragraphs have been reduced to sentences. The article below is the actual notes I had in front of me while speaking. Some topics below were unfortunately not covered in the actual lecture due to lack of time. So this is sort of an advertisement -- if you like the topics in this article, then go to the extended lecture notes for lots more information.
http://tinyurl.com/akakabad091210

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1. Introduction

Aloha kakou. Pule (prayer).
Who is Ken Conklin?
Personal background
Basic principles: Unity and Equality
The Aloha Spirit and Kokokahi
Book: "Hawaiian Apartheid: Racial Separatism and Ethnic Nationalism in the Aloha State" 27 copies in Hawaii Public library. Portions on internet.

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2. Practical effects of Akaka bill

Webpage has 10-year compilation of bill text, news reports, commentary.

Practical impossibility of repealing the bill to put Humpty Dumpty back together. Thelma & Louise.

No time limit for settlement means struggle, anger, bitterness forever. (Some previous versions of the bill had a 20 year time limit).

Bad effects on businesses and communities. Webpage.

Ethnic Hawaiians would suffer loss of democratic and constitutional rights. Webpage. Also, forced to join the tribe or else lose benefits they currently get.

Clash of jurisdictions. Webpage with examples from mainland tribes. Minnesota court decision on state sex offender registry and effects it would have on Waimanalo Hawaiian Homestead and Blanche Pope Elementary School (webpage gives names and addresses of Waimanalo homestead registered sex offenders in 2005).

Could cost State government loss of $690 Million revenue per year (Report by Beacon Hill Institute, Suffolk University).

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3. Historical issues, authoritative reports, legal documents below:

U.S. Congress studied the issues IN DEPTH on 2 occasions
(a) Morgan Report 1894, webpage (U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, testimony under oath and cross examination in open session), contrast to Blount/Cleveland.
(b) Native Hawaiians Study Commission 1983, webpage (2 yrs, Hse & Sen joint report), contrast to apology resolution (no committee hearings or testimony; House voice vote, Senate 1 hour floor debate never raised historical issues.

Apology resolution filled with falsehoods and distortions (Constitutional scholar attorney Bruce Fein "Hawaii Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand"). Apology reso and annexation reso are both resos and both have force of law; but apology "now therefore" clauses are all toothless. Several webpages.

U.S. Supreme Court 9-0 says ceded lands belong to State in fee simple absolute on behalf of all people regardless of race. Webpage traces history of lawsuit and links to all major legal briefs and decisions.

Photos of original letters personally signed by 20 heads of government in 1894-1895 formally recognizing Republic as rightful government, including Lili'uokalani's oath of loyalty. The same nations that previously recognized the Kingdom now acknowledged the revolution and recognized the Republic as rightful successor. France, Spain, Portugal, China, Japan, Russia, U.S. etc. Webpage.

Treaty of Annexation 1898. Webpage.

Statehood vote 1959 results by district. Pdf certified letter Dwayne Yoshina.

Attorney's point by point rebuttal of Akaka bill (Paul Sullivan) w. cartoons (Cagle). Download 65 pp pdf.

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights letter to Congress in August 2009 opposing Akaka bill (pdf of letterhead stationery with signatures; cites Kokokahi 1840).

Ryan William Nohea Garcia scholarly article in current issue of Asian-Pacific Law & Policy Journal says Akaka bill likely to fail in the courts because it tries to convert an ethnic group into a political entity despite the multiracial character of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Download 78-pages.

House Judiciary Subcommitte on the Constitution in 2005 called it unconstitutional. (Webpage has audio files of testimony, written statements of witnesses, news reports)

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4. Evidence that Hawaii's people, and commentators of national stature, oppose the Akaka bill

Compilation of hundreds of major commentaries during 10 year period.

Roundup of evidence that Hawaii's people oppose Akaka bill, including telephone polls, newspaper polls. Webpage

OHA polls through Ward research unreliable; skewed and "leading" questions.

Zogby poll December 2009 -- internationally respected professional polling company. Majority oppose Akaka bill; even bigger majority want local hearings and ballot referendum. Pdf with poll questions and percentages, and Zogby conclusions.

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5. Support unity, equality, aloha for all. Oppose racial separatism, ethnic nationalism, religious fascism

Unity =
(a) Unity of Hawaii with U.S.A. (therefore oppose the independence activists)
(b) Unity of Hawaii's people under a single sovereignty of the State of Hawaii. (therefore oppose Akaka bill, OHA, DHHL, KIRC)

Equality =
(a) All people equal in eyes of God.
(b) All people should be treated equally under the law by their government.

Both the racial separatists (Akaka) and the ethnic nationalists (independence) REJECT BOTH (a) and (b) parts of equality.

Kumulipo creation legend twisted by sovereignty activists into a justification for religious fascism claiming ethnic Hawaiians are children of the gods and brothers to the land in a family relationship relegating non-natives to second-class citizenship. This is a religious belief used as justification for racial supremacy = Hawaiian religious fascism. Kumulipo itself is beautiful creation legend applying to all humans regardless of race; but sovereignty activists twist it as applying only to ethnic Hawaiians.

Say it again: Both the supporters of the Akaka bill and supporters of independence believe that people are NOT equal in the eyes of God(s). They believe that only ethnic Hawaiians have a sacred genealogical family relationship with the gods and with the 'aina. This justifies racial supremacy and 2 levels of citizenship. Those who lack a drop of the magic blood have only second-class citizenship as guests in the ancestral homeland of ethnic Hawaiians; property ownership restricted to certain areas and voting rights limited to certain topics.

1839 & 1840 Kokokahi sentence by Kauikeaouli Kamehameha III "God hath made of one blood all races of people to dwell on this Earth in unity and blessedness." Webpage on "The Aloha Spirit."

Kingdom had multiracial full partnership from before its creation and throughout its history.

Without John Young and British armaments Kamehameha could not have created unified Kingdom. That's why Kamehameha named him Governor of Kamehameha's own home island (Hawaii Island) and gave him a house right next to the great heiau Pu'ukohola. That's why John Young's tomb is in Mauna Ala (Royal Mausoleum) and resembles a miniature heiau and guarded by pair of pulo'ulo'u (sacred taboo sticks). His bones are the oldest in Mauna Ala. Son Keoni Ana (John Jr.) was Kuhina Nui of Kingdom. There are only two signatures on the second Constitution (1852): "Kamehameha Rex" (King Kamehameha III) and "Keoni Ana". John Young's granddaughter was Queen Emma, wife of Alexander Liholiho Kamehameha IV and candidate for monarch against Kalakaua in the election of 1874 following the death of King Lunalilo.

Hawaiian Kingdom government was multiracial throughout its history. Most department heads were Caucasians; also most cabinet ministers, and 1/4 to 1/3 of all Legislators (both Representatives and Nobles, both elected and appointed). Anyone born or naturalized in Hawaii was a subject of the Kingdom with full rights equal to the natives. Over a thousand Asians became naturalized.

Akaka bill supporters say that shows Hawaiians were so inclusive, warm and generous, and now we're holding it against them as they try to revive a native government. But no. This is about a Kingdom that could not have been created and would not have thrived without non-natives as full partners. Caucasians and Asians were necessary full partners in the Kingdom, but now the racist Akaka bill wants to throw them away like trash. There was no "native government" for the Akaka bill to "reorganize."

The book "Asian Settler Colonialism" portrays Hawaii's people of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, etc. ancestry, even after multiple generations in Hawaii, as being foreign "settlers" just like the haoles. The book says that by remaining silent and enjoying their prosperity in Hawaii the Asians are accomplices to the oppression of the natives under a belligerent military occupation and a Caucasian oligarchy. The book grievously insults Hawaii's Asians by demanding they give up their hard-won equal rights in order to subordinate themselves to ethnic Hawaiians in an effort to throw off the yoke of haole oppression and American imperialism. See essay-length book review

Sovereignty activists approve of model whereby ethnic Russians were expelled or lost civil rights in Baltic nations (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) after Soviet Union collapsed; That's how they think Caucasian and Asian "settlers" in Hawaii should be treated, even those whose families have 8 generations here.

Whose land is it? 'Olelo No'eau: "He ali'i ka 'aina, he kauwa ke kanaka"
Land is chief, people are its humble servants. The 'aina has been here for millions of years; people have been here for less than 2,000 years. It is disrespectful for the servants to quarrel among themselves over who should control their master.

Balnakization; Aztlan; Black nationalism

Letter to President Obama noting victory of integration over racial separatism in the Black civil rights movement, asking what would happen to America if a Nation of New Africa were created)

Letter reminds President Obama of his Berlin speech "Tear down walls that divide us ... walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants ..."; Reminder of Black struggle for equality (hooray: separatists like Louis Farrakhan and the early Malcolm X lost, while integrationists like Martin Luther King won). In 2009 both the Senate and the House passed resolutions apologizing to African-Americans for slavery. The apology resolution of 1993 to Native Hawaiians is a primary justification in the Akaka bill for "reorganizing" a "Native Hawaiian" government. If that logic were followed, then the apology resolutions for slavery would seem to justify creating a Nation of New Africa. Only 13% of America's people have any degree of African ancestry, whereas 20% of Hawaii's people have any degree of Hawaiian ancestry; so imagine creating a Nation of New Africa inside U.S., and then raise the impact by 50% to imagine the effect of the Akaka bill in Hawaii.