Kamehameha Day
I remember back in 2001, I was going to write an article on Kamehameha Day for Ka Leo (U of Hawaii's newspaper). However, the whole thing was delayed by the editor, who claimed to want a longer editorial. I was hoping that it would be run right before Kamehameha Day, but by the time I got the article ready, it was too late.
I wonder if then-Opinions editor (Jeremy Pippin) really wanted a longer, clarified article, or if he was too much a chicken-boy to run a controversial editorial.
Anyways, here's the long delayed article from my email archives!
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Every June 11, the state of Hawaii celebrates Kamehameha Day. This holiday honors King Kamehameha I, the man who is credited for uniting all the Hawaiian islands.
But what are we celebrating on Kamehameha Day? Is it just the unification of Hawaii. Most people would say so. But there is a darker side to all this, a dark side few would admit because of the fear they would be called a "racist" or "anti-Hawaiian", if they're not Hawaiian, or "sellout" or "acting haole" if they are Hawaiian.
You see, Kamehameha united the islands by invading the islands through military conquest. Kamehameha took over Maui, Molokai, Lanai, and Oahu in 1795 thorugh violence. Though Kaui and Niihau came under Kamehameha's control peacefully, that didnt erase the fact that he took over the other islands through force.
And what motivated his conquests?
King Kamehameha I had a lust for power. The same lust for power that motivated Hitler to "unite Europe", Saddam Hussein to "unite Iraq and Kuwait", white colonizers to "unite America and Hawaii".
Not only that, there was no democratic reforms, no freedom of religion or expression. We currently condem third world nations that refuse to allow elections or the freedom of expression or religion, yet silent when the same happened during Kamehameha I's reign.
It's ironic that many in Hawaii get upset when they hear that in Japan, the Japanese troops of WWII are look at heroicly, when we in Hawaii look at Kamehameha heroicly. We are shocked when the Japanese education system deny the atrocities commited by Japanese troops during WWII, when we aren't even discussing whether Kamehameha's invasion was ethical.
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(that was the end of my old editorial)
It's also ironic that there is so much anger towards Sanford Dole and Lorrin Thurston for overthrowing Queen Lilioukalani in 1893, meanwhile there isn't so much anger towards Kamehameha for overthrowing the chiefs of Maui and Oahu!
I guess some people just feel better being brutalized by those of the same race!
There was also anger towards William McKinley for being the US President who made Hawaii a US territory.
My high school was named after William McKinley. Some Hawaiian activists wanted the school to change it's name. Nevermind that there's a large private school named after King Kamehameha, who violently colonized Oahu, Maui, Lanai and Molokai.
It is Kamehameha Schools that has an ancestry-based (read: race-based) admissions policy. Meanwhile, McKinley High School is a public school that has students who come from various parts of the world!
The Hawaiian activists like to bring up that Punahou was started as an all-whites school. They dont' even bother to deal with the fact that Punahou is now an integrated school with some Hawaiian students!
Punahou's alumni includes Barack Obama & Michelle Wie. So much for Punahou being "whites only"
As one friend mentioned in an email "So between Punahou and Kamehameha, which decided to rectify past injustices, and which has kept its blinders on? Which has chosen to step forward with social progress, and which has yet to enter the twenty-first century?"
