It often seems that supporters and opponents of the Akaka bill "talk past" each other. That happens partly because supporters of the bill are powerful, wealthy institutions who let their money do the talking (advertising and lobbying) and prefer not to allow the voices of their opponents to be heard. For the first five years the Akaka bill was pending in Congress, there were zero public debates except for very rare small forums at private clubs where both supporters and opponents were members.
Occasionally a supporter or opponent of the bill would publish a major essay responding to a major essay previously published by an opponent or supporter in the same newspaper. These "dialogs" were not usually planned to be dialogs -- they simply happened when one writer responded to another writer a few days or weeks later. These dialogs are valuable because they show conflicting opinions and allegations of fact on specific issues, where later writers directly respond to earlier ones. Occasionally there are rebuttals.
Here are some of those Akaka bill dialogs, in reverse chronological order (the most recent ones at the top)
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Dialog: Would the Akaka bill be a win/win solution to reconcile ethnic Hawaiian grievances in a way that restores harmony among all Hawaii citizens, or would it be a zero sum game where ethnic Hawaiians take money, land, and political power at the expense of everyone else? (1) On August 24, 2009 Professor Jon VanDyke published a commentary in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin claiming that passing the Akaka bill would be "a 'win-win' solution, addressing and resolving long-festering injustices, and encouraging our host people to once again play a major role in our economy and community." (2) On August 31, 2009 two leaders of Aloha For All, Tom Macdonald and attorney H. William Burgess, published a rebuttal in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. They say the Akaka bill is "a classic zero-sum game" because "Every dollar or acre of land transferred to the new governing body would be a dollar less, or an acre less, available for the benefit of everyone in Hawaii." Many related historical, legal, and moral issues are discussed in both essays, which are copied in full at
http://www.angelfire.com/big09a/DialogAkakaWinWinVsZeroSum.html
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Here is a collection of dialogs on the general topic whether ethnic Hawaiians should be entitled to special race-based rights. A prominently featured blog on the Honolulu Advertiser website is written by an ethnic Hawaiian activist with a Ph.D. and J.D., who insists that the world is binary (ethnic Hawaiians and non-ethnic-Hawaiians); and that ethnic Hawaiians should be entitled to government handouts in proportion to their percentage of native blood quantum; and that ethnic Hawaiians are at home in Hawaii in a way nobody else can ever truly be at home here. Defenders of unity and equality engage her in dialogs on her blog. The Akaka bill is not directly discussed, but its underlying assumptions about indigeneity and the apology resolution are debated.
See "Dialogs with a racist -- Bringing to public awareness the explicit, enthusiastic, and unapologetic racism of Trisha Kehaulani Watson, a featured blogger on the public website of the largest circulation newspaper in Hawaii" at:
http://www.angelfire.com/big09a/DialogsRacistWatson.html
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The Indian tribes and organizations representing them have been very vigorous in supporting the Akaka bill. They claim that anyone who attacks the Akaka bill is also attacking the fundamental principles that justify tribal sovereignty. The tribes place a high priority on passing the Akaka bill as a way to protect their own right to exist as sovereign governments. But is that merely a diversionary tactic? Perhaps the genuine tribes hope a phony tribe will be established as a decoy so that current attacks on tribal sovereignty will instead be shifted to the new Akaka tribe. Ethnic Hawaiians are nothing like a real tribe; therefore there are unique reasons for defeating the Akaka bill in Congress, or ruling it unconstitutional in the courts, that will not have any impact on the sovereignty rights of genuine tribes. However, if the genuine tribes insist that the phony Akaka tribe is justified on the same basis and for the same reasons that justify the genuine tribes, then the genuine tribes will be hurt when Congress rejects those reasons and defeats the Akaka bill, or when the courts rule the Akaka tribe is unconstitutional.
Here is a dialog containing three essays on this topic, in chronological order: the first two are from the tribal perspective, while the last one is by Ken Conklin, an opponent of the Akaka bill.
(1) Article from Indian Country Today, February 16, 2007 entitled "Overcoming neocon campaign against Akaka Bill key for tribal rights"
(2) Article from Indian Country Today, June 16, 2009 entitled "Got Indigenous?" This article assumes that every group of "indigenous" people should have sovereign rights, so attacks on the Akaka bill are attacks against the principles that make Indian tribes sovereign.
(3) Article in Hawaii Reporter on July 8, 2009 entitled "The Akaka Bill Can be Rejected for Reasons that Do Not Attack the Legitimacy of the Genuine Indian Tribes"
http://www.angelfire.com/big09a/DialogOpposeAkakaMeansOpposeTribes.html
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Here's a dialog that is not directly about the Akaka bill, but discusses the apology resolution and the ceded lands, which are two of the most important aspects of the Akaka bill.
http://www.angelfire.com/bigfiles90/DialogSiuVsConklinSupCtCededLands.html
Dialog: Leon Siu vs. Ken Conklin regarding the U.S. Supreme Court ceded lands lawsuit
The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the State cannot sell ceded lands without permission from ethnic Hawaiians; but the State appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. On Wednesday October 1, 2008 the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari (i.e., it agrees to hear the case). This lawsuit is very important to Hawaii. It also has nationwide significance, as evidenced by the fact that the attorneys general of 29 other states submitted an amicus brief supporting the State of Hawaii's petition.
On October 13, 2008 Leon Siu published an article in Hawaii Reporter online newspaper describing the significance of the ceded lands lawsuit. On October 14 Ken Conklin published a response with a very different analysis and conclusion.
Leon Siu describes himself this way: "Leon Siu is the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Ke Aupuni O Hawaii, the Hawaiian Kingdom, and has served in that capacity since 2000. Prior to that, he served as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for four years.
Ken Conklin is a retired professor with a Ph.D. in Philosophy, maintains a large website on the subject of Hawaiian sovereignty, and has published a book entitled "Hawaiian Apartheid: Racial Separatism and Ethnic Nationalism in the Aloha State." His webpage describing himself is at:
http://tinyurl.com/5c8xcy
Leon Siu and Ken Conklin disagree with the State of Hawaii regarding the significance of the U.S. apology resolution of 1959, in which the U.S. apologized to "Native Hawaiians" for overthrowing the Kingdom of Hawaii, and the U.S. says that "Native Hawaiians" never relinquished their claims to their native lands. Siu and Conklin agree with each other that the apology resolution was badly mistaken in singling out the racial group "Native Hawaiians" as the only people to whom the apology is directed. Siu and Conklin agree that the Kingdom of Hawaii was multiracial. However, Siu claims that the apology resolution is a confession of a crime by the U.S. against the Kingdom of Hawaii, and that the remedy would be the return of sovereignty to an independent nation of Hawaii. Siu claims that the ceded lands belong to that nation of Hawaii. Conklin claims that the revolution of 1893 was legitimate, and that the successor government, the Republic of Hawaii, was internationally recognized as legitimate. Conklin claims that the Republic was the rightful owner of the ceded lands, and had the authority to cede them to the U.S.. Conklin concludes that today the ceded lands are owned by all the people of Hawaii without racial distinction, under the sovereignty of the United States and State of Hawaii. Thus the State has the right to sell the ceded lands.
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http://www.angelfire.com/hi5/bigfiles3/AkakaKrischelApolionaetal.html
Akaka Bill and Ethnic Hawaiian Entitlements -- Dialog -- Jere Krischel vs. OHA Chair Haunani Apoliona and others, January 2007
The Honolulu Advertiser printed a commentary by Jere Krischel. The commentary pointed out that U.S. Census data show that ethnic Hawaiians in other states, notably California, have higher income than the average for the population there. Furthermore, ethnic Hawaiians in California are doing far better than ethnic Hawaiians in Hawaii despite the fact that those in California do not receive the benefits provided in Hawaii by OHA, DHHL, etc. This raises the possibility that Hawaii's large number of racial entitlements are doing more harm than good.
The Advertiser has limited space. Therefore Jere Krischel published a longer version of his article in Hawaii Reporter, with more details.
Haunani Apoliona, Chair of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, wrote a reply co-authored by OHA's chief Administrator Clyde Namu'o. The reply was based on the original Advertiser article. Therefore both versions of the Krischel article are provided. The OHA reply defends the Hawaiian entitlements on the grounds that they are required by state law and that they are part of the birthright of Hawaii's "indigenous people."
Later, Mr. Krischel wrote a rebuttal in Hawaii Reporter, taking issue with the description of ethnic Hawaiians as "indigenous" and the concept that one racial group should have a birthright superior to others who were also born and raised in Hawaii (even for many generations).
Along the way there were short letters to editor from other writers.
At the end there are links to some webpages dealing with ethnic Hawaiian victimhood claims (including income and health statistics), the Akaka bill, and other Hawaiian sovereignty issues.
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http://www.angelfire.com/hi5/bigfiles3/AkakaFukudaStender.html
Three articles in Hawaii Reporter (on-line) regarding the "social justice" aspects of the Akaka bill.
Robert K. Fukuda was Deputy Attorney General of the Territory Of Hawaii from 1953 to 1959, and the attorney for the Hawaiian Homes Commission, an agency that managed and supervised the use of lands allocated to native Hawaiians for residential and agricultural uses. He was elected to the first Hawaii State Legislature, serving as a Representative from 1959 to 1962, served as the United States Attorney for the State of Hawaii from 1969 to 1973, and was in the United States Army in World War II working as a Japanese Language interpreter and translator.
Oswald K. Stender is currently (February 2006) Trustee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, an agency of the government of the State of Hawai'i that provides benefits on a racially exclusionary basis and is the primary source of funding for advertisements and lobbying in support of the Akaka bill. Mr. Stender was formerly Trustee of Kamehameha Schools.
Fukuda, January 27, 2006: "The Akaka Bill Would Legalize Racial Segregation"
Stender, February 1, 2006: "Akaka Bill Corrects Injustices of Past and Accounts for Present"
Fukuda, February 16, 2006: "Taking Issue With the Race-Based Direction of the Akaka Bill"
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http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/AkakaBennett2004.html
Four articles in Hawaii Reporter (on-line) in December 2005 and January 2005 regarding whether the Akaka bill is permissible under the U.S. Constitution. Attorney H. William Burgess and his wife Sandra Puanani Burgess are the founders of Aloha For All, a group of civil rights activists supporting the concepts of unity and equality. Mark J. Bennett is Attorney General of the State of Hawai'i. Kenneth R. Conklin, Ph.D., is an independent scholar living in Kane'ohe who is a member of Aloha For All. Bruce Fein is a constitutional attorney and international consultant at Bruce Fein & Associates and The Lichfield Group.
Burgess, December 17, 2004: "Don't Count on the Akaka Bill"
Bennett, December 20, 2004: "The Akaka Bill Would Be Constitutional"
Conklin, December 21, 2004: "Akaka Bill Is Unconstitutional and Bad Public Policy"
Fein, January 19, 2005: "E Pluribus Unum: Debating the Legality of the Akaka Bill"
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http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/AkakaWashingtonTimesOctNov2004.html
Three articles in the Washington Times newspaper in October and November, 2004. Bruce Fein is a constitutional attorney and international consultant at Bruce Fein & Associates and The Lichfield Group. Sherry P. Broder is an attorney in private practice who has litigated many lawsuits for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs for about twenty years. Her husband, Jon M. Van Dyke, is a professor of Constitutional and International Law at the University of Hawai'i law school; he has written numerous essays and legal documents for OHA and serves as occasional public spokesman for OHA in the media and the Legislature. Melody McKenzie is an attorney who wrote a handbook on Native Hawaiian rights many years ago, and has served as spokesman for OHA in various public forums. Kenneth R. Conklin, Ph.D., is an independent scholar living in Kane'ohe who is a member of Aloha For All.
Fein, October 5, 2004: "A Race-Based Drift?"
Broder, Van Dyke, and McKenzie: November 28, 2004: "Hawaii bill in line with U.S. political tradition"
Conklin, November 30, 2004: "Playing Racial Politics in Hawaii"
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Three Choices For Hawai'i's Future: Akaka Bill vs. Independence vs. Unity and Equality
Three articles in April 2004 debated whether the best course for Hawai'i's future should be independence, the Akaka bill, or unity and equality.
Two articles were published side by side in the Honolulu Advertiser of April 25, 2004. One favored independence while the other favored the Akaka bill. As usual, the Advertiser ignored the third possibility of unity and equality. So that third position was put forward on April 26, 2004 in Hawaii Reporter (on-line).
University of Hawaii Professor Davianna McGregor was the author of the 1993 apology resolution in which Congress apologized to ethnic Hawaiians for the 1893 overthrow of the monarchy. In her article, she supports the Akaka bill as a way to save racially exclusionary government programs and institutions that benefit ethnic Hawaiians. She argues against the position of the Hawaiian sovereignty independence activists, who oppose the Akaka bill because it would make independence from the United States more difficult to achieve. "AKAKA BILL YES: Independence does not offer same guaranteed protection of Native rights"
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Apr/25/op/op10a.html
The second article is opposed to the Akaka bill, by Wesleyan University Professor J. Kehaulani Kauanui. She opposes the Akaka bill on the grounds that it would place ethnic Hawaiians more firmly under the plenary power of Congress by treating them as though they are an Indian tribe, thereby making it even more difficult than at present for ethnic Hawaiians to demand independence from the United States. Kauanui's article is: "AKAKA BILL NO: Unnecessary bargain extinguishes all claims in exchange for recognition"
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Apr/25/op/op11a.html
The third article is opposed to both independence and the Akaka bill, and supports the Aloha alternative of unity and equality. It concludes that the "debate" in The Honolulu Advertiser between Professor McGregor and Professor Kauanui is merely a debate over whether independence or tribal status would be the more effective way to guarantee racial supremacy to ethnic Hawaiians. It most definitely is not a debate over what would be the best future for all Hawaii's people.
http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/akakavsindepvsunityequality.html
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The Progeny of Rice v. Cayetano: A Panel Discussion at University of Hawai'i Law School, And The Journal Articles It Spawned (Discussing The Lawsuits Following After and Based Upon Rice v. Cayetano)
On April 18, 2002 a panel discussion on "Rice and Its Progeny" was held at the University of Hawai'i, William S. Richardson School of Law. The Asian-Pacific Law and Policy Journal, published by the University of Hawai'i Press, subsequently included a collection of six articles on Rice and Its Progeny, in Volume 3, Issue 2, Summer, 2002. That issue of the journal, and its articles, are made available through the journal's website at
http://www.hawaii.edu/aplpj/
This forum, like all others at the University of Hawai'i on "Hawaiian" topics, was entirely one-sided: all panelists were supporters of ethnic Hawaiian racial supremacy through either independence or the Akaka bill. All three panelists were outspokenly hostile to the Supreme Court's decision in Rice v. Cayetano. All three panelists viciously attacked the four Rice progeny cases as being part of a racist conspiracy to undermine the civil rights or "indigenous rights" of Native Hawaiians. Although the panel was held at the UH Law School, its three members included only one junior member of the Law School faculty, one Hawaiian attorney who is a rabid political activist and recent OHA trustee, and one attorney from Idaho who is active in litigation on behalf of Indian tribes. The panel presentation, like so many other sovereignty rallies disguised as panel discussions at UH, was videotaped for future use in UH courses and perhaps for cable television broadcast.
Conspicuously missing from the panel, but sitting uninvited in the audience, was Mr. Patrick W. Hanifin. He was specifically not invited to serve on the panel, even though he is a graduate of Harvard, lives in Honolulu, is a partner in his law firm, has published scholarly articles in legal journals over a period of 20 years, and served as an attorney of record in three of the four Rice progeny cases (Arakaki #1, Barrett, and Arakaki #2). Someone at the Law School had informed him about the panel discussion, asked him to attend, and asked him to contribute a paper responding to the panelists in order to provide just a bit of balance to the published collection of articles. Another distinguished Honolulu attorney, Paul M. Sullivan, who opposes the Native Hawaiian recognition bill (also known as the Akaka bill), was also invited to write an article for balance.
Then, perhaps fearful of too much balance, an Associate Professor at the UH Law School was asked to write an article to balance the balancers. Professor Chris Ijima's published articles include such balanced titles as "Race over Rice ... Twenty-First Century Endorsement of Nineteenth Century Imperialism in Rice v. Cayetano", and "The Colonizer's Story: The Supreme Court Violates Native Hawaiian Sovereignty -- Again" published in the distinguished "Colorlines" magazine.
Here are the six articles: First the three panelists; then the balancers Patrick Hanifin and Paul Sullivan; then the balancer of the balancers, Chris Ijima. Anyone who reads all six articles will easily recognize the superior quality of the articles by Hanifin and Sullivan. An analysis of why the panel was so strongly biased is provided at
http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/riceprogeny.html
"Reaffirming the Racism of Hawaii's Colonial Past" by Mililani B. Trask
http://www.hawaii.edu/aplpj/pdfs/v3-14-Trask.pdf
"Rice v. Cayetano: The Supreme Court Declines to Extend Federal Indian Law Principles to Native Hawaiins Sovereign Rights" by Jeanette Wolfley
http://www.hawaii.edu/aplpj/pdfs/v3-15-Wolfley.pdf
"The Perpetuation of Privilege and Anti-Affirmative Action Sentiment in Rice v. Cayetano" by
Danielle Conway-Jones
http://www.hawaii.edu/aplpj/pdfs/v3-16-Conway-Jones.pdf
"Rice is Right" by Patrick W. Hanifin
http://www.hawaii.edu/aplpj/pdfs/v3-12-Hanifin.pdf
"'Recognizing' the Fifth Leg: The 'Akaka Bill' Proposal to Create a Native Hawaiian Government in the Wake of Rice v. Cayetano" by Paul M. Sullivan
http://www.hawaii.edu/aplpj/pdfs/v3-13-Sullivan.pdf
"New Rice Recipes: The Legitimization of Continued Overthrow" by Chris K. Iijima
http://www.hawaii.edu/aplpj/pdfs/v3-17-Iijima.pdf
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or
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Send comments or questions to:
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