On August 2, 2005 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a decision in the case of Doe v. Kamehameha Schools. This decision ruled that the schools' racially exclusionary admissions policy is illegal. There was a tremendous outcry of opposition to the ruling from ethnic Hawaiian activists who vow to preserve the schools' racial segregation at all costs. The Governor and most news media also oppose the ruling and support the protesters. On August 6, 2005 there was a huge protest rally of about 15,000 people at 'Iolani Palace (seat of government of the Kingdom of Hawai'i) followed by a march through the streets to Mauna Ala (the Royal Mausoleum where the overthrown Queen Lili'uokalani has her tomb, along with the founder of Kamehameha Schools, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop).
The newspapers published glowing reports and inspiring photos of the rally and march. But there was also a substantial amount of anti-Americanism among the people and in some of their signs. Hundreds of Hawaiian (Kingdom) flags were flown at the rally and carried by the marchers, many upside-down as a symbol of distress; and not one American flag.
All this political and emotional upheaval should serve as a warning to Senators, Members of Congress, and people of other States who think the Akaka bill is merely a way to help ethnic Hawaiians achieve parity with American Indians and Alaska Natives; or who think the Akaka bill will help foster racial reconciliation and harmony. To the contrary. The Akaka bill would empower the people holding these signs; people who think of themselves as ethnic Hawaiians first and only secondarily (or not at all) as Americans; people determined to rip the 50th star off our flag. The decision in Doe v. Kamehameha helps remove one brick from Hawai'i's growing wall of apartheid. The Akaka bill would thicken that wall and build it enormously high.
The first group of 8 photos below were taken by a friend of Ken Conklin, showing the anti-Americanism and secessionist attitude. At the bottom are four photos published in the newspapers, showing the size and power of the non-violent protest.
For analysis of the significance of the Kamehameha decision see: "Kamehameha 9th Circuit Decision: the Big Picture and Some Brush-Strokes (demolishing Hawai'i's wall of apartheid one brick at a time)"
https://www.angelfire.com/hi5/bigfiles3/Kam9thCircuitBigPicture.html
For background, news reports and analysis covering the period of August 2-7, 2005 in about 100 pages, see: "Kamehameha Schools 2005 -- 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Rules Against Racially Exclusionary Admissions Policy -- The decision itself; how it relates to the Arakaki#2 lawsuit and the Akaka bill; reactions by attorneys and the community; huge red-shirt protest rally and march through the streets on August 6 to support racial segregation at Kamehameha"
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/kamschool2005.html
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'Iolani Palace, August 6, 2005. Red-shirt rally protesting 9th Circuit Court ruling that Kamehameha Schools' racially exclusionary admissions policy is illegal. Photos taken by a friend of Ken Conklin who prefers not to be named.
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'Iolani Palace, August 6, 2005. Hawaiian independence activists' signs citing the apology resolution passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1993; P.L.103-150. The signs proclaim that the apology resolution places the U.S. on record as acknowledging that ethnic Hawaiians never gave up their inherent sovereignty or their national lands. Photos taken by a friend of Ken Conklin who prefers not to be named.
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'Iolani Palace, August 6, 2005. Hawaiian independence activists' signs saying America has no right to govern the Hawaiian nation. America is not lawful in Hawai'i. The U.S. Government has no jurisdiction in Hawai'i. America has no right to rule on the legality of Kamehameha Schools' admissions polict. Princess Pauahi (whose Will established Kamehameha Schools) was never an American. Photos taken by a friend of Ken Conklin who prefers not to be named.
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'Iolani Palace, August 6, 2005. Hawaiian independence activists' sign on left says: "We don't need no American government. Don't like to see too much foreign power here cause Western influence been killing us for years." Sign on bottom says: "We are not American. We are not American. We are not American. We will die as Hawaiians. We will never be American." That sign is a close paraphrase of what Professor Haunani-Kay Trask, Chair of the University of Hawai'i Center for Hawaiian Studies, said on January 17, 1993 in a famous speech made from the Coronation Pavilion at 'Iolani Palace in a mass protest commemorating the 100th anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. For another photo of Professor Trask, see the newspaper photo following these two. These two photos taken by a friend of Ken Conklin who prefers not to be named.
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This next photo was included in a newspaper article from September 2000 copied below it. The photo shows Professor Haunani-Kay Trask holding a sign saying "Fuck Ben." She's referring to Ben Cayetano, Governor of Hawai'i. She is standing in front of the Governor's mansion, where the Governor was entertaining a delegation of dignitaries from the Philippines. (The governor's mansion, "Washington Place", was the private residence of Queen Lili'uokalani, who was overthrown in the revolution of 1893 which included a minor role by the U.S., for which the U.S. apologized in the apology resolution of 1993). Not shown in the photo are children under Professor Trask's control who were also holding signs with vulgar language. The woman standing next to Professor Trask in the September 2000 photo appears to be Vicky Holt Takamine, founder of the 'Ilio'ulaokalani coalition, who later sued the State of Hawai'i regarding "Native Hawaiian rights." Ms. Takamine was the organizer of the red-shirt protest rally of August 6, 2005. These lovely folks were upset in 2000 that the Governor had forced the resignation of trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs because, according to the Rice v. Cayetano Supreme Court decision of February 28, 2000 those trustees had been illegally elected under a racially segregated election scheme that prohibited 80% of Hawai'i's people from voting for OHA trustees. The man in the photo is unidentified. Someone speculated he might be Ray Soon, until very recently a high official with Kamehameha Schools; but others say Mr. Soon is taller and more distinguished-looking. This incident at the time a group of dignitaries from the Philippines was visiting the Governor hit especially hard at Governor Cayetano, who is ethnic Filipino, and also insulted the substantial portion of Hawai'i's people who are also Filipino.
Newspaper's photo caption: Sovereignty activist Haunani-Kay Trask holds the X-rated sign.
Photo source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Wednesday, September 13, 2000
http://starbulletin.com/2000/09/13/news/artf.jpg
http://starbulletin.com/2000/09/13/news/story3.html
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Wednesday, September 13, 2000
Some protest Trask’s obscene sign
Some Hawaiian leaders say the language was inappropriate and detracts from the real issue
By Treena Shapiro
Many Hawaiian leaders have criticized Haunani-Kay Trask's use of an obscenity in a protest against Gov. Ben Cayetano's appointment of five interim trustees to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
Some said they support Trask's sentiment, but not her language.
Trask printed "F---" on a piece of posterboard above the name "Ben" and joined 150 others protesting in front of Washington Place on Monday afternoon.
"It was an obscene word to describe an obscene man, namely the governor, who has committed an obscene act," she said.
The word isn't as obscene as the action he took by removing the trustees, including her sister Mililani, and appointing his buddies in their place, she said, but it's one everyone recognizes as an obscenity.
She said her reason for protesting wasn't only because her sister was involved.
Cayetano criticized the Trasks and Vicky Holt Takamine for organizing the protest outside the reception for visiting Philippine dignitaries.
He said Monday "was the first time that children were exploited in the process, holding signs with profanity. The organizers of the demonstration -- Vicky Holt Takamine and Mililani and Haunani Trask -- should be embarrassed and ashamed that they involved children in such a way."
The governor said their actions reaffirm "my decision to appoint people who will discuss issues critical to native Hawaiians in a rational, meaningful and productive way."
Kahu Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell said that, as a reverend, he doesn't think that kind of language is becoming to anyone, particularly someone of Trask's caliber, but he understands her frustration with Cayetano's actions.
"The governor brings out the worst in people," he said. "That's what he's looking for. That's what he's getting."
Maxwell said he supports Trask's sentiment. "We as Hawaiians are frustrated, and you cannot blame the Hawaiian people. They are being attacked from every angle," he said.
OHA Chairman Clayton Hee, one of two trustees reappointed to the board, said the interim trustees Cayetano appointed will raise the level of discussion and dialogue, but he still supported the Hawaiian community's protests.
"We live in a country that was founded on protests," he said. "The thirteen colonies that left England were under protest. Protest is part of democracy.
"But speech has its consequences, and unacceptable speech has no place in a civilized society," he said.
As for Trask, he said: "Frankly, for a tenured professor at the University of Hawaii, behavior like that is unacceptable. And for someone who is at least 50 years old, it's a great disappointment, insofar as the message she is sending to younger people."
However, Trask said she was aware of the presence of children at the protest and was using the sign as a form of communication.
"Hawaiian children are going to suffer from the actions of Gov. Cayetano. And that is obscene," she said.
Kekuni Blaisdell, of Kanaka Maoli Tribunal Komike, said the OHA protest and Trask's sign weren't worth commenting on because they detract from the major issue, namely U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye's efforts to push the amended Akaka bill through the Senate, despite "vigorous and overwhelming" protests against it from the kanaka maoli.
"That's the one that keeps the colonial establishment in power and subjugates us as second-class citizens," he said.
As for OHA, and Monday's protest, Blaisdell likened it to "children squabbling."
"It's an issue, but it's minor," he said, adding that it had nothing to do with the kanaka maoli, the return of stolen land, or the Hawaiian people's self-determination.
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For more information about Professor Haunani-Kay Trask and her rabid anti-Americanism, see:
"Professor Haunani-Kay Trask: Some Speeches and Writings Illustrating the Anti-American and Anti-White Attitudes of the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement"
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/trask.html
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A collection of 200 photos by Photographer Mel Ah Ching shows a vast number of Hawaiian flags and accompanying marchers, at the 'Iolani Palace rally and march to Mauna Ala on August 6, 2005. Not a single American flag is anywhere to be seen. The collection is available in two parts, at:
http://macpro.buzznet.com/user/?id=1516867
and
http://www.hotspotshawaii.com/melpages/kamehameha/kamehameha.html
Here is just one of the photos from Mr. Ah Ching's collection, provided here not because of the flags, but because of the message: From
http://www.hotspotshawaii.com/melpages/kamehameha/kamehameha-Images/2.jpg
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Below are newspaper published photos of the red-shirt protest of August 6, 2005 -- the same protest at which all of the above photos (except "Fuck Ben") were taken by a friend of Ken Conklin. Notice how the newspapers downplay the anti-Americanism and focus instead on cheerful, peaceful people. But also notice there is not a single American flag in sight. And keep in mind that the Hawaiian flag in these photos, while currently the flag of the State of Hawai'i, was formerly the flag of the Kingdom of Hawai'i which many of these protesters believe is still the rightful living government of a still-living independent nation of Hawai'i.
See also photos and analysis of a similar red-shirt march of September 6, 2004 which went through Waikiki: "Red-Shirt Pro-Apartheid March of September 6, 2004 -- 'Die Jugend Marschiert'
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/redshirtsept2004.html
See also: "The Akaka Bill And Secession: The Hawaiian Government Reorganization bill (Akaka bill) is seen by its supporters as a step toward total independence for all of Hawai'i"
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/AkakaSecession.html
See also: "Hawai'i's Fifth Column: Anti-Americanism in the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement"
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/antiamerican.html
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Photo from:
http://vh10018.moc.gbahn.net/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=M1&Date=20050807&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=508070340&Ref=H3&MaxH=328&Q=100
Caption: Native Hawaiians and their supporters march through part of Chinatown on their way from 'Iolani Palace to Mauna 'Ala, the resting place of Kamehameha Schools founder Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.
Photo from:
http://starbulletin.com/2005/08/07/news/art1a.jpg
Caption: Supporters of Kamehameha Schools marched from Iolani Palace to Mauna Ala yesterday.
Photo from: http://starbulletin.com/2005/08/07/news/art1c.jpg
Caption: Gov. Linda Lingle and Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona were at the march against the 9th Circuit Court's ruling.
Photo from: http://starbulletin.com/2005/08/07/news/art1d.jpg
Caption: Kamehameha Schools supporters marched from Iolani Palace to Mauna Ala yesterday. Here they prepared to enter the grounds of the Royal Mausoleum.
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