I was born and raised in Hawaii and I am part-Hawaiian; my father and mother always told me one/quarter.
After high school, I went to the U.S. mainland for college, and after a brief return to Hawaii, I returned to the mainland for a career in the newspaper publishing industry.
I am proud of my heritage and will always feel great that the word and “spirit of Aloha” are referred to in Hawaii’s state constitution. I can understand that folks would be upset about the ruling from the
Ninth Circuit Court.
Kamehameha School has worked for generations and I wish the school had been left alone. However, the use of that court decision to further politicize and fan the flames of controversy for U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka’s bill is an additional sad outcome.
There will be nothing about Aloha emanating from Senator Akaka’s bill which comes up for a vote next month in the U.S. Senate.
I also see that the Gov. Linda Lingle supports the bill, making this a bipartisan blunder.
Rubellite Johnson was the only person covered in the August 8, 2005, ”’Wall Street Journal”’ editorial “Aloha Apartheid” with any common sense, something that is always lacking when “politically correct” takes over.
All Hawaii needs is another government with more bureaucracy and cost. Already, the Hawaiian sovereignty group, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, a precursor of the Native Hawaiian government, takes tax revenues once used to fund the state school system.
The passage of Senator Akaka’s bill will mean Hawaii will have city, county, state, Native Hawaiian and US federal governments to content with – sound like paradise alright, a paradise for career politicians, bureaucrats and victimizers.
”’Mike Lemke, a former resident of Hawaii, is the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for The Seattle Times Company. He can be reached via email at”’ mailto:mlemke@seattletimes.com
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