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Hawaiian Sovereignty (cont'd)
Inside of me I knew something was wrong.
College after high school merely meant four more years of recycling. I obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science still believing in the righteousness of the American system in Hawaii. It was not until after I volunteered in the U.S. Air Force that I began a major reconsideration of the ingrained values and allegiance I had formed to the United States. That spark came from words written by Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii, who in 1917 wrote Hawaii's Story, detailing her side of Hawaii's occupation by the United States. This book had been repressed in Hawaii since its original printing in 1898 and was finally reprinted in the mid-1960's.
From her writing, I discovered a secret kept from generations of our people. Hawaii once was fully recognized by the world community as an independent nation. While at peace with the U.S., we were invaded by heavily armed American marines in 1893. As had been planned, after the invasion, the marines turned the government over to American planters and other businessmen (annexationists) who then drafted a treaty of annexation with the United States. A bargain was struck which found Hawaii "ceded" to the U.S.; in return, the annexationists were given almost total reign over politics, business and education in Hawaii. All the while, my ancestors, citizens of Hawaii, were given no voice in these transactions. Liliuokalani raised her protest but to no avail. Without the consent of the Hawaiians, we were declared Americans.
With the annexationists in charge, lucrative government contracts were passed out, monopolies in shipping, finance and communications blossomed. The Big Five, a coalition of five business entities, controlled every aspect of business, media and politics in Hawaii. When they teamed up with the Republican Party and the U.S. Navy, there was virtually nothing left unexploited in Hawaii.
A massive brainwashing program to convince Hawaiians that the U.S. was the legitimate ruler and that the Hawaiians were no longer Hawaiians but Americans was instituted. The term Hawaiian became a racial rather than a national term. Large numbers of citizens of Hawaii were identified no longer as Hawaiians but as Chinese, Koreans, English, Samoan, Japanese, Filipino, etc. Even among the Hawaii race, division was forged. Congress defined some as "native Hawaiians" (at least 50% of the aboriginal blood), entitled to special privileges and depriving the others.
Children were forced to attend school and there taught to pledge their allegiance to the United States, trained in the foreign laws, told to adopt foreign morality, to speak no language but the English and adopt the American lifestyle.
We were punished, ridiculed and coaxed into putting aside our customs and traditions and even our cultural names.
Hawaii, that melting pot of cultures, races, languages and lores changed from a reality to an advertisement slogan for politicians and business people.