Apology Resolution Apology
http://historymystery.grassrootinstitute.org/2009/04/01/apology-resolution-apology/
In 1993, radical activists managed to pass PL103-150, otherwise known as the “Apology Resolution.” The resolution itself was based on the writings of a single activist author, Davianna McGregor, and went through no vetting process to establish whether or not any of the “whereas” clauses regarding the history of the Hawaiian Islands and the Hawaiian Revolution of 1893 were accurate. It was passed through the Senate with limited debate and assurances that it was a “simple apology,” and was passed by the House of Representatives with no debate at all through a voice vote. It was stealth legislation of the lowest order, and its passage has reverberated with adverse consequences for the past 16 years.
PL103-150 was the culmination of decades of work by native Hawaiian victimhood activists, and enshrined into law the occupation narrative they believed justified race-based privileges and preferences in Hawai’i. In their occupation narrative, the Kingdom of Hawai’i was a pleasant, happy and egalitarian place, comprised only of native Hawaiians. They believe that this utopia was usurped by evil white people from the United States in 1893, when 162 armed and violent marines landed and deposed the Queen, and that ever since native Hawaiians have been downtrodden and oppressed by their white masters. In the Apology Resolution, they found an authoritative voice for their historical revisionism, and have used PL103-150 as a lever to support their narrative in the courts and to give a rationale to their race-based agenda.
The Apology Resolution was ostensibly pursued to prop up the existing neo-ali’i class of OHA Trustees, to protect OHA’s race-based programs and to lay the groundwork for further reparations from the general public of both the State of Hawai’i and the United States. However, PL103-150 also had the unintended side effect of giving birth to a wild and diverse independence movement, which found legitimacy in the skewed “whereas” clauses and their twisted history. Taken to its logical conclusion, the occupation narrative demands de-occupation, and delegitimizes the multi-racial State of Hawai’i. Very quickly after 1993 and PL103-150, con-men of various flavors began to gather about followers, and made claims to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawai’i. Some, like David Sai, perpetrated scams that lost people their homes. Others wrote mock constitutions, and held mock elections to claim the mantle of the Hawaiian Monarchy. All of them threatened to divide up the people of Hawai’i based on race, and helped foster a misguided sense of victimization and an “us versus them” mentality.
Of course, the hidden truth is that the Kingdom of Hawai’i was unified by a multi-racial coalition. The hidden truth is that the power of the ali’i waned and the power of the kama’aina has waxed over the past 200 years. The hidden truth is that the Hawaiian Revolution of 1893 was an internal affair, and the United States marines who landed remained completely neutral throughout the overthrow. The hidden truth is that the Republic of Hawai’i was universally recognized as the legitimate successor to the Kingdom of Hawai’i, and survived both an unfriendly United States Administration, and a ineffective rebellion in 1895. The hidden truth is that the annexation of Hawai’i in 1898, and Statehood in 1959 were boons to the common native Hawaiian, offering them political rights they did not have during the Kingdom of Hawai’i. The hidden truth is that the “ceded” lands were properly returned to their original owners, the multi-racial public of Hawai’i. The hidden truth is that race-based programs in Hawai’i have no moral basis, and serve only to harm society and the ideals of justice and equality.
In a historic decision, the Supreme Court of the United States made clear that there is nothing that clouds the perfect title of the public lands of the State of Hawai’i, which are “free and clear” from “claim[s] of any nature whatsoever” as per the 1900 Organic Act. Rejecting the earlier decision of the Supreme Court of Hawai’i, the SCOTUS made clear that the “whereas” clauses of PL103-150 were “nonsubstantive,” and that the reliance on those “whereas” clauses as law was a grave error.
Stripping away the entire foundation for race-based claims to the public lands and resources of the State of Hawai’i, the damage control on the part of native Hawaiian victimhood activists has begun. They take refuge in the fact that the case was remanded to the Supreme Court of Hawai’i, believing that they can influence that body once again to make a decision in their favor, without realizing the strict conditions the SCOTUS has put upon any opinion they may now render. They take refuge in the fact that their race-based programs were not directly identified or attacked by the decision, without realizing that by removing the Apology Resolution “whereas” clauses from the picture, they are now completely subject to the 14th and 15th amendments.
In the end though, the point is crystal clear – any bit of argument based on the “whereas” clauses of PL103-150 holds no weight, and stealth legislation passed in the dark of night cannot remove the equal protections given to us by the Constitution of the United States. Race-based programs in Hawai’i will continue to be attacked on constitutional grounds, and no refuge will be found in revisionist history that fails to acknowledge the multi-racial history and legacy of Hawai’i.
The Akaka Bill, which predicates itself upon the Apology Resolution “whereas” clauses, may indeed pass through Congress, and may indeed be signed by our misinformed and politically indebted Hawaiian President, but it cannot possibly withstand the scrutiny of the courts. OHA may manage to hold on to Kau Inoa for a few more years, and sovereignty activists may still find sympathetic judges in the lower courts to slap them lightly on the wrist when they commit felonies in myopic pursuit of their dreams, but the truth can no longer be held at bay. Hawai’i is a sovereign State, consisting of sovereign citizens who should share equal rights with each other no matter who their ancestors may have been.
The big question now is how we move forward as Americans, and how we move forward as Hawaiians, regardless of our race or ethnicity. Although OHA certainly has enough money to continue its fight for a good long while, and although there are hard-core sovereignty activists who will never acknowledge any adjudication other than their own, the tide has clearly turned. In due time, all race-based programs in Hawai’i will be declared unconstitutional, and the poisonous lies of the Apology Resolution “whereas” clauses will be exposed to the public for what they are.
The dominant political machines in Hawai’i have been entrenched for decades, and they certainly won’t adjust quickly to right the wrongs they have committed in the name of the Apology Resolution. They must make a choice though. They must choose to accept the honor of Statehood, and the supremacy of the Constitution of the United States, or they must choose to dishonor the people of the State of Hawai’i, and continue to drive wedges between people based on race. They cannot be both patriots and apologists for racism – the two simply cannot coexist.
By the example of PL103-150, I’d like to suggest the following “Apology Resolution Apology:”
WHEREAS, the Kingdom of Hawai’i was multi-racial from its inception;
WHEREAS, the Kingdom of Hawai’i’s first constitution declared all people, “of one blood;”
WHEREAS, the people of the Kingdom of Hawai’i overthrew their monarchy as the United States marines stood by in complete neutrality;
WHEREAS, the administration of Grover Cleveland demanded the reinstatement of the Queen based on the biased and misinformed Blount Report;
WHEREAS, Sanford Dole rightfully refused to accede to Cleveland’s unlawful interference in the domestic affairs of the Kingdom of Hawai’i and its Provisional Government;
WHEREAS, Grover Cleveland referred the matter of the Hawaiian Revolution of 1893 to the “broader authority and discretion” of Congress;
WHEREAS, after a bi-partisan investigation with testimony under oath, the Morgan Report of February 26, 1894 factually repudiated the mistaken conclusions of the Blount Report;
WHEREAS, the Republic of Hawai’i was declared on July 4, 1894, and was recognized as the legitimate successor of the Kingdom of Hawai’i by every nation in the world ever to have diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Hawai’i;
WHEREAS, the Republic of Hawai’i was a sovereign, independent nation that had robust international diplomatic relations, and survived an ineffective rebellion in 1895;
WHEREAS, in 1897 the Republic of Hawai’i adopted a Treaty of Annexation offering among other things, to cede to the United States its sovereignty and absolute fee and ownership of all public lands, including the former crown lands;
WHEREAS, in 1898, by the Newlands Resolution, the United States accepted the offer of annexation and Hawai’i was annexed to the United states and absolute fee and ownership of all public lands was vested in the United States;
WHEREAS, the Organic Act of 1900 established the government of the Territory of Hawai’i and reiterated that its lands consist of the lands the United States had acquired under the Newlands Resolution, free and clear from any claims of any nature whatsoever;
WHEREAS, the government of the Territory of Hawai’i was dominated by native Hawaiians for many decades after annexation, including the first two Congressional Representatives, Robert Wilcox and Prince Kuhio;
WHEREAS, the people of Hawai’i, of all races, pursued Statehood throughout the Territorial period;
WHEREAS, in 1959, in an election with the highest voter turnout in the history of Hawai’i, the people of Hawai’i, of all races and ethnicities, voted overwhelmingly for Statehood;
WHEREAS, in 1959, Hawai’i became the 50th State of the Union, and the “ceded” lands were returned to the multi-racial public of the State of Hawai’i by the Admissions Act;
WHEREAS, in 1973, native Hawaiian victimhood activists decided to pursue a settlement similar to the Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act, in pursuit of money and power regardless of the completely different histories of the Alaskan Natives and native Hawaiians;
WHEREAS, in 1978, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs was created with the best of intentions;
WHEREAS, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs became a corrupt and indefensible bastion of race-based programs and privileges;
WHEREAS, the 1983 Native Hawaiians Study Commission Report was pursued by native Hawaiian victimhood activists, but instead repudiated their claims for race-based reparations;
WHEREAS, in 1993, on the anniversary of the Hawaiian Revolution of 1893, the Apology Resolution (PL103-150) was passed to undermine the factual findings of the Native Hawaiians Study Commission Report, and provide a basis for race-based reparations;
WHEREAS, in 2000, Rice v. Cayetano was decided, and voting for OHA trustees was opened to people of all races and ethnicities;
WHEREAS, on December 31, 2002, Arakaki v. Hawaii was decided, and running for OHA trustee office was opened to people of all races and ethnicities;
WHEREAS, since 2000, the Akaka Bill has been presented in Congress as an attempt to avoid equal protection challenges to race-based programs in Hawai’i;
WHEREAS, the Akaka Bill was predicated upon PL103-150;
WHEREAS, on March 31, 2009, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed that the “whereas” clauses of PL103-150 are “nonsubstantive;”
BE IT RESOLVED that all race-based qualification for government programs be removed from all laws of the State of Hawai’i; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all State of Hawai’i politicians who ever supported race-based privileges should apologize to the races and ethnicities they have discriminated against, and affirm to all the people of the State of Hawai’i that they will enjoy equal rights and equal treatment under the law, regardless of race or ethnicity; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all Federal politicians who ever supported race-based privileges should apologize to the races and ethnicities they have discriminated against, and affirm to all the people of the State of Hawai’i that they will enjoy equal rights and equal treatment under the law, regardless of race or ethnicity; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that any pursuit of race-based privileges or programs in the State of Hawai’i be considered a poisonous stain upon the noble heritage of the native Hawaiian people and all their ancestors who embraced all other people as fellow humans, equal in worth and rights; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution, the complete three volume set of Kuykendall’s “Hawaiian Kingdom,” Ernest Andrade’s “Unconquerable Rebel,” Thurston Twigg-Smith’s “Hawaiian Sovereignty: Do the facts matter?,” and Dr. Kenneth Conklin’s “Hawaiian Apartheid” be transmitted to every State of Hawai’i legislator, every United States Senator, every United States Congressional Representative, all living presidents, each member of any Hawaiian Studies or related program in the University of Hawaii, and every former or current OHA trustee.
Jere Krischel, civil rights activist
