TOO MANY QUESTIONS REMAIN ON THE AKAKA BILL
Before Congress votes to turn Native Hawaiians into Native American tribes, here's a few important questions that the citizens of Hawai'i are entitled to have answered by elected officials:
1. Shouldn't the citizens of Hawai'i be permitted to vote on whether they support an independent Native Hawaiian governance entity and are willing to fund it before the bill is enacted?
2. Shouldn't there also be a popular vote of all Hawai'i citizens before any governance entity is officially recognized by the state and any funds are diverted from state programs, such as education, to this new government?
The justification for the bill is purportedly the need to redress the United States' role in the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom, which occurred over four generations and 112 years ago.
3. Why, then, are non-Native Hawaiians who are descendants of citizens of the kingdom of Hawai'i excluded from participating in the governance entity being proposed?
4. If large numbers of Native Hawaiians and non-Native Hawaiian citizens of Hawai'i oppose the bill or do not understand it, how is it going to bring reconciliation?
5. Isn't it just as likely to be a catalyst for continuing litigation, racial and social division, and reliance upon the hope of race-based governmental entitlements?
