HAWAI`I FAKE STATE PROTEST -
WAS BURNING THE 50th STAR JUST?
First off, he kanaka `oiwi au. (I am native.)
I was one of the protesters and would like to point out that removing and burning just that star (and not the whole flag) was actually a show of restraint. It was a fairly mild and reserved act of defiance compared to the sort of protests you could find elsewhere in the world.
Secondly, the overthrow was not pono. The Republic of Hawai`i was not pono and neither were the means by which territorial status and statehood were obtained.
Third, if we're going to talk about "desecration," what about the desecration of na iwi kupuna, (ancient native burials) ground to dust beneath skyscrapers and malls? What about the desecration of our `aina (Makua valley, Ho`opili anyone?), our oceans (ordnance reef), and the culture, language and socioeconomic status of an entire living people?
So much fuss over burning one cloth star when we've (by "we" I mean both the `aina and na kanaka maoli, for we are one and the same) been getting burned for over a century.
Injustice cannot be relegated to the past if it is perpetuated in the present.
Puaena
Pearl City, O`ahu
