All-male panel wrong for Kamehameha

I was shocked to read recently that all five members of the board of trustees for Kamehameha Schools are men (“Hawaii hotel executive named as Kamehameha trustee,” Star-Advertiser, Top News, Aug. 21). Kamehameha Schools is the largest independent school system in the nation and the trust was established by a woman, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.

The probate court, which oversees the trust’s affairs to ensure that it abides by the will of the princess, should be embarrassed by this blatant omission of women.

An all-male board sends the wrong message to the female students at Kamehameha Schools, not to mention the rest of the people in the state of Hawaii. Perhaps, the probate court needs someone to oversee its selection process, which has resulted in a board of trustees with no women members.

Hawaii needs a strong public figure, someone like Patsy Mink, to stand up for equality for women. Where is that person?

Linda Estes

Koloa

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Dream even bigger on worthy rail transit

The rail has benefited the whole state of Hawaii. No one can deny that the state’s low 2.7 percent unemployment rate is due in part to the jobs created to build and support the rail.

The demand for workers to build the rail has drawn from the workforce statewide. Everyone in the state who wants to work can get a job. Look no further than the fast-food industry; most outlets have a sign that says, “workers needed.”

The extra 0.5 percent that we pay on Oahu in general excise taxes for rail is worth it. Plans should begin to extend rail from Kapolei to Waianae and from Ala Moana to the University of Hawaii and then Hawaii Kai.

When rail becomes operational, we can look for a new source of funding: Lotto. Legislators need to allow those who want to play to dream big.

Roy S. Tanouye

Waipahu

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Honest discourse lost in anti-Trumpism

The cover of The Economist magazine shows President Donald Trump using a Ku Klux Klan hood as a megaphone. A New York Times article in the Star-Advertiser (“Trump lambastes ‘weak’ Republicans,” Aug. 18) begins with, “Despite ongoing rebukes over his defense of white supremacists, President Donald Trump … ” Our uber-liberal U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz suggests Trump is a bigot, an anti-Semite, and not his president (who would have guessed?).

The occasion for associating the president with the worst elements of our society was the following Trump statement right after the Charlottesville, Va., violence involving right- and left- wing extremists: “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.” The “on many sides” was translated as excusing or even supporting the Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

Bowing to the distortion of his intent, Trump followed up with clarifying comments. Chalk up a victory for the Resistance and a loss for truth and honest discourse.

Tom Freitas

Hawaii Kai

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Shame for forgetting Native Americans

While the country is focused on removing statues of Confederate Civil War generals, maybe we also should look at those who authorized the wars against Native Americans, including Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant.

Great numbers of these original settlers were killed by the U.S. military and had their lands stolen from them, but very little attention is given to this grim part of American history. Many of their descendants still live on “reservations” that have very high suicide rates.

I often wonder why Native Americans in the U.S. today seem forgotten, and have such little political clout. Shame on us all.

Robert Rau

Wilhelmina Rise

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Tearing down statues won’t fix problems

As I watched the handful of protesters chanting around the statue of William McKinley at McKinley High School, I wondered, how far will this go? There has never been a leader of our, or any, country that someone might not find objectionable. Even George Washington owned slaves.

But to bring the question closer to the protesters’ hearts, why stop at haole leaders? Should we tear down the statue of King Kamehameha? In a bloody campaign, he invaded the neighboring island of Oahu to force it into his empire. He killed hundreds, using weapons from the haoles. No one knows how many were killed at the battle of Nuuanu, much less islandwide.

Say what you want about William McKinley — he was certainly no angel, but he never pushed hundreds of people off a cliff. Tearing down his statue will not fix our problems any more than tearing down Kamehameha’s would.

Troy Snell

Waikiki

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New LED lights are nice, bright and safe

The new LED lights on our Oahu highways and tunnels are really nice. They turn night into day, without the glare, and they don’t appear to attract insects.

Michael Miller

Niu Valley