Why Freddy Rice headed to court

On Jan. 5, Hawaii lost a man who embodied the independent, principled spirit of our islands.

Hawaii island rancher Freddy Rice may not have intended for his name to go down in history as shorthand for race-blind election laws, but that only demonstrates how much he was a son of the Aloha State. He was doing what he thought best for all Hawaii citizens, including Native Hawaiians. He only happened to change the world in the process.

I first learned about Freddy when I studied the U.S. Supreme Court case Rice v. Cayetano. That case now ensures that all Hawaii citizens may vote in the election of state Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees. Freddy poured his soul into standing up as the plaintiff in this case.

On the surface, Rice v. Cayetano upholds the U.S. Constitution, protecting the rights of all citizens to participate in public elections of government officials. But for Freddy Rice, there was a deeper and more personal reason he went to court and endured much personal attack and cost in doing so. To understand why, one must first understand the political situation when Freddy first went to court.

Hawaii has a unique situation in which its state Constitution sets aside some revenues from the public land trust (land formerly belonging to the Kingdom of Hawaii) for the betterment of Native Hawaiians. This was, in fact, a requirement for statehood, established by the federal government in the Hawaii Statehood Act of 1959.

Many people consider this provision to be an important element of justice for Native Hawaiians, addressing the transition from the Hawaiian Kingdom to ultimately a U.S. state. Others prefer that no single group receive preferential entitlements.

In 1978, the Hawaii Constitutional Convention established the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), in part to administer public land trust revenues in a way that betters the conditions of Native Hawaiians. That’s where Freddy came into the picture.

As he frequently explained to me, he was never opposed to Native Hawaiians or OHA. He knew OHA was established to help Hawaiians, through housing, jobs, education, health care and other means. These were all things Freddy wanted, especially for those he knew were struggling on Hawaii island. He simply wanted to use his right to vote to help ensure that good OHA trustees — who would use their office to better the conditions of Native Hawaiians — were elected.

Whether one agrees with setting aside public land revenue to help Hawaiians, probably everyone agrees that those funds should not be squandered. As a local rancher and businessman, Freddy wanted good management of those funds for all the people of Hawaii.

For his efforts, Freddy was widely misunderstood and his motives impugned. Fortunately, time has helped vindicate him, and demonstrated that every citizen of the state has an interest in helping ensure that those charged with overseeing Native Hawaiian programs do so with honesty and integrity.

Freddy was a good friend and kupuna whom I admired greatly for his courage and kindness. On my trips to visit him at his ranch in Kohala, we would sometimes spend time in town where I learned that Freddy was a man greatly beloved by his neighbors, especially Native Hawaiians who considered him a true kamaaina.

As a legacy, I think it’s one that he would be proud of.

Keli’i Akina is president/CEO of Grassroot Institute of Hawaii and a Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee. He wrote this as a private citizen.