Whatever the 2013 Legislature accomplishes on policy, the thing for which it’ll most be remembered is Hawaii island Rep. Faye Hanohano’s racial tirade over artwork by non-Native Hawaiians placed by the state in her office.
Nearly three weeks after the fact, I can hardly go out or open my email without hearing ire about Hanohano telling workers from the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts to take down "any work done by haoles, Japs, paranges, pakes."
Beyond outrage over what Hanohano said, people remain incensed that her colleagues gave no censure as she offered a tepid apology "to any individuals or groups who may have been offended by my comments."
Said one recent email, "Could the silence have been any more deafening? Can you imagine the outcry if an AJA lawmaker or — gasp — a haole said such things?"
Also silent were Native Hawaiian leaders, who seem oblivious to the damage such racism does to their battle for sovereignty.
Hawaiians can’t accomplish their goals without support from others in the community, the majority of whom want to show respect for Hawaii’s host culture and fairly resolve grievances over past wrongs.
Support for Hawaiian sovereignty is nearly universal in local halls of government. It’s the closest thing to a motherhood issue we have.
Much of the community and political support is based on assurances that "foreigners" would be as welcome in a new sovereign Hawaiian nation as they were in the old Hawaiian kingdom.
See how fast community support evaporates if other groups get the idea they’d be reviled because of their race and start calling their legislators to complain.
See if respect holds up for the host culture if leaders like Hanohano turn it in a crude and racist direction.
Hanohano doesn’t get a pass because Frank De Lima tells ethnic jokes, to which some have compared her remarks.
De Lima’s skillful joke-telling is a fond expression of aloha for Hawaii’s diverse people by a popular entertainer, not an angry racial rant by a top state official.
Nor does she get a pass because she’s Hawaiian.
Hanohano is hardly a powerless victim of history; she wields significant influence as a member of the ruling House Democratic majority and chairwoman of the Ocean, Marine Resources and Hawaiian Affairs Committee.
She represents a rural Puna district but is no country bumpkin.
Hanohano is well educated, with a B.A. in sociology from the University of Hawaii at Hilo and an M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix, and has held an administrative position in the state corrections system.
In other words, she’s smart enough to know we wouldn’t be having this conversation if she’d simply said, "Would you please place more works by Native Hawaiian artists in my office?"
