Court strikes down Hawaiians-only schools

[ButterflyBlood]

HONOLULU, Hawaii (AP) -- A federal appeals court Tuesday struck down the exclusive Kamehameha Schools' policy of admitting only Native Hawaiians, saying it amounts to unlawful racial discrimination.

Overturning a lower court, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in San Francisco ruled 2-1 that the practice at the private school violates federal civil rights law even though the institution receives no federal funding.

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http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/08/02/hawaiian.school.ap/index.html

[keopeli]

1. Wow! This is BIG in Hawaii

Kamehameha school is a great private school in Hawaii. You must be at least 1/16th Hawaiian to attend. Public schools in Hawaii are so bad that it's embarassing. On the other hand, you have to pay a pretty penny to go to a private school.

I taught at a different Hawaii private school and know the situation well. This decision reverses a Hawaiian tradition that is very old. Remember that the US overthrew the Hawaiian Monarch, Queen Liliuokalani, when we decided that we could make a lot of money there, so the Hawaiians are not fond of the Feds telling them what to do...and with good reason. Let's see what sort of fallout occurs from this decision.

[ButterflyBlood]

2. regardless of the past circumstances, I agree with the decision

Despite the unfortunate way in which Hawaii was annexed to the US, chools like this are no different from white-only or black-only schools.

[Midlodemocrat]

9. I tend to disagree with you there.

Personally, I think that the way Hawai'i was stolen from the Hawaiian people justifies the keeping of their heritage. Sort of like Native American schools.

I can, however, see your point, I just feel differently about this particular case.

[Eloriel]

12. It's a decision that helps ensure white supremacy and dominance

by eroding the right of an oppressed minority to hew to its own for strength and cameraderie. It further serves the purpose of diluting this population into nothingness, absorbing and co-opting it into the dominant culture. It absolutely stinks.

You don't support black-only (by THEIR own choice) schools? Boy, I do. Women-only (by THEIR choice) as well.

It's a shameful decision, IMO. The same kind of twisted, abusive logic that argues against Affirmative Action: oh, no, we have to now be COLOR BLIND. We can't allow any minorities (or women) to have anything remotely smacking of special treatment (even if temporary, even if accidental, even if only one at a time now and then) that MIGHT not be every bit as good as every white person could be absolutely guaranteed to get. IOW: only so equal and NO MORE, dammit!!

[bleedingheart]

8. what are the parents and people of Hawaii doing to make the other schools

better?

instead of abandoning them....why not roll up their sleeves and make them a success too....why just have those lucky enough go to good schools???

[dArKeR]

3. Hawaiian School Admissions Policy Nixed

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050802/ap_on_re_us/hawaiian_school

They deserve their nation back!

[Hekate]

4. Oh shit. I'm glad I'm not there to see this travesty

This is one haole who is totally on the side of the Hawaiians in this matter. F'cryin' out loud, 1/16 Hawaiian is already only a drop in the gene pool -- I knew a blue-eyed blond who went to the Kam Schools, and kids so dark -- well, you get the picture. The important thing all along has been a sense of cultural identity, along with a good education.

The Hawaiian nation was stolen outright from its people by greedy Americans. Their population had already been decimated by imported diseases from both East and West, but they still had their identity as a people. They had a queen, who became imprisoned in her own palace. What did the Hawaiians get in return for this rip-off? No reserved land or reservation to call their own. Not even a treaty their descendents could point to and try to enforce in US courts of justice.

The Kamehameha Schools are a special case if ever there was one. They should be left alone.

Hekate
auwe! auwe! auwe!

[redqueen]

11. Excellent points...

thanks for posting.

[The Sushi Bandit]

5. Leave Kamehameha Alone!

These schools build character

[wellst0nev0ter]

6. Where Were The Courts Regarding Bob Jones University?

eom

[E-Z-B]

7. I gotta feel for the Hawaiians on this one

They're trying to regain their cultural identity, then the federal government slaps this on them. I don't know how their descendants will afford to live on the island in another few years. A shack is going for over $300k now.

[KamaAina]

10. This is not as cut and dried an issue as one might think.

Of course racial discrimination is wrong. But, the Hawaiian people ought to be viewed not as a racial or etnic group, but as the indigenous people of the Hawaiian Islands, much as American Indians are the indigenous peoples of North America.

As others have mentioned, a Hawaiian, as seen at Kamehameha, can look like almost any ethnic group. Of the two Kamehameha grads I know well, one looks haole (Caucasian), complete with blonde hair and freckles, and the other looks Chinese. Hardly the equivalent of, say, a black-only school.

The timing could not have been worse. True to form, Gov. Lingle (R-Plays A Moderate On TV) seized upon the ruling as a chance to push the flawed Akaka Bill now before the U.S. Senate that would grant recognition to the Hawaiian people -- but precious little else in terms of tangible things like land claims. Yes, this is the same bill for which Akaka and Inouye whored their votes on ANWR, and yes, it is the same bill that cat killer Frist has not allowed -- er, excuse me, "not been able to" -- to come to a vote despite repeated promises from repukes (which are not worth a bucket of warm spit).

Contrary to what you may be reading about a "Hawaiians-only admissions policy", there have been instances in which non-Hawaiians have been admitted. There was a case on Kaua'i in which a non-Hawaiian boy had papers designating him as the hanai (adopted) son of a Hawaiian couple. The state no longer issues such papers, and Kamehameha might have looked more closely at them before admitting the boy, but admit him they did, and a court wouldn't allow them to back out after they discovered the error. Back in the '60s and '70s, children of Kamehameha faculty, regardless of ancestry, were allowed to attend the school.

The attack on Kamehameha's admissions policy has had one salutary, though unintended, effect: JROTC used to be mandatory for boys at Kamehameha. Not merely offered, mandatory. Then the school realized that JROTC was Federally funded, and they couldn't continue the admissions policy and still receive Federal funding. So they dropped JROTC.