Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 11, 1 November 1998 — TAKING OFFENSE [ARTICLE]

TAKING OFFENSE

1 am an educator and 1 was really offended by ABC's "Future Sport" shown Oct. 1 . This movie trivialized our people's movement for justice. Furthermore, it portrayed na po'e Hawai'i and kama'āina as unintelligent, urban savages. We are a diverse community wrapped in a kapa of aloha; we air our differences with respect and

aloha. Aloha appeared nowhere in this entertainment feature except as a synonym of good-bye. I share with my students that they ean eontrol and direct their future, but with kuleana to their ancestors, eommunities and environment. This portrayal of urban Hawai'i, with ethnic and political conflicts all wrapped up in this John Wayne attitude to high tech sports, trivializes the future of all our children. It was pure racism, pure Hollywood eolonialism. If this had been on MexicanAmericans taking over Califomia, there would have been ghetto uprisings and protests from the NAACP. But we're just humhle, oppressed people in a far-away vacation state in the Pacific. I ean still see that fake Maori tattoo on the un-Polyne-sian face of the villain in this Hollywood flick. UGH! Mahalo for allowing me to vent. As educators, we ofiten ask ourselves if we are making a differenee. I hope so. T. Kulani Calina Hilo, via the lntemet