Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 4, 1 April 2000 — ʻAʻohe hope e hoʻi mai ai [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ʻAʻohe hope e hoʻi mai ai

AT THE House hearings held at the State Capitol and the Senate hearings throughout the islands, Hawaiians spoke out loud and clear about what they thought about

the United States Supreme Courf s narrow reading of the issues in Rice vr. Cayetano, and its opinion. Meeting with great anger was Cayetano's premature announcement and intent to remove and replace eight duly elected trustees. Vehement protests were voiced by Hawaiians and nonHawaiians across the state, some calling for civil disobedience, others for impeachment of the gover- I nor. At the House hearings at I the State Capitol, Leialoha I Apo Perkins offered in tes- I timony, Henry Thoreau's ■

On Civū Disobedience, an expression of excellence, of personal freedom and the necessity to disobey a govemment that is morally wrong in its actions. Thoreau claimed, "It is every citizen's duty to disobey such a government." So you see, we are obligated by our history, by our children and grandchildren and by who we are, and our

kūpuna kahiko, to protest against a govemment that is morally wrong and against Cayetano's interpretation of the law to usurp Hawaiians' self-determination rights. "Only a just law will prevail in the

end, even if many of us go down in pursuit of that end!" Thoreau said. Many of us kūpuna today may not be comfortable with the specter of civil disobedienee, however, ho'olohe, j mai hiamoe. These are prei carious times, seen as precipitous, requiring a eolleeI tive effort and perhaps a ■ change in strategy. In 1978 I honestly 1 believed that democracy |j would work to level the I plaving field. What I did I not take into consideration P was the players and their egocentric personalities. Even more alarming how1 ever, are players who just

don t give a damn about moral justice whieh means we must - kūpuna, mākua, 'ōpio a pau.' If we must march we shall march; if we must disobey, we shall. Our lips grow weary of puckering up, our voices not yet! I mua e na pōki'i a inu i ka wai 'awa'awa; 'a'ohe hope e ho'i mai ai. ■

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