Some Hawaiians are disturbed that civil-rights laws initially intended to protect minorities are being used as a legal weapon against Kamehameha and other Native Hawaiian programs. Native Hawaiians continue to score among the lowest on standardized tests in public schools, and Kamehameha has long held the promise of greater opportunity for students who stand out.

Jon Osorio, the director of the Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, said he believes there is strong compassion among all people in the state for what Hawaiians have lost since the overthrow. The state's tourism industry, he said, largely depends on preserving the host culture so people have a practical, as well as an idealistic, stake in not antagonizing Native Hawaiians.

But Osorio also said there are some in the sovereignty movement who object to the way Kamehameha Schools has been portrayed.

"There are a number of people who would argue that affirmative action has absolutely nothing to do with the Hawaiian situation since we are not Americans and the theft of our country does not in any way resemble the kind of situation that African-Americans and people of color face in the United States," Osorio said.

"Their kinds of dispossession have been very different. Ours is a matter of simply taking our government and leaving us really helpless to fight dispossession through law.

"Affirmative action implies that people who have been oppressed over a long period of time should get a helping hand in order to sort of level the playing field. As far as some Hawaiians are concerned and many activists are concerned, it's not about leveling the playing field, but giving us back our playing field.

"This is our land. This is our government. It was our nation. And so, for those people, Kamehameha's use of that argument flew in the face of what the sovereignty activists argue."

...the ruling may accomplish what years of discussion on Hawaiian self-determination have failed to produce: a unified, forward-looking Hawaiian voice on these issues.

This weekend has seen a series of rallies under the sponsorship of the school on all the major islands. These unity rallies, informational gatherings and prayer services were expected to draw a broad spectrum of the community. This includes not just Hawaiians but others who support the mission and goals of Kamehameha Schools.

Here's the interesting thing: Those rallies will bring together Hawaiians who agree on virtually nothing about the self-determination movement. Some support the Akaka bill; others oppose it. Some want to see Hawaiians become a nation within a nation. Others seek total independence.

But there is strong agreement across the board about the importance of Kamehameha Schools as something that belongs to them, has been successful and is not to be trifled with by outsiders.

In short, the ruling may turn out to be a unity builder with greater strength than anything that has come before. If Hawaiians conclude they are of one voice, one perspective on this issue, then they have the potential of becoming a potent political force.