This blog is about Hawaii's status as an independent country under prolonged illegal occupation by the United States, and the history, culture, law & politics of the islands.
By Scott Crawford, Hana, Maui
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The Moscow Times cites the Russian government’s use of the Hawai’i example as a “flawed ‘look who’s talking’ argument to counter criticism of its annexation of Crimea.”
1. All great powers annex territory. Look at the U.S., which unabashedly annexed Texas and Hawaii.
It is true that the U.S. annexation of Texas in 1845 was a vivid example of manifest destiny, imperialism and promoting the interests of the powerful, slaveholding class in the South. The Texas annexation, which extended the state’s border to the Rio Grande river, was a clear act of provocation against Mexico, which had historical claims to parts of Texas. The annexation sparked the Mexican-American war of 1846-48, which the U.S. won, giving it ownership of a huge swath of western territories from Colorado to California.
Similarly, Hawaii was annexed in 1898 after the U.S. orchestrated a coup overthrowing the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893. The main economic motive of the coup was to exploit Hawaii’s sugar wealth and promote the interests of the five largest U.S. sugarcane-processing corporations working on the islands.
But it is odd that Russia is pointing to a 19th-century U.S. imperialist model of expansion to justify its annexation of Crimea. Is Russia still living in the 19th century, pursuing its own form of manifest destiny? Clearly, the post-World War II world order, which is based on United Nations-based system of international law and respecting the territorial integrity of other nations, rejects these crude 19th-century and early 20th-century land grabs.
(h/t to FreeHawaii.info for finding this.)
A 2012 short film by Gorav Kalyan and Rohan Kalyan of "Nonetheless Productions" on the United States illegal overthrow of the government of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893 and the subsequent U.S. illegal and prolonged occupation since the Spanish-American War in 1898. Filmed entirely on the campus of the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, the film interviews academics on their research on the Hawaiian Kingdom that range from Ph.D. students to Ph.D.s.
Video from KITV.com (about a month old but worth checking out):
Order in the court! The Iolani palace throne room— the very room where former queen Lili’uokalani was put on trial for treason— was turned into a COURT ROOM today— where the overthrow of the Hawaiian government came to life. At first glance… You feel like you have been transported back in time to the trial of Liliuokalani. The palace throne room was set up for the case—- but well over a century later comes a twist: Iolani School history students are putting Lorrin Thurston on trial. He played a prominent role in the overthrow of the hawaiian monarch…
Author: Rosa, John P.;
The Massie-Kahahawai case of 1931–1932 shook the Territory of Hawai‘i to its very core. Thalia Massie, a young Navy wife, alleged that she had been kidnapped and raped by “some Hawaiian boys” in Waikīkī. A few days later, five young men stood accused of her rape. Mishandling of evidence and contradictory testimony led to a mistrial, but before a second trial could be convened, one of the accused, Horace Ida, was kidnapped and beaten by a group of Navy men and a second, Joseph Kahahawai, lay dead from a gunshot wound. Thalia’s husband, Thomas Massie; her mother, Grace Fortescue; and two Navy men were convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter, despite witnesses who saw them kidnap Kahahawai and the later discovery of his body in Massie’s car. Under pressure from Congress and the Navy, territorial governor Lawrence McCully Judd commuted their sentences. After spending only an hour in the governor’s office at ‘Iolani Palace, the four were set free.
Local Story is a close examination of how Native Hawaiians, Asian immigrants, and others responded to challenges posed by the military and federal government during the case’s investigation and aftermath. In addition to providing a concise account of events as they unfolded, the book shows how this historical narrative has been told and retold in later decades to affirm a local identity among descendants of working-class Native Hawaiians, Asians, and others—in fact, this understanding of the term “local” in the islands dates from the Massie-Kahahawai case. It looks at the racial and sexual tensions in pre–World War II Hawai‘i that kept local men and white women apart and at the uneasy relationship between federal and military officials and territorial administrators. Lastly, it examines the revival of interest in the case in the last few decades: true crime accounts, a fictionalized TV mini-series, and, most recently, a play and a documentary—all spurring the formation of new collective memories about the Massie-Kahahawai case.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
From Annexation to Statehood
7 p.m., Kapolei High School Cafeteria
A monthly series of public forums in 2014 is meant to build public awareness and create a better understanding among both Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians about what the sovereignty movement means for all the people of Hawaii.
Hawaiian sovereignty will affect everybody in the state. This monthly series of forums comes before the Native Hawaiian convention which will organize a modern Hawaiian government.
Forum #2 still showing on ‘Ōlelo:
- 3/22/2014, 6:00 PM, ‘Ōlelo Channel 53
- 3/29/2014, 8:00 AM, ‘Ōlelo Channel 53
thesovereigntyconversation.org
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