The Big Five-O

The New York Times editorial on the ‘low key’ 50th anniversary of statehood observance recalls that the paper opposed the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, presumably for the right reasons, but confuses the issue by suggesting that admitting Hawai’i as a state was also a morally correct position to take.  While the racist reasons many in the U.S. opposed Hawai’i’s statehood were clearly wrong, statehood for Hawai’i only perpetuated the crime that was committed in 1893 against the sovereign Kingdom of Hawai’i, when U.S. troops staged its first ‘regime change’ in a long line of ‘regime changes’.

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Editorial Notebook

The Big Five-O

By LAWRENCE DOWNES
Published: August 17, 2009

The 50th state turns 50 on Friday, and the strange thing is how wildly and jubilantly the islands aren’t celebrating. There are no official parades. No King Kamehameha on a flowery float, surrounded by his court. No bonfires. No blowout concerts with fireworks, aerial acrobats and hula troupes.

It’s not that the anniversary is being totally ignored. There’s a statehood commission. There are events. On Maui this month you could have enjoyed 50-cent hot dogs and “bouncy castles” for the kids. On the actual anniversary, there’s a conference at the convention center in Honolulu where panelists will discuss state history, the economy and the environment, then party into the night with the Platters, the Drifters and the Coasters.

Wait. The land of hula, ukulele and steel guitar, of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, Don Ho and Aunty Genoa Keawe, is marking its birthday with doo-wop? Hawaii can be a low-key place, but this is extreme.

The reasons are sad but obvious. The state is preoccupied by economic worries. Tourism is in the tank. The governor and state unions are battling over layoffs and pay cuts. Unemployment has been rising; sea levels are probably next. Underneath is the unresolved pain of Native Hawaiians, unhappy over long unsettled land claims and economic disadvantage.

A Honolulu newspaper columnist, David Shapiro, lamented all the ambivalence, comparing the lackluster commemoration unfavorably to the galas in Alaska, the 49th state. The commission chairman objected, saying a big party would be a waste of money. Maybe he’s right. But it’s too bad the state couldn’t have found a better way to give the anniversary its due, given how hard the islands struggled for equality, and how joyously the victory was celebrated 50 years ago.

It was a long fight. It took The New York Times a while to get it right. This page opposed the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893, but for decades after, the idea of adding Hawaiians and “Asiatics” to the union gave the editors jitters. We came around only after World War II – when the islands bled at Pearl Harbor, rebuilt the fleet to win the Pacific war, and sent thousands of sons overseas, including the Japanese-American volunteers of the 100th Battalion, one of the most decorated units in Army history. It took Congress another decade.

Hawaii has given a lot to the Union. It got its own native-son president in January. Only 21 states are in that club. The guy who really invented baseball is buried in Honolulu. And if you could go to any of the 50 states right now, which would it be? The state has a lot to celebrate, if it really wanted to.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/opinion/18tue4.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=hawaii%2050&st=cse