Transcribed by OCR Bot on Mastodon, corrected by me.
Honolulu Star-Advertiser - July 4, 2021
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVENTISER.COM
[Image] Astatue of President William McKinley stands in front of the high school named after him.
What Fourth of July means to Hawaiians
By Leon Kaulahao Siu
hile Americans celebrate
July 4 as Independence Day,
the date signifies quite the
opposite to many Hawaiians and to
people of many countries around the
world. This year, July 4 marks the
123rd anniversary of the launch of
America’s brand of overseas imperial
ism.
On July 4, 1894, the traitorous ca
bal that had seized control of the Ha
waiian Kingdom, which proclaimed
itself “The Republic of Hawaii,” deter
mined to annex Hawaii to the United
States.
On July 4, 1898, having failed twice
to annex Hawail by a proper treaty,
the U.S. Congress resorted to passing
the “Newlands Resolution” to simu
late an annexation,
With both July 4 actions, the perpe
trators virtually gave themselves per
mission to take over the Hawallan
Islands, That's like someone saying to
you, “I now own your home because I
wrote a document yesterday that
says I own your home.” Preposterous,
right? But that Is essentially what
happened to Hawaii,
On July 7, 1898, three days after
Congress passed the Newlands Reso
Jution, President William McKinley
signed the bogus measure. And five
days alter that, on July 12, a cere
mony was held at Iolani Palace in Ho
nolulu whereby the leaders of the
“Republic of Hawall” continued their
high treason and deception by hand
ing over Hawall to the
United States.
Thus, the real legacy of
July Fourth in Hawail is not
Independence, but the loss
of independence. So why
does the general public not
know this?
Once the U.S. took over,
the public education sys
tem of the Hawaiian King
dom (one of the best in the
world) was turned Into an
Indoctrination device to: 1)
conceal the truth of what re
ally happened to the Hawaiian
Kingdom, and 2) seduce
generations of Hawaii's chil
dren into embracing Amer
ica as their mother country.
As the years passed, all vestiges of
Hawailan national identity, and much
of Hawaiian culture, faded away. Gen
erations of Hawail's children became
loyal, patriotic Americans.
A key to the re-education program
was changing the name of Honolulu
High School to President William
McKinley High School. It became the
flagship of the propaganda campaign
to inculcate the American way, The
school’s bronze statue of McKinley
holds in its right hand a fictitious,
“Treaty of Annexation,”
While the academic achievements
and espirit de corps of the high
school {s undeniable and admirable,
the name “McKinley” Is an anathema,
perpetuating the monumental lie that
Hawaii was duly annexed when It was
actually ruthlessly hi-jacked.
That's like being told
you were adopted, but
then finding out you had
been kidnapped! But now
the kidnapper and many
victims suffering from
Stockholm syndrome,
deny anything Is wrong
and that being abducted
was for thelr own good
and Hawaiians should be
grateful, forgive, forget
and move on.
President McKinley not
only oversaw the viola
tion of the sovereignty of
the Hawaiian Kingdom, he
unleashed a virulent brand of Ameri
can Imperialism that caused havoc,
suffering, death and destruction all
over the world for the past 123 years,
As longas the school bears the
name of President McKinley, It will
bear the stigma of the fake annex
ation and the abusive policies of
American Imperialism he instigated.
Removing the stigma of the McKin
ley name would serve to: preserve
the merits, dignity and legacy of the
students, faculty and staff of the
school itself; be truthful and historl
cally accurate; maintain the integrity
of the state's education system (by
not perpetuating falsehoods); and
serve as an Initial step toward truth,
reconciliation and recovery for the
generations of Hawaiians who sul
fered from the loss of thelr country.
ISLAND VOICES
Leon Kaulahao Siu
is a Hawaiian
national, musician,
diplomat and
advocate for the
reinstatement of
the Hawaiian Kingdom