Ke Alahou, Volume I, Number 1, 1 November 1979 — Editorials A View Point by Billie Beamer Contributing writer [ARTICLE]

Editorials

A View Point

by Billie Beamer

Contributing writer

As a people, tjie Hawaiian is often described by the glib as-being either too proud or lacking in pride. Some use the standard of thē distant pāst and regret that we do not see the 'Proud Hāwaiians of the 01d.' These judgements warrant deliberation and exploration.' It is impprtant for us to take an in-depth lopk;at'ourselves. The word ~p roud" is antithfetical. It has a positive and a negative conhotation. The positiVe is to feēl pleasure or sātisfaction regarding sēlf-esteem, ment, and responsibi!ity. The negative is t0 be contented, self-satisfied, overbeāring, self important, imperious, presumptuousVahd disdainful. The proud Hawaiian admires achievement. H,e or she is a doer who ac;complishes, and is found in the market plaee. He or she walks among all peoples and traverses the i paths of the world and learns the language of his or her community. Hē or she may march to the cadence —QjUheir-&hoscn ficld, but th"cy ean still a Hawaiian. The Ha waiian of wh.ieh we are proud helps in the eonstruction and maintenanee of a promēnade of all to stroll. They share their knowledge and give of themselv ? es. They contribute no māfter how small the deed. They live by the code- of honor. an internatioha 1.1 angurfge amongst people of quality and the 'Golden Jyule.' The pompous builds a pmjpenade for his own parade. * But; how numerous are these pēbp|e? Apparently welTave not counted, for the obsessions of the spokesmen from the past and present espouse identical apprehensiOns. We may have contributed to our own stereotype,..We continue to regret the changēsP The familiar reprimands recorded in the early I9oo's are prevalent todāy. First:

"The HaWaiian people do not realize that their indifference is their undoing. Tlie Hawaiians are becoming extinct because their race pride is not sufficieiit to stimulate activity inbusinēss matters." Second: My people have been asleep .... We are dependent on the lapanese andJapanese organizatiohs . . . We must rise up and compete with all the oth.er races or we will eventually disappear as a race. It is time we all combined our efforts." . * Third: " The Ha waiians are not doing their p"art in civic affairs. īnstead, they are looking on as the haole organizations takē up campaigns for them." And: We have been doing too mucjlpi singing ānd daricmg arid tōo mueh tālking and not mueh doing. M THese ariachroriistic messages are premature. They expected the Hawaiians to emerge as a became the minority in their-own land, and who were thrusrinto a new religious, eeonomie and polilieal ēnviroriment, The nation of Hawaiians acted *as individuars adapting for survival The onslaught of the dynastic cultures wasdifficult to understand. Rapid chānge fractionalized ēstablished groups. Feelings of abandonment and hopelessness emerged when there were no rriore monarchial edicts and when fringe groups moved out of their traditional roles to adapt fō the new ways. * We have failed to understand whenee we" eame, and failed to accept therieed for a primitive people to first act as individualsbefore any group response coordinated, However, after only 200 years of exposure to a technological world t thousands of years its

senior, the stalwart, curious, determined, and industrious Hawaiian stood u£ and cha]lenged thē elements despite this handicap and sacrifices, Here is the result of these efforts; this is where we find them today. They are the bank president and the teller; thē legislator; the the eongressman; the lawyer; the doctor; the hotel manager; the maid; |hebusboy;; the archaeōlogist; the professor; the captain of his own aku fishing fleet; the exponent of the hula; the historian who frarislated our languāgq and history; the craftsman and quilter; the associate producer of national television; the director of a federal agency; the corfstmctionjvvorker; fhe jūdge; the chief justice; the housewife; the voter; the campaign pārty workers; the engineer and architect; the entertainer; the automobile dealer; the restauranteur; the diplomatic ohnsultjthe volunteer; the olynipic eh'āmpion; the bishop, monsignor and reverend; and the person on the street who smiles and whispers "Aloha. "There are many more working in the world that are lsft unnamed.These are not sentimental f romantic, pompous claims. These are real accomplishments achieved by hard work ānd sacrifice. And there, too, are māny whom fortune has by-passed, still caught in the whirlpool of change. I refute the fears of extinction. The Hayvaiians are not extijict. We a young population with 46% or more under 15 years of age, bringing great expectations for in the future, We are a literate people and you have eon- " tributēd to the development of Hawaii. The evolution is inevitable — only time to aeeommodate the transition was ?eqaiired. There is no need to feel inferior, for the understanding ōf oiir beginnings should explain the inieial handicap; the momēntum of oūr ascent shouldescalate with more experience.