Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 1, Number 2, 1 September 1981 — The Significance of the Hawaiian Vote [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Significance of the Hawaiian Vote

by Kina'u Boyd Kamali'i

The Hawaiian Renaissance in the artistic and cultural values of our people has received great public attention and applause. Less notice, however, has focused on the political

achievements of Hawaiians in the last ten years. Congressman Daniel Akaka, State Senate President Richard Wong, Senate Minority Leader Andy Anderson, Speaker of the House Henry Peters, House Minority Leader Kina'u Boyd Kamali'i, State Supreme Court Chief Justice William Richardson, and United States District Judges Samuel King and Walter Heen are all Hawaiians. And all have assumed their positions in the last decade. Not since the free-wheeling days of the territorial period have Hawaiians been so prominent in the political leadership of Hawai'i. Although the individual political aecomplishments of Hawaiians ean be pointed to with pride, there is widespread confusion and conjecture about the meaning of "the Hawaiian vote." With the possible exception of Henry Peters, for example, none of the officials I have mentioned have an identifiable Hawaiian "base" as the source of their election or appointment. However, it has only been in the past year that the "Hawaiian vote" could literally be counted. The separate elee-

tion of the trustees for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs provided the first explicit and visible data on the number of Hawaiians who could and did participate in elections. It doesn't take an advanced degree in political science or expensive computer cross-tabulation to compare the OHA voter registration and election results. In virtually every district, Hawaiians now represent a possibly crucial "swing vote." Particularly in statewide contests, the 55,000 OHA electorate is the margin for winning or losing an election. If motivated and mobilized, then, Hawaiians could decide major elections. Such unified bloc voting, however, is not now likely. Although the Hawaiian vote is identifiable, a specific set of issues or eoncerns to attract and persuade that voter has not clearly emerged. The racism of "NānO i ka 'ili' (Look to the skin) onee used by Hawaiian politicians must always be avoided and rejected. It is, ultimately, not individual political success whieh must be sought by Hawaiians — although that objective ean be enhanced without resorting to bigotry — but the development of a political agenda. Through the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the Native Hawaiian Study Commission, I fully expect the development of a legislative program requiring the support and involvement of leaders at all levels. And more important, the support and involvement of Hawaiian voters. The greatest significance of the Hawaiian vote, then, is the opportunity it offers to use the political process as a means of defining and achieving our own dreams for the future. And I'll vote for that. I hope you will, too. House Republican Leader Kina'u Boyd Kamali'i was first elected to the State House of Representatiues in kl974. She is a member of the OHA Reparations Committee and has b een recently named the Chairperson of the Native Hawaiian Study Commission. Mrs. Kamali'i has three children and tuio g randchildren.

Note: We will be inuiting individuals to write articles on topics of interest to all Hawaiians. In this issue we haue inuited comments on a land problem, a community eoneem, a legislator's point o/ uiew and a Pacific island issue.