Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 2, 1 February 1998 — Letters cont. [ARTICLE]

Letters cont.

LETTERS, from page 3 of this Hawaiian institution. Paul Lemke Kapa'a, Kaua'i In his Dec. 28 letter to the Garden Island, Walter Lewis, from his elitist Princeville perch, advocates the destruction of our beloved Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop's will. He attacks the very heart of the legacy when he says it "fosters racial dissension" and "promotes a racially controversial program." Lewis equates the last Kamehameha's dream with affirmative action. He draws us to the United States Constitution and the equality it professes. He forgets that the authors, who did not view themselves as racist, were slave owners. Theirl8th century minds did not recognize people of color as equals. To them, nonwhites were subhuman and not included in this wonderful document. I shudder to think what America's founding fathers would have done with our princess. Pauahi left her wealth to family. What Bishop's enemies are doing is shameful. They are violating her dying wish to subsidize their own agenda. How would Walter Lewis like it if Bill Clinton, for example, eontested his will and put his legacy into the war chest? I bet Walter, not unlike our deceased princess, would be spinning in his grave. Beatrice Ka'iuiani LemkeFrieszell Kapa'a, Kaua'i Freddy Rice, who is suing for open enrollment of Kamehameha School under a holier than thou shroud, reminds me of the person who shouts fire in a crowded theater to get a better seat for himself. With righteous indignation he declares open enrollment at Kamehameha "harms no one and benefits everyone."

Hawaiians were very eoncerned about nature's balances. One took only what was needed to perpetuate abundance in times of need. If we took all the feathers from the bird for our special eape, we would not have birds left to make future capes. We restrict our freedoms to protect animals, fish, birds, insects, plants, oeean, land and air. Why? We preserve diversity because without it we would surely die. Kamehameha School is as racially diverse as any school on this planet. In addition to this diversity, Kamehameha also nurtures Aloha. This giving and receiving has made us unique people. Rice and those like him have been telling us what is right and good for us since they arrived. First they wanted permission to stay, then citizenship, then land, then our government and now our precious school. We don't want his version of puffed up white bread. Brendt Berger O'ahu