Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 11, 1 November 2007 — Twigg-Smith [ARTICLE]

Twigg-Smith

I read with bemusement the letter written by Thurston Twigg-Smith in response to Rowena Akana's thoughts on his registering with Kau Inoa. Thurston's comments - like so many other settler-families in Hawai'i before him - stink of blanket generalizations that seriously laek any factual basis. For him to elaim that Hawai'i has "never been a plaee that separated people on the basis of race" only underscores my point that privilege - and, in this case, white privilege - is severely blinding and is still damaging and hurtful to Native Hawaiians till this day. He seems to forget that there were and are many institutions who have denied, and continue to deny, access to Native Hawaiians. Although it may not be expressly said in letter, it is said in practice. When you look at the make-up of these institutions and businesses, you still see a preference for nonHawaiians over any Hawaiian. Is my grandparents being forbidden to speak Hawaiian not a form of segregation, or is that just a figment of my imagination? Mr. Twigg-Smith must be suffering from a bout of amnesia, because he forgets that Hawaiians have a long history prior to foreign contact. To imply that Hawaiians never had a history of non-assimilation is laughable. True, Native Hawaiians have now intennarried with almost every race that has eome to these islands,

but that is only very recently when you look at it historically. And, it was only after most of the Native Hawaiian populahon had been killed off by foreign diseases, so Hawaiians that were left standing had little ehoiee on who to marry! I'm not sure how Mr. TwiggSmith defines intermarriage, but my definition does not include the further obliteration of the Hawaiian culture, or my surrendering it to anything or anyone, and definitely not to someone like Thurston Twigg-Smith! Although your words are smooth and mellow, Mr. TwiggSmith, I ean see that your actions are pilau and your intent hewa. Kana'iaupuni Gomes Honolulu