Apparently Apoliona -- and OHA -- believe the government has the right to dictate what appears in the local media. The saving grace is her inability to enforce this demand. But OHA is working day and night to gain that power by winning enactment of the Akaka Bill.

Apoliona’s response to the cartoon indicates she is speaking in her capacity as OHA Chair, not as a private citizen. In addition to signing the letter with her government title, and sending it to Hawaii Reporter from her OHA email address, Apoliona’s statements indicating she is speaking as a representative of her department include:

• “OHA and all those raised in Hawaii don’t find it funny at all.”
• “The Office of Hawaiian Affairs will continue to fight to better the conditions of Native Hawaiians.”

In addition, a KGMB reporter and videographer seeking comment on the cartoon controversy Jan. 24 received a response not from Apoliona but from Crystal Kua, Director of Communications for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Disturbingly, Kua also indicates that OHA believes it can determine what is and is not a “legitimate” news organization. KGMB reports:

The co-founder of the online newspaper Hawaii Reporter says the cartoon was sent in from another Web site, and in keeping with the newspaper's policy, it published the piece.

"That's been our policy since day 1 when we opened 6 years ago, as long as it's clear and not libelous. That's our policy. We wanna let people express their views and get a debate going in the community," said Malia Zimmerman, co-founder of Hawaii Reporter.

"If she just decides to throw everything out there without any kind sensitivity then she's not a legitimate news organization," responded Kua.

OHA’s attitude should be a sharp warning to Native Hawaiians. Indian reservations are -- by law -- often places where constitutional rights do not apply. OHA is already showing just what kind of dictatorial powers it would like to exercise over Native Hawaiians on a post-Akaka-Bill Hawaiian Indian reservation.

In a 2001 series aptly titled “Broken Trust: Civil Rights in Indian Country”, a reporter for Minnesota Public Radio observes: “Press freedom is a constitutional guarantee for most American journalists. But many who work on Indian reservations do not enjoy the same freedom, because the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not apply to them. Their protection comes from the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, which guarantees free speech. But it leaves the enforcement to tribal governments that own most reservation media outlets.”

Apoliona complains: “This cartoon is an openly racial slur, a display of a ‘small mind.’” She adds: “This cartoon is merely a racist piece of propaganda.” Speaking to KGMB Crystal Kua complains, “It doesn't even have anything to do with Kau Inoa. There's no political connection to that whatsoever. They just think it's funny to go ahead and poke fun at Hawaiians." Which is it: “poke fun” or a “racial slur”?

There are dozens of local comedians who “poke fun at Hawaiians.” Shall they be subject to OHA censorship? Will they be banned from performing at resorts located on OHA leases along Hilo’s Banyan drive? The OHA Trustees give every indication they will be just so petty. In 2005 the late OHA Trustee Linda DeLa Cruz ordered removal of a roadside memorial to a Hilo hit-and-run victim because it was “not Hawaiian style.”

Readers can decide for themselves what they think of the cartoon. One comment sent to Zero Shibai editors calls the cartoon “insensitive and more than extremely racial.” One Hawaii Reporter reader pledges to protest racism by refusing service to haole customers at his auto repair business. Others express support for the cartoon and blame OHA for fostering the racial hatreds Apoliona purports to decry.

“Political Correctness” is an ideological weapon of censorship used by OHA. As Malia Zimmerman, editor of Hawaii Reporter, explains to KGMB, “Everybody is really afraid to speak up and investigate or look into the Office of Hawaiian Affairs because they're afraid they'll be labeled a racist."

Racism, real or imagined, is just an excuse for OHA. Apoliona gets right to the nub of the real issue complaining: “While pretending to be a news site with selected placements of respectable columns and letters, Hawaii Reporter leaves a long trail of smears against all things that don't fit its partner, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. One of the key missions of the Grassroot Institute is to kill the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, which seeks to protect programs for Native Hawaiians.”

Apparently “one of the key missions” of the state of Hawaii, Office of Hawaiian Affairs is to suppress any and all Hawaii-based opposition to the Akaka Bill and any news outlet willing to publish anti-Akaka Bill opinions. This is a problem inherent in having a government department given the mission of advocating changes in law. Government is supposed to defend freedom, not restrict free speech in furtherance of a political agenda.

Apoliona’s attitude is expressed when she would normally be expected to be on her best behavior -- before assumption of any new “sovereign” powers. This is a sign that a post-Akaka-Bill “Trustee” government would seek to impose dictatorial controls over those Hawaiians unfortunate enough to become its subjects. This may seem far-fetched to some, but they would do well to take a look at Hawaii’s future by informing themselves of the reality in Indian Country.

OHA’s attack on free speech should be alarming to all Hawaii residents, native Hawaiians most of all.

Hawaii Reporter related articles:

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?d44d4c25-f8c9-4ff9-ae3c-c96610c811c6 http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?faa2eda1-e0f2-44dd-9044-1fcb12ec11ba

ZeroShibai cartoon and related commentary:

www.ZeroShibai.com

KGMB report:

http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/3580/40

Minnesota Pubic Radio:

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/projects/2001/04/brokentrust/gundersond_freespeech-m/index.shtml

Memorial ordered removed (2005):

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?5e51b838-5a90-411d-b75e-e934d7c72380

Andrew Walden is the publisher and editor of Hawaii Free Press, a Big Island-based newspaper. He can be reached via email at mailto:andrewwalden@email.com

HawaiiReporter.com reports the real news, and prints all editorials submitted, even if they do not represent the viewpoint of the editors, as long as they are written clearly. Send editorials to mailto:Malia@HawaiiReporter.com

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