01-07-2014, 02:53 PM
seventhreads -
My comment was not meant to condone what happened here in Hawaii in the 1800's. If you read carefully what I said, I did state that one person's great grandfather took the land here in Hawaii from someone else's great grandfather. If you read the history of the islands you will see that is part of the story, some land was transferred and granted to wealthy white businessmen by the U.S. government, some was purchased from the alii. There was also a time in the mid 1800's when many private Hawaiian landholders sold their property to the influx of white people arriving in the islands (see Shoal of Time by Gavan Daws).
I don't pretend to know why one person resents another person, racial or otherwise. I don't pretend to know how things would be in Hawaii if Hawaiians retained land ownership. I only pointed out a similar situation in Samoa. Hawaii might have been the same or different. There are a lot of possible outcomes that can take place over 120 years.
In my last paragraph I only attempted to say that things don't always turn out as you imagine they will. For instance, I had no idea that what I wrote would be misunderstood as it was, yet here we are. Some of that is no doubt my fault for not writing my thoughts as carefully as I should have. After rereading my comment I can see how "all Hawaiians would have a free house and yard" might be taken as flippant. It would have been better and closer to what I meant to say "Hawaiians would now have retained their land and had a place on which to build a home and plant a garden."
My comment was not meant to condone what happened here in Hawaii in the 1800's. If you read carefully what I said, I did state that one person's great grandfather took the land here in Hawaii from someone else's great grandfather. If you read the history of the islands you will see that is part of the story, some land was transferred and granted to wealthy white businessmen by the U.S. government, some was purchased from the alii. There was also a time in the mid 1800's when many private Hawaiian landholders sold their property to the influx of white people arriving in the islands (see Shoal of Time by Gavan Daws).
I don't pretend to know why one person resents another person, racial or otherwise. I don't pretend to know how things would be in Hawaii if Hawaiians retained land ownership. I only pointed out a similar situation in Samoa. Hawaii might have been the same or different. There are a lot of possible outcomes that can take place over 120 years.
In my last paragraph I only attempted to say that things don't always turn out as you imagine they will. For instance, I had no idea that what I wrote would be misunderstood as it was, yet here we are. Some of that is no doubt my fault for not writing my thoughts as carefully as I should have. After rereading my comment I can see how "all Hawaiians would have a free house and yard" might be taken as flippant. It would have been better and closer to what I meant to say "Hawaiians would now have retained their land and had a place on which to build a home and plant a garden."
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves