08-11-2019, 03:20 PM
Hi all. I am new to the conversation. First post, I hope I get it right. It sure is a drag they got that road closed. I had visitors and was hoping that my auntie could have gone up and visited the family's burials. She's the last of her generation, and all her siblings are buried on the mountain. But no can. She isn't as young and eager to take the original 4x4 track we used to follow before the access road was put in. And besides, they had to book it back to the mainland. You know, my cousins got work and all that.
We had a lively discussion instead. My auntie, pure Hawaiian, asked why do so many newcomers (she won't use the word "haole" says it's disrespectful) speak disparagingly about the protesters. She pointed out that so many of America's improvements come as a result of civil disobedience. She spoke glowingly of Rosa Parks. I think Rosa is my auntie's hero, being of a similar age and both feel their minorities, and what society's racism has done to them, deeply. But then my uncle, as white as the driven snow, who is as different from auntie as day is different from night, got all in a huff and was pretty loud, going on about the rule of law as if that cancels out all rights to using civil disobedience as a means to facilitate change. Me and my cousins we just shook our heads. Rolled our eyes. No way uncle 'gets it.'
I personally feel for the folks on the road. I hope they can get what they need to put an end to all this. Not just the TMT issue but the whole Hawaiian rights thing. Is there any path forward that would do that? Or, are we destined to repeat this over and over as each new icon of their discontent emerges? Auntie says nothing is going be fixed until the Hawaiian people are respected. Her husband says there is nothing to respect, just get out the national guard and clear the road already. I am still amazed at how much those two love each other. But to see them carry on you'd think they were going to start some kind of international crisis.
So, for auntie, I'll ask, instead of all the disrespect about jacked up trucks and oil leaks and 'don't they have jobs' kine stuff, does anyone here have anything constructive to add to the conversation? Any workable solutions to offer? And, btw, for me, workable means acceptable to all not just the protesters, or the astronomers, everyone.
We had a lively discussion instead. My auntie, pure Hawaiian, asked why do so many newcomers (she won't use the word "haole" says it's disrespectful) speak disparagingly about the protesters. She pointed out that so many of America's improvements come as a result of civil disobedience. She spoke glowingly of Rosa Parks. I think Rosa is my auntie's hero, being of a similar age and both feel their minorities, and what society's racism has done to them, deeply. But then my uncle, as white as the driven snow, who is as different from auntie as day is different from night, got all in a huff and was pretty loud, going on about the rule of law as if that cancels out all rights to using civil disobedience as a means to facilitate change. Me and my cousins we just shook our heads. Rolled our eyes. No way uncle 'gets it.'
I personally feel for the folks on the road. I hope they can get what they need to put an end to all this. Not just the TMT issue but the whole Hawaiian rights thing. Is there any path forward that would do that? Or, are we destined to repeat this over and over as each new icon of their discontent emerges? Auntie says nothing is going be fixed until the Hawaiian people are respected. Her husband says there is nothing to respect, just get out the national guard and clear the road already. I am still amazed at how much those two love each other. But to see them carry on you'd think they were going to start some kind of international crisis.
So, for auntie, I'll ask, instead of all the disrespect about jacked up trucks and oil leaks and 'don't they have jobs' kine stuff, does anyone here have anything constructive to add to the conversation? Any workable solutions to offer? And, btw, for me, workable means acceptable to all not just the protesters, or the astronomers, everyone.