so, how does the forum at large here at uspol feel about this? Balkanization to the fore?
Hawaiian Nativism
The House of Representatives has voted 261–153 to recognize ethnic Hawaiians as a new Indian tribe. Astonishingly, 39 House Republicans supported this shameful piece of legislation — a bill that will thwart some Americans’ rights in the interest of further dividing our nation along racial lines.
The measure fell short of the 290 votes needed to override the veto that President Bush has promised. But the bill’s anticipated success in both chambers of Congress — and the support given it by many ostensibly conservative Republicans in both — is cause for alarm.
The bill, sponsored by Hawaii senator Daniel Akaka (D.), would first create a nine-member panel to decide who counts as a “native” Hawaiian and enroll members of the “tribe.” It would then create a tribal governing entity, which would negotiate for land with the federal and state governments. This entity, a second government for aboriginal Hawaiians, could establish schools that discriminate against non-“native” children and hold elections with racial criteria for participation, immune to challenges under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution. Indeed, the bill was written to circumvent a 2000 Supreme Court decision that forbade the state’s Office of Hawaiian Affairs to hold an election in which only “native” Hawaiians could participate.
Proponents of the bill argue that Hawaiians are merely seeking the recognition already given to the sovereign Indian tribes. But there are important historical differences. Whereas Indian tribes saw their land seized by the federal government, Hawaiians exercised self-government on June 27, 1959, when they voted overwhelmingly to become our nation’s 50th state. Unlike Indian tribes, aboriginal Hawaiians were not geographically segregated by federal troops, but live interspersed among Hawaiians of all races and even in other states.
The federal government has no business recognizing racial groups as distinct nations simply because they are ethnically unique. It sets a terrible and divisive precedent, which, if pushed to its logical conclusion, would turn John Edwards’s fantasy of “two Americas” into a reality of five or six Americas, as other ethnic groups followed the Hawaiian example.
The Bush administration’s opposition will thwart this legislation for now and simultaneously deny cover to the Republicans who are supporting it. They include not only Alaska’s congressional delegation, which traditionally supports any old idea of the Hawaii delegation, but also Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma and Sens. Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Gordon Smith of Oregon.
Unfortunately, however, this attempt to divide Americans by race will not end with a Bush veto. Hillary Clinton voted for it in 2006 — and she may sign it into law yet, if Americans make her their president.
The Week on National Review / Digital