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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, August 5, 2005

Stand beside us at Kamehameha rallies

By Diane Plotts, Robert Kihune, J. Douglas Ing, Constance Lau, Nainoa Thompson and Dee Jay Mailer

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Aug. 2, 2005, will forever be embedded in our memory as one of the darkest days of our lives.

The Kamehameha Schools' admissions preference policy was overturned in a split decision by a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel. Then the plaintiff's attorney compared us to racist segregationists in the pre-civil rights South.

His remarks are profoundly insulting to Kamehameha Schools and to the memory of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who sought only to correct the harms created by the dispossession of her people — our Islands' first inhabitants. His remarks are offensive to every one here who embraces the wonderful blend of ethnicities and cultures that make our Islands so special.

The outpouring of aloha and support we have received from Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians alike, since Tuesday, has done much to soothe the sting of those ugly words. E-mails and phone calls have poured in from across the country from those who understand our educational mission and are encouraging us to persevere.

All of them ask: What can we do to help?

  • You can come to one of our rallies across the state tomorrow and stand with us and members of our community as we affirm our commitment to protecting Kamehameha Schools' preference policy.

  • You can communicate, by your presence, your agreement that a strong Hawaiian culture and people benefit our entire state.

  • You can resolve, as we have, to concentrate on the words of support that have come our way, such as this shared from Robert Witt, the executive director of the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, who wrote: "Private schools are at their best when their missions address issues of equity and justice in our society. That is, when a school with a unique purpose serves a population of students that are not otherwise well served, everyone benefits. Kamehameha is such a school. It stands alone, as a private school dedicated to providing urgently needed educational remedies for Native Hawaiians, a disadvantaged people struggling to achieve social and economic parity."

    We find solace and great pride in our students like this Kapalama campus sophomore, who wrote: "Today was definitely a day filled with emotions ... but we still fight on. We will still continue to perpetuate the legacy that our princess left behind so that her people could succeed, we will still remain strong through all oppositions and we will continue to look to Ke Akua for guidance and understanding. Today may have been a very sad day, but as I saw my peers and teachers standing together, hand in hand in Bishop Memorial Chapel, I've never felt more proud for my culture, my heritage and my school. May the Lord bless us all during this time."

    It is clear from the e-mails, phone calls to radio shows and letters to The Honolulu Advertiser that many in our community are very angry at this ruling. Those who oppose Kamehameha Schools are hoping that this anger will divide the Hawaiian community, because that will make it easier for Hawaiians to fail.

    For the sake of our precious island community, we must not let this happen. Let us stand together to protect the culture that forms the basis of our values and way of life in Hawai'i nei. Please join us tomorrow.

    Imua, Kamehameha.

    Diane Plotts, Robert Kihune, J. Douglas Ing, Constance Lau and Nainoa Thompson are Kamehameha Schools trustees, and Dee Jay Mailer is the schools' chief executive officer. They wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.