Posted on: Sunday, January 9, 2005

JERRY BURRIS

By Jerry Burris
Advertiser Editorial Editor

That was an interesting piece of history Mayor Mufi Hannemann chose to include in his acceptance remarks following his public swearing-in last week at Honolulu Hale.

Hannemann was making the point that Honolulu's residents should not fear to dream of greatness; to be the best at whatever they attempt and in whatever they represent.

Hannemann harkened back to a famous phrase used by the late Gov. John A. Burns in one of his state-of-the-state speeches.

Speaking back then to a House chamber packed with Democrats, their families and friends, Burns remarked that he sensed among "some of my friends" (and here he was pointedly talking to his core political supporters) a "subtle inferiority of spirit" that sometimes held them back from realizing their full potential.

The wording, if not the underlying thought, came from longtime Burns speechwriter and spokesman Don Horio. It had several layers of meaning.

The first, more public meaning, was that folks in Hawai'i too often think that their skills, their abilities, their contributions, lag behind those from elsewhere.

It is the kind of thinking that led to the idea that when a truly big problem emerges, it is time to call in a "Mainland" expert.

There's no need for that, Burns said. We have the skill, ambition and talent right here at home to deal with our problems. That applies equally well today in Hono-lulu, Hannemann suggested.

The second message, perhaps more coded, was a reminder to Burns' political supporters — Japanese-Americans, Filipino-Americans and others who traced their origins to the plantations — that they were just as worthy, just as important as anyone of any ethnicity and any place of origin.

It was somewhat ironic hearing this phrase from Hannemann's lips. As much as anyone in Hawai'i today, he personifies someone who has overcome any inclination to an "inferiority of spirit."

Coming from a thoroughly blue-collar Kalihi background, this son of Samoa rose quickly to become a star student and athlete at Iolani School and later, Harvard University, then on to success as a White House fellow, business executive, state official and Honolulu councilman.

Whatever problems Hannemann may struggle with as he meets the world, it should not be a feeling of inferiority.

So, truly, what Hannemann was doing through the use of this phrase was to link himself with Hawai'i's storied political past and to reinforce the idea that he is from here — from these Islands — and that he understands what it means to be a son of Hawai'i.

He went out of his way to point out that he is the first locally born mayor of Hono-lulu since Neal Blaisdell.

These were poignant and important points for our new mayor to make. Anyone born here, or anyone who has truly made this his or her adopted home, can take pride in the fact that one of our own is now running this great city.

Jerry Burris is The Advertiser's editorial page editor.