Is There Trouble In Paradise? My Return to Honolulu

Just got back from a week in Honolulu and don’t you dare say a word. I was WORKING. I gave two speeches and met with political leaders of both parties.

Sorry for the defensiveness. And yes, the beaches were very nice. But (my wife) Kathy and I rented a car and had the opportunity to drive around the entire Big Island and see a lot of Hawaii. What we found was very disturbing. On the western shore from north to south, we saw thousands of tents and huts where people were living. Many are also living in their vehicles, some their own, some abandoned by someone. When I mentioned this to a few political folks they told me that they had heard about this but that they themselves seldom get to that part of the island. So this destitution, within only miles of the great city of Honolulu, is largely invisible to the public at large.

There are problems in layers in our 50th state. Many of the faces of the homeless are native Hawaiian and that in itself suggests a problem with race in a state that in many ways is a multicultural model for America’s future. Natives are almost a fifth of the population (but less than 10% of the voters, hence adding to their lack of visibility). Some leaders have tried to come to terms with this human problem. One has been offered by Senator Daniel Akaka and supported by his Senate colleague Daniel Inouye and other elected officials of both parties. This bill would grant status to native Hawaiians similar to the relationship granted to Native American tribes on the mainland. With this special status would come benefits in the form of increased spending for education and health care, along with separate government institutions. The sentiments behind the bill appear to be noble, but the bill (which has passed both houses of Congress in the past, but vetoed by President Bush) would seem to create a myriad of problems. First, it would be a federal unfunded mandate whose costs would be picked up by significant increases in taxes to Hawaiian taxpayers. Second, as a result, it could create an enormous amount of resentment toward native Hawaiians, who just don’t need the hostility. And third, it could very well split the native community between many natives who have succeeded and those who have not – creating a sense of status anxiety among the former.

The problem is that no one has presented an alternative. Some groups are calling for public hearings, which so far Congress has rejected. While not a solution to the problem, this is the kind of issue that needs a thorough vetting and can offer an engaged public to try out perhaps better models that provide a fairer solution to all parties. I found that there is concern among Hawaii residents and a desire to not sweep this under the carpet. But my polling suggests that the Akaka Bill is not the best answer.