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45588. robertjayb - 12/27/2012 5:23:16 AM Hawaii has its pick...
HONOLULU — Hawaii Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz on Wednesday was appointed the state’s next U.S. senator, bucking the dying wishes of U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye to win the support of Gov. Neil Abercrombie.
Schatz, a 40-year-old former nonprofit CEO who ran with Abercrombie for the state’s top two offices in 2010, beat out U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa and Esther Kiaaina, a deputy director in the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. The three candidates were selected by state Democrats earlier in the day.
45589. robertjayb - 12/27/2012 5:46:47 PM Betcha the new senator's background keeps the nutters busy for quite awhile (from booman tribune):
He's Jewish and was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He went to the same high school as Barack Obama. He studied philosophy at Pomona College and spent a semester studying in Kenya. He has an interracial family with two kids. He got his start as a community organizer.
Schatz first became active in the community when he became involved in the Save Sandy Beach movement in the 1980s. He served as CEO of Helping Hands Hawaii as well as Director of both the Makiki Community Library and the Center for a Sustainable Future. In March 2010, Schatz stepped down from Helping Hands to focus on his campaign for the office of Lieutenant Governor.
And, of course, he was appointed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie who was good friends with Barack Obama Sr. when they were both students at the University of Hawaiʻi in the early 1960's.
As a fellow philosophy major and former community organizer, I kind of feel like I am getting personal representation. He's also three years younger than me, so he may be in the Senate for the rest of my life.
45590. judithathome - 12/27/2012 6:16:01 PM Well....call me crazy but I think it would have been nice to honor Inouye's wishes and appoint an Hawaiian, not a haole, to the the senate. This guy Shatz at least sounds as though he's a "good" haole as opposed to the ones who move there and just take take take.
But I can guarantee you there are tons of native Hawaiians who will always view his choice as a direct slap in the face to Sen. Inouye. 45591. robertjayb - 12/27/2012 7:02:12 PM Another group spring-loaded to take offense? 45592. judithathome - 12/27/2012 7:09:30 PM Robert, this group of Hawaiians has been "spring-loaded", as you say, since Dole and the missionaries came in and took over their homeland.
Some groups with complaints have a point...they're not all crazies. 45593. thoughtful - 12/28/2012 3:11:52 PM JAH, that's probably the most racist thing I ever saw you type.... 45594. judithathome - 12/28/2012 6:31:04 PM Really? I certainly didn't mean it that way...just stating what my in-laws have told me repeatedly.
You DO know my husband is Hawaiian, right? I doubt you know his sister is one of the movers and shakers in the Hawaiian HomeLands movement...they are somewhat radical and though they know it would be impossible, would love to have their islands back. They are teaching young people what is rapidly becoming a lost language...her children spoke only Hawaiian at home.
I may have worded things less than perfectly but trust me, I didn't mean it in a derogatory way AT ALL...I am in awe of my Hawaiian family and their histories!
Have to admit I'm a little chuffed at being called out as racist, though...whatever. 45595. arkymalarky - 12/28/2012 7:41:37 PM Inoye's request should make non-Hawaiians aware of the importance of the issue to them. No one wants to be marginalized in their own homeland. Having representation and a voice in policies that impact them is as important to them as it is to other minorities, and as Hawaiians, having some representation in the state of Hawaii seems a reasonable request. 45596. thoughtful - 12/29/2012 7:00:23 AM Whether you're delighted or not at being called out as a racist, it did seem that way to me. Yes I knew your husband was Hawaiian. To suggest that a haole can't represent Hawaii is like saying white men can't dance. I'm not saying that you are denigrating one race, but that you are suggesting race as a qualifying factor. Considering Hawaii is 1.3 million people of which only about 250,000 consider themselves descendants of native Hawaiians, and even fewer 100% native Hawaiian, it's not clear to me that one would need to be native Hawaiian to best represent the interests of the island, demographically or otherwise.
45597. Ms. No - 12/30/2012 3:42:52 AM I don't think Hawaiians wanting a Hawaiian senator is any more racist than New Yorkers objecting to Hillary Clinton as senator -- or any state objecting to an outsider who may not identify with the locals they are to represent as well as an actual local.
In a state like Hawaii where the people have been treated only marginally better than native peoples on the mainland, I would be surprised if there weren't objections. 45598. arkymalarky - 12/30/2012 4:14:26 AM It's not at all racist and neither is Judith, nor was Senator Inoye. Voting demographics and their concerns are a significant part of politics in such a diverse country, were a huge focus in 2012, and even in that context Hawaii is unique. 45599. arkymalarky - 12/30/2012 8:22:14 PM I'm so glad to see TJ Holmes on msnbc. I love him , and he's an Arky. 45600. thoughtful - 12/30/2012 8:59:54 PM If the statement was resident vs. nonresident then the Sen Clinton argument might be parallel, but it wasn't...it referred specifically to white vs. Hawaiian which is an ethnic/racial divide. 45601. arkymalarky - 12/30/2012 9:11:19 PM Evidently the GOP is going to shove the country of the cliff then drop a boulder on it when the debt ceiling comes up. Con'd needs to come spin this insanity. It's interesting that not a single GOP pundit is even attempting to defend it. 45602. judithathome - 12/30/2012 9:57:43 PM Fine, Thoughtful...have it your way. I feel it says as much about you as it does about me...I don't think Hawaiians would agree with you but that doesn't matter, does it?
Saying that particular statment was the most racist thing you've ever seen me type kinda says it all...you evidently think I have said racist things in the past, just not AS racist as this...
45603. PsychProf - 12/31/2012 3:56:19 PM Thoughtful...why not just discuss the issue as you see it. No need for personal attacks... 45604. thoughtful - 12/31/2012 6:40:32 PM PP, if you read what I wrote, I specifically discussed the statement. I did not say J@h was a racist...and I specifically said I didn't think her intent was to denigrate a specific race...I said the comment she made was....
I don't view this any differently than, if someone makes a statement that may be interpreted as rude and you point that out, that is not the same thing as saying someone is rude....only that in this instance a statement made may be interpreted that way. This would be especially noticeable in someone who isn't normally rude at all. If someone were rude all the time, then another rude comment wouldn't be remarkable at all.
That is in no way a personal attack. Perhaps, pp, if you view it so, it says more about you than it does about me.
J@h, you evidently think I have said racist things in the past, just not AS racist as this....
Quite the contrary. I don't associate you with racism at all, and that's why I found this statement so surprising. 45605. PsychProf - 12/31/2012 7:07:39 PM Sorry if I was wrong Thoughtful. 45606. arkymalarky - 12/31/2012 7:50:33 PM "Whether you're delighted or not at being called out as a racist, it did seem that way to me.'"
Beyond that, however, it is not racist to want one's ethnicity represented. No one suggested non-Hawaiians shouldn't represent Hawaii. Imbue's request would have made Hawaii's representation more inclusive rather than less so.
Here in the South it was standard, and still is in some places, to have an all black school with an all white school board. Wanting black representation on those boards was not and is not racist, and neither is native Hawaiuans wanting representation from their ethnic group. 45607. arkymalarky - 12/31/2012 7:53:03 PM I HATE autocorrect. Thank you Daddy Jobs (RIP), but when I typed Inouye, it is what I meant to type.
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