‘Morons and losers’
‘Morons and losers’
In this year alone, I have read in this and other island publications at least 10 letters that end with the idiot mantra, “If you don’t like it, go back to the mainland,” from those who are, or pretend to be, Native Hawaiians.
In mainland publications, letters including comments such as “go back to Africa” are seldom printed because of editorial policy but, then, this is not the mainland. “Hate mail” in Hawaii is considered fair play.
So, it’s time for a reality check.
Like it or not, Hawaii is a state in the United States, where anybody can relocate anywhere they please, and those who attempt to exert pressure on people they despise for doing so — burning crosses on lawns, vandalizing personal property, openly harassing residents — usually are apprehended and charged with hate crimes.
We do not live in a culture wherein a citizen must provide the authorities reasons for relocating or furnish internal permits to travel from one state to another. The law everywhere is on the side of those who want to purchase a home and live in it in peace, without facing racial or religious discrimination. Those who act otherwise are subject to criminal indictment and/or nuisance litigation.
Just one more fact the haters can hate. Ironically, as much as 40 percent of the Native Hawaiian population now works, lives and raises families on the mainland, mostly on the tolerant West Coast. I have never heard of one single incident in which a Native Hawaiian was told, “go back to your islands, stupid kanaka.” I seriously doubt anything like this has ever occurred.
Haters define themselves without any comment from anybody else. I suppose if I wanted to play the victim card, as somebody with Cherokee and Irish blood, I could spew such venom as well as do the likes of Faye Hanohano or Al Sharpton, but I see myself as an individual, not some “member” of a “group” that perpetually blames “the others” for his or her perpetual failure and discomfort with the modern world.
Those who have nothing but personal accident-of-birth obsessions seldom have anything else to boast about, no matter who they are, by my experience. In other words, prejudiced morons and losers.
Perhaps the haters themselves might want to consider relocating. There are nations in which such behavior and demeanor are considered acceptable and are even encouraged, such as Egypt, Kosovo, Israel, Iran and Russian-occupied Ukraine.
Of course, there would be no guarantee the haters would not be hated themselves. But at least they would be in a familiar milieu. Maybe it’s time for some people to grow up.
Thomas L. Munden
Kapaau