Oh , Real Life. How Can Fiction Compete?
In the New York Times Writers on Writing series, Miami novelist Carl Hiaasen wrote: "I can't tell you how often I get asked if Elian (Gonzalez) will turn up in my next book. The challenge is too daunting, and not because the real life drama defies satire. It is satire."
This quote came to mind as I read Wayfinding Through the Storm: Speaking Truth to Power at Kamehameha Schools 1993-1999. This book tells the story of the epic battle between Bishop Estate trustees and Kamehameha Schools faculty, students, and alumni in a series of quotes from the players involved. Some gems from the most quotable player, trustee Lokelani Lindsey:
"I will never be poor again! I will never be poor again!"
"A trustee is like a vacuum cleaner salesman--you sell more, you make more."
"Employees of the Coca-Cola company do not determine how many bottles of Coca-Cola must be produced each year. That's a management decision."
(to student, Kamani Kualaau, who had gotten accepted to Princeton): "I'm not going to do this, but how would you feel if I wrote a letter to Princeton and told them you were a rabble rouser?"
It's an absurd cautionary tale of what happens when power goes utterly unchecked. And it all really happened. The trustees dissolved the Extension Education Division, which served Hawaiian youth at risk with programs like the Kamehameha Traveling Preschool. They squashed the Hawaiian Cultural Center Project. Teachers were threatened. Grades of trustee relatives enrolled in the school were changed. Hawaiian language instruction suppressed. Offices swept for bugs. Parents detained by security. And it was the first time in KSBE history that all the trustees were Hawaiian. I couldn't make this stuff up. No one would believe me.
And if anyone believes that racial tension in Hawaii is a thing of distant past, or that the Hawaiian people are unified, here's some choice quotes:
"Cayetano is using country club Hawaiians like Gladys Brandt and Walter Heen as human shields to hide behind."
"Who you, haole, talking out about Pauahi's trust!"
"You're not Hawaiian!"
"Tell that f------ haole bitch if she testifies, she won't live to see another day."
"Oz told us that Na Kumu leaders were sometimes mocked by the trustee majority as the three haoles and the one Filipina."
The three haoles and one Filipina basically saved the school. Four school teachers stood up to some of the most powerful people in Hawaii, gained more and more support from fellow faculty, students, alumni, and with the help of one rogue trustee, won. If this were fiction, some would question the believability of such an ending. But because this is non-fiction, not only is it believable, it's damn inspirational.
On a final note, for you teachers and adminstrators out there, once you start referring to students as bottles of Coca-Cola, or any other assembly line product, it's probably time to quit. Chances are, you're doing more damage than good.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
Unfortunately, the situation was caused by a dysfunctional political/judicial system which permitted this to occur. It was common knowledge that Waihee was "stacking the deck" to be a trustee.
How can we prevent future "situations" from escalating to this level again?
March 17th, 2010 at 11:22 am
We can prevent this from happening again by teaching students about this part of modern Hawaiian history. According to Gavan Daws these were seiminal events in Hawaii's history. One of the main reasons why we and Gavan worked so hard to get this story published, was that we believed that history would indeed repeat itself, if the story was left untold. Further we hope this story will inspire and challenge people to stand up for what they believe is right and not look the other way when they see things going wrong. Ultimately this is the story of people who had the courage to stand up to protect the precious legacy of Pauahi.