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'History of Hawaii' Textbook Indoctrinates Students with Racist Propaganda

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  • 'History of Hawaii' Textbook Indoctrinates Students with Racist Propaganda

    http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story....6-5cd0d60b3934

    Revisionist history, as perpetrated by the Curriculum Research & Development Group of the College of Education, University of Hawaii, may be the root of the misguided thinking behind the now-failed Akaka Bill; namely, that Hawaiians are victims of White Imperialists and must now forsake Western-style democracy -- with all its inherent rights -- and return to the days of an absolute monarchy.

    A History of Hawaii, a benign-looking, anti-American textbook that is required reading for public school ninth-graders, details not only the evils of the White man, but also paints a very unflattering picture of Hawaiian rulers as incestuous, alcoholic, some being in cahoots with gamblers and opium dealers, extravagant beyond their means and weak-willed victims ruled by the coercion of stronger-willed foreigners.

    Many of the excerpts that are supposed to be historical are actually fictional journal entries or dialogues, with references to “reliable sources.” Ultimately, the victims in this textbook are Hawaiians and Japanese, while the heroes are Democrats and labor unions. Democratic politicians such as U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye and the now deceased U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink, both holding office at the time of publication, are featured in half-page biographies.

    The text describes how interaction with the modern world led to market -- not merely subsistence -- Pacific Island economies, prosperity and literacy. Hawaiian rulers adopted models for a constitutional monarchy, property ownership and a judicial system to ensure civil rights.


    See full text at link above....

    any "comments?"

    Aloha
    http://twitter.com/surfoahu

  • #2
    Re: 'History of Hawaii' Textbook Indoctrinates Students with Racist Propaganda

    It would be nice if news articles would cite their sources more clearly. But this is Hawaii Reporter we're talking about; I should be glad they don't outright get their facts wrong.

    I believe Laura Brown is referring to A History of Hawaiʻi, by Linda Menton and Eileen Tamura. Here's a PDF brochure which lists the book. Considering that Menton heads up the Social Studies textbooks group and Tamura is on the College of Education faculty at UH Mānoa, I'd say that they probably represent the prevailing academic view of Hawaiian history. Laura Brown doesn't.

    I don't get how Brown can say on the one hand that this book is advocating a return to the monarchy, and on the other hand that it also depicts the Hawaiian monarchs as weak-willed dissolutes. It just doesn't hang together.

    And nowhere does Brown say that the text is wrong -- so I guess she must concede that it's accurate. She just doesn't like hearing the truth.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: 'History of Hawaii' Textbook Indoctrinates Students with Racist Propaganda

      I'm with Glen on this one. Some people just can't handle the truth.Perhaps I should find a violin for Brown and the rest of her Hawaiian hating ilk.
      Last edited by Keanu; April 6, 2007, 04:03 PM.

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      • #4
        Re: 'History of Hawaii' Textbook Indoctrinates Students with Racist Propaganda

        As for how and where this textbook is being used... I poked around and couldn't find an official recommended textbook list for Hawaiian history courses at DOE. But I did notice that this book was on the textbook list for the DOE's Modern History of Hawaiʻi course in their E-School program, though that page doesn't seem to be linked to their current course listings. So at that level at least, it's being used by DOE.

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        • #5
          Re: 'History of Hawaii' Textbook Indoctrinates Students with Racist Propaganda

          Mahalo Glen for stopping the malignancy at its roots. Mahalo Keanu for rightfully stating that that which quacks must be a duck.

          "Islandguy"? Must be of the Manhattan variety like the Hawaii Superferry, Inc. consortium who would have all the major Hawaiian islands be like their beloved island of terrorUSt$.
          Last edited by waioli kai; April 6, 2007, 04:35 PM.

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          • #6
            Re: 'History of Hawaii' Textbook Indoctrinates Students with Racist Propaganda

            From the article:

            "But the words “forced,” “haole” or “white,” and “imperialist” are repeated throughout the entire text. In a lesson on imperialism, High School students must color a map with crayons to highlight American and European imperialism in countries “that fell under” Western dominance. Nearly every Hawaiian ruler is said to have been “forced” to sign treaties by “haoles.” Hawaiians were killed off only by “white” diseases. Foreign labor was imported to work the plantations either because Hawaiian’s left for California due to the gold rush or because they were killed off by diseases, depending on which chapter is being read."

            Maybe I was indoctrinated as a kid, but that's exactly how I learned it too in Europe. A lot of the native inhabitants were killed off by diseases brought over by Europeans. Spheres of influence and maps of colonial possessions were the rage of European courts for centuries. She is suggesting the book is racist propaganda and therefore not true. She's uncapable to bring any counterarguments so she's concentrating on specific words like "haole," "white" etc. and trying to poison the atmosphere. Way too many suggestive quotation marks.

            Again from the article:

            A racist poem, “The Color of Ghosts,” by an obscure poet only referred to as “dgbair,” rounds out the “history” lesson. The narrator is from Boston, and feels “gritty” like New York. The narrator confesses to being haole – “the color of ghosts, the color of whalers, missionaries and plantation boss-men, who bought guns, bibles and ships full of workers, and took women, land and too many lives.” He is talking to the “sansei” that sees only the ghosts noisily following the narrator around. He must remain “strange,” never considered “local,” never belonging.

            She can't even put it down right. Having read her "critique" of the poem I kinda wanna sail the seas, gazing wistfully into the distance. Arrgh.

            "High school students who do not pass a Hawaiian History course using this text will not qualify for a high school diploma. What do families think of this indoctrination of their children by the anti-American and racist propaganda foisted upon their children by the DOE?

            Laura Brown is the education reporter and researcher for HawaiiReporter.com and the education policy analyst for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii."

            Why is the site so pink and...stupid?
            Last edited by reineke; April 6, 2007, 04:52 PM.

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            • #7
              Re: 'History of Hawaii' Textbook Indoctrinates Students with Racist Propaganda

              You guys sound like racist.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: 'History of Hawaii' Textbook Indoctrinates Students with Racist Propaganda

                Sounds like there's enough in the book to offend everyone equally.

                Actually, the gist of history education these days is to provide countering views of prevailing perceptions. School may be the only opportunity students get to asorb enough information to think for themselves, or so the thinking goes. So the information is "weighted" away from the party line.

                So, new history textbooks have a bit more "white imperialism" than you'll see in a popular culture that is chock full of white imperialism, benign or not, and largely invisible to the oblivious folks who grew up in it.

                That's why you'll see Jim Albertini quoted more in a textbook than a Navy admiral. In the real world, Navy admirals get more coverage than do fringe thinkers like Albertini, even though many admirals are dumber than a bag of hammers.

                Those who complain about this are folks who believe kids ONLY learn in school, and never pick up anything from media or culture or their parents. The real world, American-style, is weighted white in history and black in culture, kids. And it tilts toward the East Coast and away from us in the west.
                Burl Burlingame
                "Art is never finished, only abandoned." -- Leonardo Da Vinci
                honoluluagonizer.com

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                • #9
                  Re: 'History of Hawaii' Textbook Indoctrinates Students with Racist Propaganda

                  African proverb:
                  Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: 'History of Hawaii' Textbook Indoctrinates Students with Racist Propaganda

                    Thurston and his compadres were Haole. They weren't Americans; they were of the Haole class, as the term specifically addressed those who were born in Hawai'i during the 19th century to 1st-3rd generation missionaries and businessmen who came from the east coast of the US and Europe, most particularly of the Protestant faith. It was not a racist term; they empowered themselves and used it to forge bonds.

                    For us to call it "racist" is latter-day ignorance.

                    Pop quiz time: at the turn of the 20th century, how many recognized nations (those who held standing international trade treaties) were NOT governed under the auspices of either the US or European nations?
                    1. Japan
                    2. Siam
                    3. Ethiopia
                    4. Hawaii (although it was subject to the provisional republic, which was designed for US subjegation)

                    Yep, four. Only four. Think about what that means, globally-speaking.

                    pax

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