mcbitchtits:

cuntymint:

The Pinky Show: Hawaii vs. U.S. Imperialism

Pinky: Every place has many histories. I can’t think of any place that can be described or understood through just one story. In fact, studying all these different histories is one of the things that makes learning about places so fascinating!

On the other hand, we also have places like Hawaii, where there are stories being told about it that are so contradictory, so opposite from each other, that you have to wonder, is it really possible for all of these competing versions of history to all be true?

For example, here are two very VERY different ways of understanding Hawaii. Version Number One: Hawaii is the “50th State” of the United States of America, Hawaii voted to join the U.S. back in the 50’s, and now it’s just a really nice place to go for your vacation. That’s one. Version Number Two goes like this: Hawaii is not a part of the United States, actually it’s a nation under illegal occupation since 1893, and a hundred plus years later there’s still Hawaiian Nationals fighting the U.S. for independence. Have you heard this version before? No? If you haven’t that’s understandable because, this story is very well-known - I guess you could say this is the ‘official’ story - and this one is definitely not nearly as well-known. Can two stories that are almost exact opposites from each other both be true? Or is one of them more substantiated by historical facts than the other?

The short answer is that, based on our research, an overwhelming body of evidence points to the fact that Hawaii really is a colonial possession of the United States. The idea that Hawaii is the 50th State of the U.S. is, literally, just a very popular myth. And the main reason why practically everyone believes this myth is simply because the American establishment has used its resources to have people think this, instead of that. In other words, what people believe often has more to do with interests and power, instead of facts.

In this episode we’re going to show you a mini-history of Hawaii, but this time seen through the analytical lens of “imperialism”. Once you start seeing how the struggle over Hawaii is connected to a broader, global history of imperialism, I think it’ll be a lot easier to understand why the United States has worked so hard to try to destroy Native Hawaiians and take their land. I know that might sound really harsh to some people, but this presentation is only about 20 minutes long so we don’t have time to mince words. I hope you’ll bear with us.

Reblogging for Hawaii (didn’t watch the video I’ll be honest). I took two Hawaiian/Pacific history courses a few years ago and it really actually helped me understand modern world history. Within 300 years you have an isolated set of islands in the middle of the Pacific go to being “a part of” the U.S. 

P.S. the U.S. kind of pulled a dick move back in 1959, they knew what they were doing. At the time Hawaii was an (ILLEGALLY ANNEXED) territory of the United States, but it had already proven with WW2 that Pearl Harbor was too valuable to give up. However, the UN turned around and told all these empires that they must, by 1960, offer all their territories basically whatever they wanted since they had come in and basically done what they pleased. (Which is why American Samoa has such a different relationship than Puerto Rico than does Guam, etc. I’m summarizing, but you get the point.) So in 1959, before any other countries had done anything, the US turned to Hawaii and said “hey, Hawaii! look at all these special priveleges we’ll give if you vote* to become a state!” which they did because it was a step in the right direction at the time. Except it actually gave the US the better deal because they knew that if they actually turned to Hawaii and offered them whatever they wanted, they would vote to remain an independent kingdom.

*That’s the tricky part, the gov’t likes to say “well you could have voted not to become a state, we gave you your chance at a choice”. 

It’s also worth noting that, before they were illegally annexed anyway, most of the control of Hawaii had been wrested from the Kingdom and was controlled by the “big five” industries. (Shit, if I’m remembering right, sugarcane producers.) They manipulated rebellions against the Queen and forced her hand in the annexation (and benefitted by lowered tarriffs, etc.). (I really hope I’m remembering this all right, forgive me if I’m not, it’s been four years.)

Today a similar problem remains, which is that so much of Hawaii’s industry relies on a single thing— tourism. Did you know that the Dole plantation only grows enough pineapple on its grounds for the tourists who come through? It’s actually cheaper to grow and package pineapple from countries where people get paid pennies, and then import it. To Hawaii. 

What pisses me off a lot is that when you walk down Waikiki, which, to be fair, is mostly shops and restaurants, there’s this whole HUGE section of Dolce & Gabbana, the Apple Store, etc. with these huge, out-of-place facades. I understand why they’re there (and I think they tend to cater to Japanese tourists more than American ones), but it’s slowly expanding down Waikiki and it makes me sick. 

…I don’t really know where I was going with this, but considering there are so many people who think Hawaii is just like the rest of the contiguous 48, it’s really not. I have a friend who made fun of me for choosing to do my “semester abroad” here (and now I’m back for grad school), while he went to an actual “other country”, Ireland.

I pointed out to him that I was traveling to an island in the middle of the Pacific ocean where the main language is English but has its own unique and ancient culture whereas he was traveling to… and island in the Atlantic… where they speak English… with its own unique and ancient culture. Head. Desk.

(Another note? My mom got me a book about Cook or someone similar for Christmas. I read the cover and was just like WOAH THIS REEKS OF IMPERIALISM. Haven’t started it yet, but I’ll let you know how it goes, Tumblr…)

[EDIT: I watched the video, it’s very good (just a bit slow for me, I’m not a fan of watching videos if I can prefer). Takes a bit more critical look at the U.S. national and legislative side of things, most of the P.O.V. I got was from my Hawaiian professor (one guy taught both classes) and the textbooks, and focused more on local cultural implications and the royals, etc.

Interesting side note, just last year I took a modern Japanese/Chinese history course and we read a book about a Japanese scholar, his sort-of autobiography. At one point he is brought to Europe to bring modern ideas back to Japan, and on the way back— I believe 1912 or 1914— they stop in Hawaii for a few hours. I am consistently fascinated by the globalizing of the world in the late teens-centuries.

Also this says it is part 3 of Hawaiian videos? I am not immediately planning to watch the others, so I can’t speak on them. May check them out later though.]