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by Ryan Amptmeyer

In 1893, the legitimate monarchy of Hawaii was illegally overthrown in an effort to placate the gluttonousdemands of corporate sugar barons. The American presstried to justify the coup with the racist argument thatNative Hawaiians could not govern themselves. Nevermind the countless centuries of evidence to the contrary.

In 1993, the U.S. Senate formally apologized for thisatrocity. But Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., dissented,realizing that the logical consequence of the apologywould be independence.

In 1994, Native Hawaiians declared independence andwrote their own constitution. Now Hawaiian sovereigntyactivist Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele is in prison. Heexplicitly calls for a peaceful and gradual transition tohome rule.

Furthermore, he rules out the expulsion of Asian andEuropean populations as antithetical to the Hawaiiantradition of "aloha."

The chauvinist hypocrisy of the capitalist media hasnever been more blatant. The Wall Street propagandamachine is mollycoddling white power terrorists TimothyMcVeigh and Randy Weaver, while turning a deaf ear topeace-loving activists like Kanahele.

Kanahele was arrested in August on trumped-upcharges of harboring a tax resister. A federal magistratedenied him bail, calling him a danger to the community.Federal cops have repeatedly tried to portray theHawaiian pacifist as violent, to no avail.

Government repression of indigenous activists is nothingnew. Three Puerto Rican Nationalists have been illegallykept in solitary confinement since the 1970s. WhenLakota Sioux agitator Leonard Peltier declared that allpolitical boundaries from Alaska to Cape Horn aremeaningless, he was charged with treason. WhenPresident Clinton said the same thing, it was calledNAFTA.

Defending Kanahele is in the interest of U.S. workersbecause occupied Hawaii serves America's racist rulersas a stepping stone for genocidal imperialist adventuresin East Asia. These invasions result in sweatshopcolonies, like the puppet regime in Korea, which drivedown our wages.

It's time to end the Vasco de Gama era. Let's get the U.S.and France out of Polynesia and padlock the Pentagon.

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Ryan Amptmeyer (amptmeye@sage.cc.purdue.edu) of Lafayette is a hard-core trade unionist working for the State of Indiana.

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