by Kenneth R. Conklin, Ph.D.
The State of Hawaii Department of Education must be held accountable for propagating the lie that Hawaiian language was banned. Dawn Kau’ilani Sang, Director of Hawaiian Studies, is responsible for a two-page webpage entitled “History of Hawaiian Education” which prominently proclaims the lie in three places, and which is cited as authority by news media when they repeat the lie and refuse to correct their publication of it. Thousands of children in the Hawaii Public Schools are undoubtedly being taught this racially inflammatory lie in the Hawaiian Studies curriculum that is compulsory in all grades K-12. Ms. Sang acknowledged receiving a lengthy email in mid-February 2016 filled with proof that the statements are false. The email explained the importance of correcting the falsehoods. But Ms. Sang stonewalled, replying only “The Department appreciates your attention to the information provided on our website. We will review the website and make changes as deemed necessary.” She has not indicated that any progress is being made. Followup inquiries are being pursued. Meanwhile, in mid-March 2016, Director Sang has engineered a resolution in the state legislature authorizing an expansion of her growing Hawaiian Studies empire; and the first “whereas” clause is the assertion that Hawaiian language was banned in the schools after the overthrow of the monarchy. Text of the resolution is provided along with Conklin’s testimony in opposition.
This webpage provides the details of what is summarized above:
http://tinyurl.com/z77ogbq
Table of contents for Conklin’s webpage:
1. Honolulu Star-Advertiser article of Thursday February 18, 2016 whose first sentence mentioned in passing, as an established fact, that Hawaiian language was “… once banned in the public schools …”
2. Thursday February 18 (early morning) email from Ken Conklin to newspaper reporter and editor requesting correction and providing proof of falsehood.
3. Reporter’s very brief Thursday February 18 (late afternoon) reply citing the Department of Education webpage as authority.
4. Full text of detailed email from Ken Conklin to Dawn Kau’ilani Sang, Department of Education Director of Hawaiian Studies on Monday morning February 22, 2016 with copies to DOE Superintendent, DOE Assistant Superintendent, newspaper editor and reporter. This email provided irrefutable proof that it is false to say that Hawaiian language was banned in the schools after the monarchy was overthrown. The proof includes quotations from historical documents and citations to scholarly books published by UH Press.
5. 2-sentence acknowledgment from Dawn Kau’ilani Sang, Department of Education Director of Hawaiian Studies emailed Wednesday night February 24, promising “We will review the website and make changes as deemed necessary.”
6. Followup email from Ken Conklin to Dawn Kau’ilani Sang, on Monday morning March 14, 2016 with copies to DOE Superintendent, DOE Assistant Superintendent, newspaper editor and reporter. The email noted that it is 3 weeks after Ken Conklin’s initial email to her, and 12 working days after her promise to “review the website and make changes as deemed necessary.” The email asked to know what progress has been made, and asked for contact information for any subordinate who might have been assigned the task of reviewing the webpage and making changes.
7. On Thursday March 17 the Hawaii House committee that facilitates legislation focused on ethnic Hawaiian affairs held a hearing on a resolution engineered by DOE Director Sang that would expand her growing Hawaiian Studies empire. Other committees in both House and Senate will hold more hearings if the resolution moves forward. The resolution begins with a “whereas” clause stating as fact that Hawaiian language was banned following the overthrow of the monarchy and was not heard in the schools for 4 generations. Full text of the resolution is provided along with Ken Conklin’s testimony in opposition, and a link to the legislature’s webpage tracking the resolution including files of all testimony in each committee, how each member of each committee voted, and the committee report.
Hawaiian language never banned; Goebbels Award to PBS-Hawaii
Mar 28
Posted by Ken Conklin in Commentary, News, Reference | Comments off
The Goebbels Award For Outstanding Use of Media for Propaganda Disguised As Fact
has been awarded jointly to PBS-Hawaii and Leslie Wilcox, its President and CEO;
for refusing to correct a racially inflammatory falsehood about the alleged banning of Hawaiian language in the schools of Hawaii. The falsehood was asserted repeatedly in advertisements through email, televised teasers, and website announcements ahead of an INSIGHTS panel discussion televised live on March 28, 2019 regarding the history and revival of Hawaiian language; and was anticipated to be also asserted by panelists during the discussion.
This Goebbels Award can be seen at
http://big11a.angelfire.com/GoebbelsAwardPBSLeslie032819.html
For a long time PBS-Hawaii President/CEO Leslie Wilxcox has been sending out an email blast on Fridays announcing major TV shows that will be broadcast during the following week. The contents of those announcements are also displayed on the station’s website, Facebook page, etc. for maximum publicity. The announcement sent on Friday March 22, 2019 included a description of an upcoming 60-minute live panel discussion in the long-running “Insights” series to be broadcast on Thursday March 28 from 8-9 PM.
The announcement can be seen where it was placed on the PBS-Hawaii website on March 22 at
https://www.pbshawaii.org/insights-on-pbs-hawaii-the-hawaiian-language/
The first sentence says:
“Ka ‘ÅŒlelo Hawai’i, the Hawaiian Language, once forbidden in schools and nearly lost, is flourishing again in these Islands.”
The racially inflammatory falsehood is this seemingly harmless phrase of four words in the first sentence: “…once forbidden in schools…”
The truth is that HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE HAS NEVER BEEN MADE ILLEGAL OR SUPPRESSED IN WRITTEN PUBLICATIONS, NOR IN PUBLIC OR PRIVATE SPEECH OR PERFORMANCES; AND HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE HAS NEVER BEEN FORBIDDEN BY LAW IN SCHOOLS. An amendment to the compulsory attendance law was passed in 1896 to require that any public or private “school” must use English as the language for teaching all subjects in order for that school to be certified as meeting the requirement that all children must attend “school” — but the amendment did NOT forbid after-school or weekend academies from using Japanese or Hawaiian or any other language, and did not prohibit teaching language courses. Japanese parents created such Japanese language academies for their children to learn Japanese culture and history; but Hawaiian parents chose not to do that.
Why is it racially inflammatory to assert that Hawaiian language was illegal in daily life or forbidden in schools? Because today’s Hawaiian sovereignty activists have repeatedly and loudly made such claims as a way of portraying Native Hawaiians as victims entitled to reparations. The U.S. in general, and “haoles” (white people) in particular, are called colonial oppressors who suppressed native culture and even “made our native language illegal right here in our own homeland.” “My grandma told me she was beaten by her haole teacher for speaking Hawaiian in school.” For decades the activists claimed that Hawaiian language had been made illegal. When they were challenged to cite such a law, or to name even a single person who had been jailed for speaking Hawaiian, they could not do so. When it became publicly clear that dozens of Hawaiian language newspapers had been openly published continuously through 1948, and the Kamehameha song contest had been running since 1920 etc., a few professors of Hawaiian language nevertheless continued to insist the language had been made illegal. The claim of general illegality has been forced by the facts to retreat to a claim of the language being banned in school. But it is false, and still racially inflammatory, and must be completely discredited. Comes now the PBS-Hawaii “Insights” TV show with a panel of Hawaiian-language zealots accustomed to earning a living based partly on asserting the now-disproved lie, with the PBS-Hawaii corporate leadership acting as accomplices by giving them a megaphone. Hawaiian is a beautiful language that deserves to be preserved and to thrive as an important element of the culture which is the core of what makes Hawaii a special place. The beautiful language must be liberated from an ugly political demagoguery broadcasting a racially incendiary lie which serves only to foment racial resentment and hatred.
The Goebbels Award provides a copy of the warning to PHS-Hawaii and its executives demanding a correction of the falsehood, which included a summary of evidence that it is false, an explanation of why it is racially incendiary, and links to webpages where detailed proof of falsity can be found.
See the Goebbels Award to PBS-Hawaii and Leslie Wilcox at
http://tinyurl.com/yyqj247m
Was Hawaiian Language Illegal? Did the Evil Haoles Suppress Hawaiian Language As A Way of Oppressing Kanaka Maoli and Destroying Their Culture?
https://tinyurl.com/4gspl
Examples of published false claims that Hawaiian language was made illegal:
https://tinyurl.com/83xmb
Hawaii Dept of Education refused to correct the language-ban falsehood on its website and in its curriculum, and was given a Goebbels Award on April 25, 2016
https://tinyurl.com/z77ogbq
Tags: Goebbels Award, Hawaiian grievance industry, Hawaiian language, Hawaiian language ban, Leslie Wilcox, Native Hawaiian, PBS-Hawaii