August 17, 2005
But Can Nazis Surf?
So, how would you like race-based government, where the outcome of genetic markers in a blood test may determine your legal rights? If you are a Hawaiian, and Senator Daniel Akaka gets his way with bills before the House and Senate, you might just get a chance to find out.
Akaka is sponsoring a bill, The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005, to grant native Hawaiians a sovereign race-based government, potentially exempt from the United States Constitution if certain pundits can be believed. Senator Daniel Akaka admits that his bill goes beyond the legal parity afforded to other Native American tribal governments, to the point that it could lead to Hawaii's secession from the United States. A secessionist, race-based government? Peachy.
Call me skeptical, but I'm not a big fan of race-based governments, as the last few that I'm aware of, no mater how they tried to execute it in Germany, South Africa, or Zimbabwe, didn't turn out too well.
You can keep your one state neo-Confederacy movement, Senator, even if it does have poi.
Oh, and I almost forgot. The answer to the post's title question?
Yes. Yes, they can.
And who gets their own government-within-a-government next? Irish-Americans? Lutherans? Lepers? I understand that they are not "races", but where does the line get drawn?
More importantly, however did you discover that coven of surf-Nazi's? Dastardly.
Posted by: Buckley F. Williams at August 17, 2005 11:03 PMHell, there aren't enough full-blooded Hawaiians left to populate an island, let alone run a state. Most so-called Hawaiians are lucky if one of their grandparents is full-blooded.
Posted by: Robert Garrard at August 18, 2005 10:42 AMSen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, who chairs the Senate Republican Policy Committee, wrote a comprehensive analysis addressing his concerns over the creation of a race-based government for Native Hawaiians and the dangerous precedents that this bill would create. The paper is available at http://rpc.senate.gov/_files/Jun2205NatHawSD.pdf.
Posted by: Lee at August 18, 2005 12:24 PM
