Both of us have lived long enough to know racism when we see it.
State Rep. Faye Hanohano revealed herself in her public racial denunciations of artists who were not Native Hawaiian. Sadly, Hanohano is not alone.
In a nationally syndicated television interview on March 15, Sen. Sam Slom publicly demonstrated his own brand of prejudice by commenting that child molestation was condoned in Hawaii; and as proof positive stated that "there is a misplaced compassion" and "an underlying cultural problem where some of our diverse cultures actually don’t see any problem or any crime in having sexual relations with young children."
Wow.
A day later, in the Star-Advertiser, Slom said, "In some cultures that are here, that they have a different interpretation of what may be sexual abuse or molestation." Slom then cited kumu hula Chinky Mahoe as the only example of his "cultural" condemnation.
We wonder if Slom’s statement is aimed at kumu hula specifically or the Hawaiian culture generally. We note here that there are many kumu hula whose very essence exudes the Hawaiian culture, including ‘Iolani Luahine, Kau’i Zuttermeister, Lokalia Montgomery, Maiki Aiu Lake, Emma DeFries and sisters Tita Solo-mon and Winona Beamer. Or maybe Slom meant George Na’ope, Ka’upena Wong, Robert Cazimero, Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewitt or Manu Boyd. Do these Native Hawaiian kumu hula by Slom’s pronouncements really condone pedophilia?
If not, we wonder if Slom’s racist rant was aimed at the judges who sentence convicted child molesters. The sentencing judge in the Mahoe case was Wilfred Watanabe, a person of Japanese ethnicity. There’s no shortage of judges of Japanese descent, beginning with Susan Oki Mollway and Leslie Kobayashi, who serve with distinction as federal judges.
Other judges of Japanese descent include former Hawaii Supreme Court Justices Yoshimi Hiyashi, Tho-mas Ogata, Kazuhisa Abe, Masaji Marumoto, Edward Nakamura, James Wakatsuki and Paula Nakayama.
Was Slom inferring that Japanese judges specifically, or the Japanese culture generally, are "soft" on pedophilia as a crime?
Evidently the answer is "yes." In a KITV News interview on March 15, Slom defended himself by saying, "I said diversified cultures because that’s exactly what it is. It would be all cultures here."
Sadly, while taking the time to single out the Mahoe case, Slom failed to mention the cases of a Caucasian tennis coach convicted of inappropriate sexual contact, (Sept. 12, 2006); a Japanese volleyball coach convicted of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old, (Aug. 30, 2008); a Caucasian soccer coach punished for third-degree sexual assault of six boys (2007); a Caucasian intermediate band teacher who was convicted of 27 counts of first-degree sex assault and 25 counts of third-degree sex assault (Nov. 16, 2012); and a Caucasian intermediate school teacher convicted for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old student (2013).
Why did Slom point his finger only at part-Hawaiian kumu hula Mahoe?
We can agree or disagree with sentencing or lack thereof regarding convicted child molesters. However, given the convictions cited, we conclude that Slom’s remarks were purposefully aimed and pointed at Hawaiians in general and kumu hula specifically.
Finally, we note that when Hanohano spewed ethnic epithets at non-Hawaiian artists, she earned a lead editorial by this newspaper condemning her action as unbecoming and inappropriate in an elected official.
Can we expect the same righteous indignation in this case? If not, one wonders what role ethnicity will play in the equal treatment or lack thereof of the unbecoming and inappropriate conduct of this elected official.
