| Stephen, FYI there is a *very strong* Hawaiian independence movement in the USA. It's one of our strongest secession movements, right alongside some native American secession drives and the aim of a Latino state in the Southwest. One of their Websites: http://www.hawaiiankingdom.info/ another one: http://www.hawaii-nation.org/ The native Hawaiians have never, ever accepted US annexation and rule. The USA militarily occupied Hawaii in the 1870's, and the Hawaiians were deprived of independence. They fought very hard to stay independent, as did the Filipinos. What happened in Hawaii, once again, is simple demographics-- the Hawaiians became outnumbered by non-Hawaiians in the islands by early in the 20th century. Hawaiians were forbidden the right to do business or educate themselves in the Hawaiian language, and even where this right wasn't expressly forbidden, English became "the only route to economic survival" in Hawaii, so native Hawaiians just stopped passing on the Hawaiian language to their kids. The result of this was simple-- with the Hawaiian independence movement weakened due to demographics and cultural changes, native Hawaiians increasingly came to identify more as "Americans" and less as "Hawaiians." That's why you see this effect in Hawaii. Now, of course, the situation is changing again. The Anglo birth rate has plummeted in Hawaii, and many of the islands (especially outside of Oahu) are starting to get a Hawaiian/Samoan majority again. So the Hawaiian independence movement has been revived. It's demographics, simple as that. |
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