Hawaii-2022-HCR26-Introduced

WHEREAS, what is currently named President William McKinley High School was previously named Honolulu High School, which was established in the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1865 and is one of the oldest secondary schools in the Hawaiian islands; and

WHEREAS, the name of Honolulu High School was changed to President William McKinley High School in 1907 as a key component of the political indoctrination strategy to deliberately convince the people living in the Hawaiian islands that they are American; and

WHEREAS, when the statue of William McKinley was erected in 1911, several years after the renaming of the school, it was not to honor the President of the United States, but rather as a symbol to perpetuate the subjugation of Native Hawaiians and reinforce the lie that the Hawaiian islands belong to the United States of America; and

WHEREAS, the name of the school and the statue of William McKinley holding the fabricated "Annexation Treaty" perpetuates the allegation that people in the Hawaiian islands wanted to become Americans, even though eighty percent of the adult population signed the Kū‘e Petitions against annexation in 1897; and

WHEREAS, on July 6, 1898, President McKinley committed fraud to continue the occupation of the Hawaiian islands by the United States by signing a Joint Resolution of Congress, entitled the "Newlands Resolution" that purported the annexation of Hawai‘i; and

WHEREAS, the Newlands Resolution illegitimately claimed United States annexation of the Hawaiian islands, even though such a document does not have any power or legitimacy to annex an internationally recognized nation with official treaties in eighteen foreign states dating as far back as 1846; and

WHEREAS, the result of the illegal annexation turned Hawai‘i into an overseas colony completely dependent on the United States of America and displaced Native Hawaiians, robbing them of their birth right, cultural identity, nationality, language, and homes, while negatively impacting their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being; and

WHEREAS, following the enactment of the Newlands Resolution, Hawaii's public education system was pressed into service to indoctrinate, denationalize, "Americanize", and convert generations of Hawaii's children into patriotic United States citizens; and

WHEREAS, U.S. Public Law 103-150, informally known as the "Apology Resolution", a Joint Resolution of the United States Congress signed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, acknowledges that "the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty over their national lands, either through a plebiscite or referendum"; and

WHEREAS, William McKinley also turned a blind eye to racial atrocities being committed throughout the United States during his presidency, including the genocide of Native Americans in California and lynching of African-Americans in the southern states; and

WHEREAS, William McKinley also signed the Curtis Act of 1898, which was intended to dismember the sovereign status of the Five Civilized Tribes, abolish the tribes' governments, invalidate their laws, dissolve their court systems, and subject native people to United States federal law; and

WHEREAS, in recent years, the Department of Education has recognized the need to replace school names and symbols that have racially complicated origins with place-based alternatives; and

WHEREAS, examples of the Department of Education's commitment to healing the State's school system from historical trauma include the renaming of Central Middle School to Princess Ruth Ke‘elikolani Middle School in 2021, noting that the princess' home, Keoua Hale, once stood on the grounds of the current campus; and

WHEREAS, the Board of Education purchased the property for what became Honolulu High School in 1895, which later became Ke‘elikolani School before the name was changed to Central Junior High School in 1928, then Central Intermediate School in 1932, and Central Middle School in 1997; and

WHEREAS, according to the principal of Princess Ruth Ke‘elikolani Middle School, Joseph Passantino, Central Middle School was established as the school's name "in the 1930s because people couldn't pronounce the Hawaiian name"; and

WHEREAS, regarding the restoration of the school's Hawaiian name, Mr. Passantino also said that "the significance is huge, especially for the staff who's dedicated over two years to give her that duty and honor"; and

WHEREAS, additional actions have been taken at other public schools to address racially insensitive signifiers, such as the replacement of Kahuku High School's "Red Raiders" mascot, logo, and offensive chants after the Department of Education's Civil Rights Compliance Branch deemed them to be disrespectful and potentially discriminatory toward Native Americans; and

WHEREAS, in an effort to overcome structural racism, communities across the United States have removed statues and symbols that deepen historical trauma, racial suppression, and white supremacy, including a statue of William McKinley in Arcata, California in 2019; and

WHEREAS, in 2021, the Legislature adopted House Concurrent Resolution No. 112, declaring racism to be a public health crisis; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii's public school system has a responsibility to promote historical understanding, racial equity, and civil rights; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the Senate concurring, that the Board of Education and Department of Education are urged to replace the name of President William McKinley High School with the previous name of Honolulu High School and remove the statue of President William McKinley from the school premises; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that to the greatest extent possible, the Board of Education and Department of Education are requested to ensure that public school curricula are inclusive of content on the historical injustice and discrimination endured by Hawaii's indigenous people; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the members of the Hawaii's Congressional delegation, Governor, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Chairperson of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Education, Kaimuki‑McKinley‑Roosevelt Complex Area Superintendent, and President of the McKinley High School Foundation.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

President William McKinley High School; Honolulu High School

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	26
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII