I feel the same way about the Kamehameha Schools: Uncensored
I'm still on the road and am NOT AT MY COMPUTER.(I'm using someone else's computer.) Well this letter is post-worthy because if it wasn't for the Kamehameha Schools I too would be a fucking statistic:
Kamehameha graduate would have been a statistic
It is with great sadness that I feel the need to speak out about a grave injustice, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturning a ruling issued in Honolulu that upheld the admissions policy of Kamehameha Schools.
The schools were founded from the will of one of the last ali’i, or royalty, of Hawaii, Princess Bernice Pauahi and were in existence before the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom by U.S. businessmen in 1893.
My husband and I are very fortunate to both be graduates of Kamehameha Schools. We, along with countless others, are children of Pauahi - beneficiaries of her commitment to the Hawaiian people. Without her trust and the schools’ mission to reach and educate as many Hawaiians as possible, I doubt I would have even pursued college, or currently be pursuing a master’s degree in New York. In fact, given the social statistics for Hawaiians like me, I would probably be a teenage mother with little or no educational skills to help me succeed or keep a job. Simply put, I would be another sad statistic.
At a time when Hawaiians and other indigenous peoples are still suffering from centuries of oppression and their legal rights continue to dissolve day by day, Judge Jay S. Bybee and Judge Robert R. Beezer’s ruling truly epitomizes the phrase "E luku wale e" (devastation upon devastation). As if it weren’t already enough to steal our land, I beg you not to also take away our education.
Carly Ku’ulani Byrd
New York