Naka Nathaniel: An English Comedian Tells The World What We Already Knew About Hawaii

In a speech years ago, Billy Kenoi, the late mayor of Hawaii County, told the story of going to his mother and asking her why no one had told him about the history of Hawaii. She said the last thing she wanted was for Billy, already a troublemaker, to become “just another angry Hawaiian.”

“You cannot be Hawaiian, know your history, and not be angry,” said Kenoi. 

Strangely, an English comedian in New York may have given us a great lesson in why a young Hawaiian like Kenoi would get all huhu.

On HBO Sunday night, John Oliver’s news comedy show “Last Week Tonight” aired a long segment about Hawaii tied to the commemorations last week of the Maui wildfires. He and his team laid out the misdeeds in Hawaii leading up to the loss of Lahaina.

The segment also serves as a long list of reasons why people in Hawaii might not want to participate in a political system that clearly doesn’t have the wellbeing of the people, especially Native Hawaiians who live here, as the top priority.

The story he told was well known to most of us, but it was probably enlightening to many people unfamiliar with Hawaii beyond the tourist marketing messages.  

Oliver covered most of the topics that challenge, befuddle and ultimately enervate us when it comes to participating in the processes of being governed: The military’s desecration of the land and water, overtourism, broken promises related to Hawaiian homelands and the behavior of the ultra-wealthy.

(If you don’t have access to HBO, here’s a recap from The Guardian, however it omits footage of Tom Selleck shooting a nun in an episode of “Magnum, P.I.” Usually, episodes are posted for free on YouTube a few days after airing.)

Headlines from Civil Beat are sprinkled throughout the story, serving as footnotes for Oliver’s assertions. His longue durée reportage (who else still has the Paris Olympics on the brain?) comes to a succinct point:

“Hawaii has long been run for the benefit of everyone but Hawaiians.” 

As someone who has been writing regularly about these issues, the show was not a soothing Sunday night watch. We know this, and so little is done to solve the problems. 

In the wake of our worst voter turnout since 1959, we will probably talk about next steps to getting more participation: Public financing of campaigns and ranked-choice voting. Will that really make more people want to vote?

A sense of powerlessness pervades. I know too many people who have no interest in participating in a system that has repeatedly abused their families and their lands and has led to the continued exodus of Hawaiians from the islands.

Why bother if you’re just going to be disappointed?

The irony of an Englishman standing up for Native Hawaiians is a nice change and his satire about outsiders in Hawaii is on par with “South Park’s” “Going Native” episode. 

“When a situation is this complicated and took this long to develop, there aren’t going to be quick and easy solutions,” said Oliver. But he suggested not renewing the military leases controlled by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources for a dollar. 

The show has outtakes from an exchange about live fire exercises between a reporter and a U.S. Army Lt. Colonel at the Pohakuloa Training area that are simply soul-crushing. 

It matters who decides what stories should be told, and how.

Of course, when confronted with the knowledge of Hawaii’s history, Oliver concluded with the question that always leaves me shaking my head: “Now that I know what I know, should I still take a vacation in Hawaii?”

“The solution is not going to come down to any single trip you might take,” he said. “It’s going to require much bigger systemic choices. That said, if you do end up visiting, try to be aware of the history that you’re stepping into.”

That knowledge likely won’t ruin one’s vacation. However, it doesn’t have the same effect for people here.

In the end, I’m glad Oliver dedicated time to telling the story. 

There’s a good reason a lot of people don’t know Hawaii’s history. It’s been diminished and suppressed to prioritize the interests of the military, extractive agriculture, the ultra-wealthy and tourism.

When I taught the history of journalism in the islands at the University of Hawaii Manoa last semester, my students learned that there hasn’t been a “mainstream” media organization run by a person of Hawaiian ancestry since Joseph and Emma Nawahi. They died in 1896 and 1922. 

It matters who decides what stories should be told, and how. 

As Oliver said, we should be listening less to outsiders like him and more to the people here. For me, hearing about the problems that so many of us have known for a long time being articulated by an outsider is simultaneously edifying and frustrating.

I’m glad he took up the mantle and brought greater awareness. After all you can count on the jester to tell the truth to the royal court, yet what is going to be done to actually remedy the situation here?

In the end, Kenoi, despite the anger, did participate in the system. He won elections and while his time in office wasn’t without scandal, he showed that even though you might be angry with history, you can still participate.