The Other Side of the Story...

Today we took the bus (an experience in itself!) to Hawaii's Iolani Palace, the only royal residence on American soil. When we read the brochure about the palace tour it mentioned the U.S. had "illegally ended the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893." I thought, "Oh boy, here we go. We give them statehood and they still hold a grudge." Well, I can tell you that visiting the residence and royal headquarters of the Hawaiian monarchy and learning the story of the overthrow of the legitimate constitutional government of the sovereign nation of Hawaii (my words, not theirs) is a sobering experience. It's one of those head-hanging moments in education, where you feel like you should mumble an apology to each of the decendents working at the palace as you make your way through the rooms. First of all, the non-profit group that operates the palace does an excellent job of telling the story with very little finger pointing and blame-placing. They don't need to. The facts are pretty straight-forward. The government of Hawaii was a sovereign nation with a highly functioning and well-educated monarchy. The people of Hawaii were pretty much happy with the way things were (the end of the monarchy wasn't, by any stretch of the imagination, an overthrow of an unpopular ruler). The islands were coveted (again, my words not theirs) by certain American interests that saw the potential for annexing the islands to the U.S. for personal and political gain. The overthrow was accomplished without bloodshed and without much resistence because Queen Liliuokalani was unwilling to risk lives in a losing bid to hold onto her power. Standing in the room in which she was held prisoner for over eight months after the overthrow is a humbling experience. Unlike Nelson Mandela of South Africa, her passive resistence was not only unsuccessful but tragically self-defeating.
Okay, enough historical downer. Today we also saw evidence of a revival along Waikiki's Beach Walk that bodes well for the area. As I mentioned yesterday, there are some contruction sites that look all but abandoned as everyone attempts to ride out the recession, but there are also new restaurants and new shops (esp. high-end designer shops that must certainly be catering to a clientele other than those of us who opt for the early-bird dinner special). We've seen a slew of Japanese tourists (the blessing and bane of Waikiki) and, oddly, we've met up with a whole new contingent--the Australians. Can't ride the elevator without getting a nodding "G'day" from at least one other rider. Good for them for traveling, and good for Hawaii to have the additional tourist dollars. Tomorrow, we head off to Sydney to return the favor.