Philosophy has taught me that justice can't and shouldn't do any harm. It's interesting that I'm learning about the idea of justice right now, as the conversation is entirely relevant to what's happening in my home state of Hawaii.
To give a little back story, the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown on January 17th, 1893. Essentially, Queen Liliuokalani was condemned by revolutionists (many of whom were descendants of the first missionaries to have arrived in Hawaii) as a treasonous ally to the United States. The United States was supportive of this coup for political and economic reasons. Queen Liliuokalani was tried and convicted of treason, forcing to abdicate the throne, which made it easier for the revolutionists to establish a new provincial government. Eventually, Hawaii was annexed as the 50th State. Of course, there's more background to the story. But this is the main idea.
Since then, there have been numerous sovereignty movements. All of these movements want the United States to either recognize Hawaii as an independent kingdom, or to establish a tribal sovereignty in which there is US federal recognition of Native Hawaiians. Most movements, however, focus on the recognition of Hawaii as an independent nation.
Their argument is that because the Hawaiian monarchy was illegally overthrown by the United States government, Hawaii is not a legal state of the union. Therefore, they want to be able to self-govern Hawaii as an independent nation with a Native Hawaiian monarchy. They want justice for the United States' wrong-doing.
Justice. As I mentioned earlier, justice can't and shouldn't do any harm. If these movements were to succeed, and Hawaii becomes an independent nation, what will happen to those who aren't of Native Hawaiian descent? What will happen to those who are descendants of the original missionaries?
I am neither for nor against the movement. But I believe that conversation is the key. Many people want justice because they're angry. They're angry that the Hawaiian monarchy was illegally overthrown. They're angry that the Native Hawaiians were oppressed. They're angry that their way of life was destroyed when the missionaries arrived. And in seeking justice, they lack the ability to step back and look at the situation from another point of view.
Who will be harmed or hurt because of your pursuit of justice? Justice is not supposed to harm anyone, and shouldn't harm anyone. While those who are angered at the past do deserve justice, don't the immigrants from Asia deserve justice as well? Those who worked tirelessly to build a new future for themselves in Hawaii, in America. What will happen to those who built new lives in Hawaii if the sovereignty movement wins? What will happen to the thousands of immigrants and their families?
I do believe that justice needs to be served, and the Native Hawaiians deserve what they are owed. But there shouldn't be any cost to their justice. I believe that the starting point is conversation. There hasn't been one yet. People need to engage in a discussion that's meant to be critical and constructive. We must understand all points of view and arguments, and come to the realization that what we think we know might not necessarily be true.
The Hawaii sovereignty movement will continue fighting for justice. But I ask everyone to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Justice by definition can't and shouldn't do any harm.
