Watch this Interaction Between White Lady and Hawaiian Scholar

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]Check out this interaction in the 1990s between a white American lady and [music] Native Hawaiian scholar and activist Hanani K. Tras.

[00:00:08]>> Go ahead. What's your question, please?

[00:00:10]>> My question concerns, you know, you blame it on the white man about on how uh we came over and take your land. I don't understand when the Japanese are coming over and they're buying it and that's okay. You come over to our country and and buy up our land, too.

[00:00:26]You know, it works both ways. I I don't I don't see how you can have this rallies and everything against the white man. This is America, you know. I mean, >> let me just say something to this call.

[00:00:36]This is not America. This is Polynesia.

[00:00:39]Our country was stolen. That's one of your problems. You're ignorant. Woefully ignorant. Um I do I am I am very active against Japanese ownership of our land.

[00:00:50]I have testified repeatedly at various commissions and at at the legislature in opposition to any foreigner owning Hawaiian land. But you caller need to learn about Hawaiian history and about where you are. You think you are in America. You are not in America. You are in a colony that is in Polynia that was forcibly taken just as I might add all of Eastern Europe was forcibly taken by the Soviet Union which Americans think is a very very bad place. the bad bad Soviet Union. Well, the bad bad United States of America took Puerto Rico. It took Alaska. It stole Indian land. It took Hawaii, it took Guam, it took Micronesia, Balao. And you had better learn that history because you are the recipient of an imperialist tradition.

[00:01:34]>> My guess is that a lot of you watching might be a little taken off guard by Dr. Tras's [music] energy in answering that question. This is a case of two different populations learning two very different versions of history. and one side being, as [music] Tras said, ignorant of the other history. So, let's fix that. If you've never had a chance to learn what happened in Hawaii, let's learn about it now.

[00:02:00][music]