It isn’t every day that The Atlantic magazine gives considerable space to a story from the Pacific — but it will in its January 2025 print issue.
The author is Adrienne LaFrance. If her name is familiar, she used to work at Hawaiʻi Public Radio and Honolulu Civil Beat. Originally from the U.S. East Coast, she has been with The Atlantic for the last decade.
She has penned an article about Hawaiian sovereignty with the headline “The Hawaiians Who Want Their Nation Back.”
LaFrance said that when she first moved to Hawaiʻi she was "shocked" that she didnʻt know the history behind Hawaiian sovereignty. This led her to write the article, as she believes people should know about the history.
"I think a lot of people are sort of just like, well, it's history. It happens. Let's all move on. That doesn't feel like the right reaction to me, either. So it just feels like something worthy of serious study and contemplation," she said.
She said she spent about two years working on this piece and spoke to almost 40 people.
"I spoke to a variety of people who have thought deeply about questions related to Hawaiian self-determination over many years, and so that includes activists, journalists, lawmakers like Sen. Schatz, former lawmakers like former Gov. Waiheʻe. I really wanted to get at both the history and the real range of opinions and approaches when it comes to this question of what America owes Hawaiʻi and the Hawaiian people," she said.
LaFrance said that one of the key points of this article is to help people understand what happened and that there is no consensus.
"I think there's a ton of complexity here. I think sometimes people dismiss it by saying, 'Well, I don't want a monarchy back.' So therefore this question is settled, or pick your other way of thinking about it. In fact, the way that the people who have been thinking most deeply about this see it requires considerable nuance, and so my hope was to bring some of that forward as well," she said.
LaFrance said that she thinks many people don't understand how important the Hawaiian overthrow was not only in Hawaiʻi history but in American history as well.
"I think sometimes imperialism is treated as inevitable because it's what happens. But to me, one of the most interesting and revelatory parts of my reporting was really looking back at the congressional and presidential history at the time in the United States and looking at how there was this just extremely contentious, very public debate," she said.
LaFrance said that a couple of things were surprising to her during her reporting. However, one thing that she said she thinks about a lot is the growth of awareness.
"While there's a lot more awareness, I think, like empirically you can see that there's more conversation taking place across social media, and just more awareness generally, of this history than there was even a decade or two decades ago. There is this question for me of what does awareness get you? And sort of, how patient do you have to be between the point at which people understand history and can redress historic wrongs," she said.
LaFrance's article can also be read in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi. To read it, click here.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Dec. 12, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
