Bill Text: HI HB2515 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To The 1924 Hanapepe Massacre.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-27 - Referred to TIA, FIN, referral sheet 5 [HB2515 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2020-HB2515-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2515 |
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THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to the 1924 hanapepe massacre.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that on September 9, 1924, there occurred a tragic event that has come to be known as the Hanapepe Massacre. The massacre involved the killing of sixteen sugar plantation workers of Filipino descent in Hanapepe, Kauai. The workers are said to have been shot and killed by deputy sheriffs in the context of an ongoing labor strike. It appears that no law enforcement officers connected to the incident were investigated or charged with criminal offenses.
The legislature also finds that according to an oral history project published by the university of Hawaii at Manoa's ethnic studies program in 1979, newspapers of the day carried stories of the event sympathetic to the perspective of plantation managers and owners. The strikers were characterized as malcontents led by self-serving outside agitators who would use whatever means necessary, including threats and violence, to accomplish their ends. The massacre was blamed entirely on the strikers, some of whom were imprisoned or deported. Further, a 2010 article in Honolulu Magazine reported that in response to the deaths of plantation workers and law enforcement officers, the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association "gave each of the four sheriffs' families $500 ($6,300 in 2009 dollars), while the families of the 16 strikers had to split about $75 ($947 in 2009 dollars), barely $5 per dead striker."
The legislature further finds that a grave injustice was committed in 1924, and that the hard work and sacrifices of the slaughtered Filipino sugar plantation workers, and the contributions of Kauai sugar plantation laborers as a whole, should be memorialized in permanent monuments and displays throughout the island of Kauai. Moreover, this forgotten story and suppressed history about Hawaii's sugar plantation labor movement contains many valuable lessons relevant to modern times about the significance of cultural clashes, the powerful versus the powerless, and the fear and intimidation that ensued. Homage should be paid to the sugar plantation workers who struggled for dignity and self-determination. These workers organized and participated in labor strikes, in the face of manipulation by those in power, in order to gain a voice for themselves and other immigrant laborers. Therefore, it is critical that the State take the lead in bringing awareness about the 1924 Hanapepe Massacre as its one hundredth anniversary in 2024 approaches. This educational effort may be accomplished by using film and interactive media that brings the relevance of past events into sharper focus.
The purpose of this Act is to:
(1) Require the state foundation on culture and the arts to erect monuments and displays on Kauai, and support the production of a documentary film, creation of a traveling exhibition and "talk story" event, and publication of a compendium in accordance with this Act; and
(2) Appropriate funds for this purpose.
SECTION 2. (a) The state foundation on culture and the arts shall erect multiple, life-size, permanent monuments at appropriate locations throughout the island of Kauai to memorialize the hard work and sacrifices of the 1924 Hanapepe Massacre victims and the contributions of Kauai sugar plantation laborers as a whole.
(b) The foundation shall install a permanent display at the Lihue Airport consisting of plaques or photographs depicting the history of events leading up to, and culminating in, the 1924 Hanapepe Massacre.
(c) The foundation shall arrange and provide support for the following activities:
(1) Production of a thirty-minute documentary film showing the events that led up to the tragic massacre on September 9, 1924, in Hanapepe, Kauai;
(2) Creation of an island-wide traveling exhibition and "talk story" event depicting the importance of sugar plantation laborers in the State's history; and
(3) Publication of a comprehensive compendium on the 1924 Hanapepe Massacre that is readily accessible to the general public and that includes the history of events depicted in the documentary film and commentary by today's historians and scholars.
(d) The foundation's members and staff may consult with other persons, organizations, or stakeholders as necessary to determine appropriate locations and designs for the monuments and determine appropriate content for the Lihue Airport display, documentary film, traveling exhibition and "talk story" event, and compendium.
SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2020-2021 for the design, construction, and placement of monuments and displays on Kauai in accordance with this Act.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of accounting and general services for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $450,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2020-2021 for the production of a documentary film, creation of a traveling exhibition and "talk story" event, and publication of a compendium in accordance with this Act.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of accounting and general services for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2020.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Department of Accounting and General Services; State Foundation on Culture and the Arts; 1924 Hanapepe Massacre; Appropriation
Description:
Requires the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts to erect monuments and displays on Kauai, and support other specified awareness efforts, to memorialize the 1924 Hanapepe Massacre victims and the contributions of Kauai sugar plantation laborers as a whole. Appropriates funds.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
