Posted by on September 08, 2009 at 12:20:29:
In Reply to: Keep Samoans & Hawaiians out of Hawai'i Jails & Prisons. HOW ? posted by Samoans Hawaiians out of Jails Prisons. on July 16, 2003 at 09:59:15:
Samoans who end up in Hawaiian Prison share a common thread with those langusihing in aussie and new zealand prisons ...that is they choose to make their beds there ..let them lie there . A seagull has enough brain power to stay out of an airliners flight path but in the case of so called 'underprivileged' 'forgotten' immigrants their destiny is a cell . They should be given the impetus or at least competitive zeal to survive on their own . Let them be guests of a super max ..Current practices and policies of social services Im afraid will only harden the ever present pacific psycology and philosophy which unfortunately has morphed over last century into something like a free lunch is an unwritten constitutional right for the so called lower , oppressed or. ..steal it if its not free . By evoking the warrior spirits and value system of the ancestors Im afraid will lead to greater confusion on the part of the Samoan Criminal in jail and those social workers in the field or at worst give qudos to a cunning strategy to play the system ( repeat offender ) . Times have changed and so has their lot . Before the arrival of the 'Big Players' USA , England life on the Samoas pretty much summed up a cultural nirvana uninterrupted for 2,000 years . Well now its downtown Honolulu ...prefab housing ..cash economy ...coke and burger dinners . It wasnt by grand design the USA Govt ripped the local inhabitants from Samoan Fales and plonked them in the 21st Century .So whats my take on this issue ...1) avoid pandering or coaching of new immigrants 2) no rent payments equals jail time (harsh not cruel ) 3)immediate assimilation of 'star' performers be it in education sports or business into pockets of the administration which serve the 'wider' community ( This in effect empowers participants to appreciate the bigger picture and therefore gives rise to 'effective' efficient' programs targeting the minority group ) 4)Offer scholarships / internships to study abroad in developing nations ie China , Malaysia , Africa , etc and finally 5) examine the ethos or cultural bind of Samoans known as 'Faasamoa' or 'Samoan Way' and place it side by side with the realities of today . It neednt be a manifesto style document on the level of Das Kapital (Marx) but it would certainly help people in Govt to better appreciate the complexities of intergrating certain groups as opposed to 'aiding' which actually hastens the hop to the other side of the tracks . Local Govts then can focus on designing cutting edge programs ( which in my view can save squillions ).Just a few pointers which hopefully will be seen in the true context of its author.
One neednt be reminded but natives of this special area of the South Pacific have an extraordinary capacity to deal with changes over the last centuries without having to be a guest of a prison . Good Luck