Federal discrimination

“Did you fill out your U.S. census form?” I recently asked a Hawaiian lady of my acquaintance. And to my surprise she replied that she did not fill out her form and, moreover, that she had absolutely no intention of ever filling out her form.

This was a surprising response, because most Hawaiians are registered Democrats. Hawaii is a state dominated by liberal Democrats. Hawaii Representatives Patsy Mink and Neil Abercrombie are Democrats. Senators Akaka and Inoyue are also Hawaii Democrats. Hawaii Governor Ben Cayetano is a Democrat. Most of Hawaii’s politicians are union-loving, big government-worshipping, Democrats.

Democrats wholeheartedly endorse the US census as a way of further expanding their beloved federal programs and permanently keeping themselves ensconced in power. Yet, this particular Hawaii Democrat adamantly refused to cooperate with the US Census–the sacred facilitators of the federal welfare state.

She refused to go along with the US Census Bureau because of the recent US Supreme Court decision in Rice vs. Cayetano. According to this ruling, the trustees of Hawaii’s Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) must be elected by every eligible voter regardless of Hawaiian ancestry. The US Supreme Court prohibits voting discrimination on the basis of race or ancestry–a policy contrary to the wishes of the “disenfranchised” Native Hawaiian people, who demand that only native Hawaiians be allowed to vote in OHA elections.

Many Native Hawaiians are essentially asking, “Why should we, as Native Hawaiians, include ourselves in the US Census count when the US Supreme Court deliberately excludes us in the Rice vs. Cayetano decision?” This is a legitimate point in one profound sense: The federal government forbids the state of Hawaii from racially discriminating against its own voters, while simultaneously upholding federal discrimination in affirmative action programs and racially sensitive US census questions.

Why should the US Census concern itself with questions of race. There can be no other reason except racial discrimination. The federal government wants to tailor its federal programs and its federal funding based on race–a practice it forbids in the private business sector.

The US Census is mandated by the US Constitution. But its original purpose was to count citizens in order to determine appropriate democratic representation: how many House representatives will be allocated for each state. Race has nothing at all to do with this purpose. Race is none of the government’s business.

If a private enterprise demanded that its employment applicants report race as part of its interview, selection and compensation process, the federal government would have a fit of profound indignation. The private enterprise would be severely penalized. Yet, it is perfectly appropriate for the US census to gather racial information so that the federal government can allocate federal funds along racial lines–in other words, so that it can discriminate.

Fill in your US census forms only if you support federal racial discrimination. Bear in mind that the U.S. Census may have been involved in the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.