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obituario/u.s. news Diaranson 14 Juli 2021

GOP state voting restrictions 'un-American,' Biden declares

(AP) — For some Native Hawaiians, surf-
ing’s Olympic debut is both a celebration of a
cultural touchstone invented by their ances-
tors, and an extension of the racial indignities
seared into the history of the game and their
homeland.

The Tokyo Summer Games, which open July 23,
serve as a proxy for that unresolved tension and re-
sentment, according to the ethnic Hawaiians who
lament that surfing and their identity have been
culturally appropriated by white outsiders who now
stand to benefit the most from the $10 billion in-
dustry.

“You had Native Hawaiians in the background being
a part of the development of it and just not being
really recognized,” said Isaiah Helekunihi Walker, a
Hawaii historian and activist. “There’s an element
of them taking over. That’s when there’s no more
aloha.”
The Indigenous people of Hawaii traditionally
viewed the act of stylishly riding ocean waves on a
board for fun and competition as a spiritual art form
and egalitarian national pastime that connected them
to the land and sea.

White European settlers who first learned of the is now a legacy shaped by white perspectives: from said Richard Schmidt, who was among the white
sport when they arrived to the island both vilified practically Native Hawaiian birthright to censured Californian pro surfers on the scene in that era.
and capitalized on the sport. Christian missionaries water activity, and California counterculture sym- “You’re never a complete surfer until you prove
disapproved of the nudity on display, yet white busi- bol to global professional sports league. yourself in Hawaii.”
nessmen later ran a whites-only surf club on Waikiki
beach. Imagine if the Hollywood version of yoga became Yet critics say the business and branding aspect
an Olympic sport, and by default overshadowed of the sport and lifestyle largely remained white-
Today, white people are still seen as the leaders and its roots in India, whitewashing the original cul- centered.
authorities of the sport globally, as surfing’s evolution tural flavor into a white Californian trope.
“When surfing started to become really popular,
“It’s the paradox and hypocrisy of colonization,” that triggered money and that triggered business
said Walker, a BYU-Hawaii history professor who people and things we’d never thought we’d have
is Native Hawaiian. to deal with as people who surf in Hawaii,” said
Walter Ritte, a longtime Native Hawaiian activist.
White settlers first arrived on the island in the “There’s no doubt that the control is not here in
1700s, bringing with them disease that nearly Hawaii.”
wiped out the Native Hawaiian population, con-
quest to take over the land and its bounty of natu- The effort to take back surfing’s narrative is why
ral resources, and racist attitudes that relegated the sovereignty activists applied for a Hawaii King-
Indigenous population to second-class citizenship. dom national team to compete at the Olympics.
“ But seek first the kingdom of God and Their longshot request hinges on the fact that they
His righteousness strengthens, Though it was three Native Hawaiian princes who say there was no ratified treaty that ever formally
first showed off surfing to the mainland in 1885 dissolved Hawaii’s autonomy. The United States
and all these things shall be added to
you” during a visit to Santa Cruz, California, white annexed Hawaii in 1898 after the overthrow of
businessmen are credited with selling surfing the Hawaiian monarchy by U.S.-backed forces in
Matthew 6:33 and Hawaii as an exotic tourism commodity for 1893.
the wealthy. That trajectory has since manifested
Cu inmenso tristesa na nos curason nos into a professional sports league largely fronted by A statement from the International Olympic
ta anuncia fayecimento di : white athletes. Committee, which has ignored the request, noted
only that applicants must be an “independent state
But the Native Hawaiians never gave up their recognized by the international community.”
sport and by the 1970s, there was a full-blown ra-
cial clash around surfing with well-documented This geopolitical dynamic will be on display when
fights in the ocean. The issue pitted Native Ha- Carissa Moore and John John Florence are in the
waiians and some white residents who grew up surf zone to compete for the U.S.
among them against the white Californian and
Australian surfers who sought to exclude locals Neither is eager to discuss their views on the
from the world’s best waves on their very own matter but they are two of professional surfing’s
turf. biggest stars who have long competed under the
Hawaii flag in the pro league, as the World Surf
An infamous brawl involved a trash-talking Austra- League recognizes Hawaii as a “sovereign surf-
lian surfer named Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew, ing nation.” Moore as the reigning female world
Sra. Phyllis Elaine Maria Mingo- who was battered and humbled by the locals. The champion is also the only Olympic surfer who is
Geerlings surfing world’s reverence for Hawaii and Native ethnically Hawaiian.
Hawaiians was cemented. Bartholomew would go
Mihor conoci como Jufr. Geerlings
on to run the Association of Surfing Professionals, “The hurt and the wounds go back really far,”
*17-09-1953 - †10-07-2021 an earlier iteration of the current pro league. Moore said. “I usually compete under the Hawaii
flag all year with the WSL...For me, that’s not a
“I treaded lightly in light of what they went huge focus right now. I think that I can still repre-
through because there was an internalization that sent both, even if I’m not wearing the flag on my
Acto di entiero lo wordo anuncia despues. this is something that was stolen from them,” sleeve. I’m wearing it on my heart.”