As I write this review, the Cameron Crowe film Aloha has just been released to much criticism for its unrealistic portrayal of Hawai‘i; a protest atop Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain in the world f...

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Reviewed are A Resource Guide to Asian American Literature, edited by Sau-ling Cynthia Wong and Stephen H. Sumida, Words Matter: Conversations with Asian American Writers, edited by King-Kok Cheung, and Screaming Monkeys: Critiques of Asian American Images, edited by M. Evelina Galang.

Looking at arguments put forth by courts, the State of Hawai‘i, and Native Hawaiian sovereignty activists, as well as constructions of Hawaiianness by Native Hawaiians and Locals on the mainland, the author analyzes a rhetorical shift from celebrations of cultural identity to assertions of nationhood and sovereignty on the part of Native Hawaiians that has at times made nonnative Locals feel displaced in the only “home” they have known. Both groups have had to deal with a legacy of U.S. imperialism and injustice, placing them at times in coalition to confront racism and at times in conflict.

Children growing up in Hawaii, coming as they do in their plasticyears under the influence of the public school, preparing themfor the assumption of the responsibilities which life in Hawaii demands, should come tofeel that, in cutting cane on the plantation, in driving a tractor in the fields, in swinging a sledge in a blacksmith shop, in wielding a brush on building or fence or bridge, as well as in sitting at a doctors or merchants or manager' or banker' desk, there is opportunity for rendering a necessary as well as intelligent, worthy, and creative service. -United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education, 1920 (4)

Discusses the first comprehensive examination of the system of public education in Hawai‘i, conducted in 1920. Notes the great importance of the study since it not only evaluated Hawaii‘s educational system but also provided the territorial government some gauge of Hawaii‘s status as a United States territory and its success in meeting the ideals of America.