Bill Text: HI SB2998 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating To The 1924 Hanapepe Massacre.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-27 - Referred to LCA, WAM. [SB2998 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2020-SB2998-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2998
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020
STATE OF HAWAII

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 throughout the island of Kauai.

     The purpose of this Act is to:

     (1)  Require the state foundation on culture and the arts to erect monuments and displays on Kauai 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'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.

     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.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2020.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Department of Accounting and General Services; State Foundation on Culture and the Arts; 1924 Hanapepe Massacre; Monuments; Displays; Appropriation

 

Description:

Requires the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts to erect monuments and displays on Kauai to memorialize the 1924 Hanapepe Massacre victims and the contributions of Kauai sugar plantation laborers as a whole.  Appropriates funds.

 

 

 

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