Protesting the past doesn’t amount to much

I feel sorry for Mason Kaawa-Loa and the likes not realizing protesting the past is worthless. Obviously, Native Hawaiians are not mistreated nor subjected to injustice in the present, and America is not falling apart at the seams.

Solidarity protests are gestures to publicly vent frustrations; nevertheless, they do absolutely nothing to alter social changes. Protests (and mass demonstrations) do not work like this. What we are witnessing is the misallocation of talents and energies to support protesters in learning how to negotiate with those institutions of society or targeted authorities of power. Sadly, these new ideas of protestation are filled with supposedly caring and concerned supporters, but who are they targeting? Protests make sense in some instances, not this one. Protests should be aimed at a specific institution of society or persons of power.

The National Anthem has nothing to do with perceived or real issues of society. It stands for what the founders of this country fought for. I defected from a former communist country, and while I know there is no perfect place in the world, the USA is clearly above them all. In the meantime, regardless of what these kneeling “protesters” do, I stand up when I hear the National Anthem, even when I am home alone. God Bless America!

John Rabi

Kailua-Kona