Five Hawaiians: The Massie Rape Case

In “From a Native Daughter,” writer, activist, and Native Hawaiian academic, Haunani-Kay Trask recounts her personal feelings along with her people’s feelings with how the ‘haole’ (white) people overwhelmed and distorted the historical context of the native Hawaiian inhabitants. Trask’s purpose is to convey the message that the native Hawaiians’ ancient culture is described as oppressive and tyrannical by white historians, rather that it was a society that functioned efficiently before the Europeans seized the land. She adopts an affectionate yet blunt tone throughout the course of the selection in order to contend

This caused many rallies, riots, peaceful protest. This case informs us now because it also tells us how bad they were treated back then, the people believed the girls because they were white, and mostly overlooked the boys because they were black. So to end this long unfair trial, they were cleared.The latter mentioned in the book To kill a Mockingbird, by author Harper lee.

These are cases where the government created laws to be selectively enforced for one race. Then the military came and took innocent Japanese-Americans out of their homes only to put them in camps because of their race (National Japanese American Historical Society).

The police shootings are stories about white police officers hurting black people and punishing them unjustly just because their skin color. Although there are many cases in which black people have committed crimes, many believe that the white police officers are the problem and black people are the victim. Because of these stories and propaganda, many people have been influenced into being more aggressive towards the police force in order to stop racism. Despite the cause they stand for, these people are often protesting against the wrong enemy. Similarly, the Japanese people in the novel were ridiculed for the bombing of Pearl Harbor that they did not cause. The American government decided the best way to stop this was to send the Japanese people to internment camps because the bombing of Pearl Harbor happened to be done by people of the same

Two ladies by the names of Mayella and Carolyn had many differences and also many similarities .Mayella was a young poor girl who lived with her father,he drunk alot .They didn’t have much she was not a very bright young lady.Carolyn was also poor she had very little she lived in the back of a shop/store with her boyfriend,they didn’t even have a t.v or anything of the sort.Both of the young ladies had accused innocent black males of assaulting them with no real evidence.

My fourth source was from a newspaper article called, “Two Men Chain Themselves To Capitol Statue in Racism Protest” from the database Point of View. This article gives a true story of two men who protested in their beliefs that the natives were treated unfairly. The story of these two men will help support one of my topic of why I think Hawaiians were treated unfairly throughout the annexation.

This case was so substantial that the gang was tried in court before the Grand Jury. Between the 7 members indicted there were 12 counts in total. The gang members were indicted for the following:

The boys of the Scottsboro trials were never treated fairly from the beginning. The whole journey was filled with misconception. The journey began on the freight train, there was nine African Americans on a train car and with them, was a group of Caucasian men. It all started with one of the white males stepping on the hand of one of the blacks. Not too long after, the white males threatened the nine boys to leave the train car (Doc). After the nine black males refused their threat, a fight broke out between all of them. All of the members of the white group were thrown off the train, all, but one. The one that was left on the train went and reported the fight to the train conductor.

During the early nineteen hundreds many people especially in the south were often convicted of crimes for no other reason than their skin color and contrary to many ideas about our court system, we have not always been the most honest and unbiased people. One prime example of this is the case of the Scottsboro Boys and how they were accused of rape and had to go to court numerous times, almost everytime ending in the death sentence. The evidence in the case clearly points towards the innocence of the Scottsboro boys, evidence such as unclear stories from the girls, lack of bruises and marks indicating assault as well as a previous history of prostitution from both of the girls. This evidence helps to prove that Charles Weems and the Scottsboro boys were innocent and wrongly accused and convicted.

The Hawaiians were further depicted as "thieves" like the rest of the "people in Polynesia," and plagued with the barbaric accusation of committing infanticide. These so called "facts" were enough for the Euro-American forces to send out missionaries to regulate the Hawaiian people and take over their land and all their practices. (Stannard, 381- 417)

The Steubenville and Glen Ridge rape cases are two very similar cases. The perpetrators were football student athletes with promising futures and the victims were teenage girls whose capability of consenting to the acts done to them were questioned. One of the victims was seventeen-years old and had an intelligence quotient of 64 and the reading comprehension of a second grader. The second victim was sixteen-years old and was publicly assaulted while she was completely intoxicated. This paper will discuss each victim and their perpetrators, as well as the trial sentencing and prosecution. It will explore the different reactions from the community and the debate over the victim’s responsibility leading towards the incident. In both rape

the prisoners were lucky enough to escape the being lynched when they were moved into Scottsboro. In this trial, nine young, black boys were charged with the rape of two white girls while on a train. This case was a major source of controversy in the 1930’s. “Despite testimony by doctors who had examined the women that no rape had occurred, the all- white jury convicted the nine, and all but the youngest, who was 12 years old were sentenced to death” (“Scottsboro”). The boys’ lawyer, Samuel Leibowitz, did not even get assigned to the case until the first day of the trial. “If he could show a jury that these nine boys were innocent, as the record indicated, the jury would surely free them. To Leibowitz, that was simple!” (Chalmers 35). However, it was not that simple. Many white citizens would not change their minds about

Before their attack on Midway Island, the Japanese had to take over Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in early May of 1942. Yamamoto planned the Battle of the Coral Sea with hopes of gaining new islands in the Pacific Ocean that would aid the Japanese during its attack on Midway

The Battle of Guadalcanal was a very important battleground that ended the Japanese ground advancement in the Pacific area of operations. Also, after they were defeated and removed from the island it showed that they were not an unstoppable foe that resulted in boasting the confidence of the United States and its allies. The amphibious assault that occurred on Guadalcanal was the first amphibious counteroffensive for the United States after the attacks on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese were attempting to build an airfield on the island and gain a foothold that would help to protect their flanks as they continued their offensive campaign through the Pacific. Having an established foothold on Guadalcanal would also give the

The Massie case is a very important case historically, where we can learn from out mistakes and hope that the injustices would not be repeated. One of the most important aspects of the case is its location, Hawai 'i. Described as "an American playground for the wealthy" Hawai 'i was a paradise controlled by wealthy Americans (Stannard 23). Even though it was not yet a U.S. state, at the time of the case, the ideas and influence of Americans overruled that of the native Hawaiians. This is shown especially when the alleged rape of Thalia Massie became public. Even before a trial was held, most people believed the six men to be guilty just because of their race and who the victim was, a white woman and the wife of a navy officer. David Stannard reinforces the idea that the alleged rape, murder of Joseph Kahahawai, and the outcome of both trials could have only happened in Hawai 'i during the 1930s in his book "Honor Killing". The three reasons for this are that all of the suspects were either Hawaiian or Asian, most Americans living in Hawai 'i at the time were wealthy, and Hawai 'i was not a U.S. state until 1950.