They are undemocratic and unjustified. By Patrick W. Hanifin Honolulu Resident You, whoever you are, if you are an American citizen, you share in a common sovereignty. Whatever your ancestry, you have freedom of choice and the right to participate with other citizens in running a sovereign government. Citizens of ethnic Hawaiian ancestry, as all other citizens, already are sovereign. They are undemocratic and unjustified.
Words mean what they are used to mean.
Its varying uses in the current debate are contradictory precisely because they point to contradictory proposals regarding the same subjects. Individual freedom of choice encompasses freedoms of thought, expression, religion and association. It includes the right to try to learn a culture and a language and so make them your own. The federal and state constitutions guarantee all of these rights equally to everyone. However, the right to choose does not imply the right to be subsidized.