The last sugar plantation in Hawaii located on the island of Maui was brought to a close last week when they took in their last harvest.
For 200 years sugar influenced so much of Hawaiian economy and even the cultural climate because the company brought in immigrant workers from Portugal, China, Japan, Korea, Philippines, etc. to work in the plantations.
I grew up in one of those plantations. Almost everybody I knew had one or more family members tied to the sugar industry as laborers of some kind. It was a way of life.
Eventually, sugar plantations on Oahu closed followed by plantations on other islands. Workers had to find some other kind of work. It was sad, sometimes painful, but it was accomplished. For many it was all they knew. A survey was conducted by the Star Advertiser recently showing the percentage of people who said their family had "roots or ties to Hawaii's historic sugar industry." 57% of the people who answered said they did. 38% did not and 5% had summer jobs with the sugar plantations.
I don't remember anger when the plantations closed. I don't remember people insisting it had to stay open or saved. I don't remember people blaming the president for the closure. It was accepted and understood that times were moving on.
Sadly, it's happening with the coal industry. Times have changed. We need to move toward other forms of renewable energy that don't contribute to pollution or climate change. President Obama shouldn't be blamed for trying to move the country toward more environmentally sound energy policies.
I'm really worried about our country and the direction it will now take.
I got this from NBC news:
Sugar plantation owners played a large part in the 1893 U.S. backed overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and the subsequent 1898 annexation of Hawaii as an American territory, which the federal government acknowledged and apologized for in 1993, calling the overthrow "illegal."That's the ugly part where big business in Hawaii did a horrible wrong to the Hawaiian people by taking the sovereign nation for monetary gain.
I grew up in one of those plantations. Almost everybody I knew had one or more family members tied to the sugar industry as laborers of some kind. It was a way of life.
Eventually, sugar plantations on Oahu closed followed by plantations on other islands. Workers had to find some other kind of work. It was sad, sometimes painful, but it was accomplished. For many it was all they knew. A survey was conducted by the Star Advertiser recently showing the percentage of people who said their family had "roots or ties to Hawaii's historic sugar industry." 57% of the people who answered said they did. 38% did not and 5% had summer jobs with the sugar plantations.
I don't remember anger when the plantations closed. I don't remember people insisting it had to stay open or saved. I don't remember people blaming the president for the closure. It was accepted and understood that times were moving on.
Sadly, it's happening with the coal industry. Times have changed. We need to move toward other forms of renewable energy that don't contribute to pollution or climate change. President Obama shouldn't be blamed for trying to move the country toward more environmentally sound energy policies.
I'm really worried about our country and the direction it will now take.
You've got good reason to worry.
ReplyDeleteMe, too, Kay. Times change, and things move on. I think Obama has been one of the best presidents of the last hundred years. Time will show all that he did and how it impacted the world. And yes, I'm worried about our new president.
ReplyDeleteThis is proof it's been way too long since I've been to Hawaii/my beloved Maui. I remember driving by, many times, when the smoke was going on. :(
ReplyDeleteand :: hugs :: re the future. We have to stick together. We non-Trump-voters are being attacked from all sides, and it's likely going to only get worse. We need each other.
Frankly we are all deeply concerned. But we need to remain vigilant and involved. This is the best, brief piece I have read on the closure of Sugar. And your thoughts about coal: genius! Just the same thing. I'm hoping this election will wake up SO many people!
ReplyDeleteI certainly agree. Here the Sharp Grossmont Hospital had a bill of 0 this last month. Month before last it was $150,000.
ReplyDeleteSo where and how is sugar grown now?
ReplyDeleteContinental U.S. but sugar beets. Cane sugar is still the best.
DeleteI just looked it up. "The main sugar cane producers around the world are Brazil, India, China, Mexico, Australia, Thailand, Pakistan and the United States. In the United States, sugar cane is grown in Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana and Texas. Beet sugar processing normally is accomplished in one continuous process."
DeleteUmmmm.... no longer in Hawaii though.
Deleteinteresting how tied into politics is business or industry. Quite complicated mess to unravel...
ReplyDeletetimes are moving on as you said, scary as we move into the 'unknown'.
ReplyDeletenothing is ever one dimensional there are so many levels to what we see, hear and experience. It is easy to use Obama as a target of blame because most do not have a 360 degree scope of the issue. Sadly many do not seek to understand the issues rather they support who they assume knows and understands/speaks that truth without a willingness to analyze beyond the rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteI lived close to the cane fields in Florida and know it would really shake the economy if they closed. Hope there is an alternative industry to take up the slack in your state.
ReplyDeleteColonialism caused much suffering around the world and has left suffering in it's wake. Today big business runs the show and history will show how people were abused. We can always hope that the new administration will be good but I'm worried. It doesn't look good. There are interlocking pieces in our world and when one os fiddled with a lot of them could fall apart.
ReplyDeleteLiving in Washington state we dealt with a major decline in the forest industry decades ago. Loggers had to find a new way of life. Some did. Some clung to old dreams and still live hand to mouth in depressed areas. They are the ones who voted for "that guy".
ReplyDeleteChange happens. We have to embrace new ways and ideas. Promising to "make America great again" feeds those false dreams and will lead to more anger and disillusionment.
Thank you for this post. You have drawn a very accurate parallel between sugar and coal. We who are progressive must speak out.
Nothing is as constant as change! Like many of your commenters I am terribly worried about the next four years........
ReplyDeleteAgree that historians will show President Obama steering the ship in the right direction. Many thoughtful folks now have to be especially vigilant and active to prevent a reversal of good work in many areas.
ReplyDeleteGee, Kay, are you saying you are a little worried about our next president? Hmmmm.
ReplyDeleteAs for the current sitting president, hmmmmmmmmm (too). I had an actual glimmer of hope 8 years ago watching his inauguration, then waited through 7 years of not a whole lot and in the past year went looking for answers and testing the general consensus of opinion and you know what I found? Interestingly, Obama never made any promises before he got into office. Go back and listen... he doesn't promise anything. It seems the general trend now is simply to talk colorful rhetoric about what you want and how things should be... and promise nothing. That way, you are required to deliver nothing. Take the incoming guy... make America great again... ok, dude. Have at it why don'tcha. I'll ask you in 4 years what on earth half the people were thinkin of in 2016 when they cast their ballots. On the other hand, I think a vast majority were simply doing it because they wanted to see the look on Hillary's face the next day when she woke up realizing she could EASILY have had it all if she had just named Bernie as her running mate. Churchill said it best... although he was talking about Hitler when he said it, "...we are now entering a time of CONSEQUENCES."
In a thousand years, who'll care?
walt
Is that Depot Road in Waipahu?? I LOVE THAT PICTURE!!!! It isn't even paved yet! Awesome!
ReplyDeletewalt
Yup!
DeleteI hear Democrats in Hawaii are so strong because Republicans controlled it for so many years in a not even a faux democracy. I also hear they owned most of these plantations. At least Hawaii got the message on which party was for the common person and all the regular people. People in SC are as dumb as a sack of rocks.
ReplyDeleteDemocrats are very strong in Hawaii, but we've got a lot of Republicans too.
Delete