removal of tiki as improper

["Otto" <otto@tikinews.com>]

Saturday, April 22, 2000 Search

ACLU sees removal of tiki as improper
By James Gonser
Advertiser Leeward Bureau


The Hawaii office of the American Civil Liberties Union is calling improper
the removal last week of a 10-foot-tall tiki of the Hawaiian figure Kanaloa
from in front of Waianae High School. The civil rights group wants to
participate in community discussions to reconsider the removal.

Hazel Sumile, superintendent of the Leeward Oahu school district, had the
sculpture taken down after a Leeward pastor called her and complained that
it was a religious symbol and shouldn=B9t be erected at a public school. It
was carved by students in a high school art class and put up in February.
Jeff Yamashita, pastor of the Waianae Assembly of God, said yesterday that
he had called Sumile and Waianae High principal JoAnn Kumasaka about the
tiki, but never asked that it be removed. He said he only wanted to discuss
the matter.

Yamashita said he and members of his congregation objected to the tiki
because it represents a Hawaiian god. He said it would not be a problem if
the tiki were only temporary, because it could be considered an educational
tool. But having it mounted in concrete in front of the school for all to
see is not fair to other religious groups, he said. =B3If they do that, then
all religions have the right to put up symbols if they wanted,=B2 he said.
=B3I=
f
the Christian Club said it wanted to put up a cross, how could the school
refuse? =B3A lot of our parents have kids going to school there. I knew Mrs.
Sumile, so I called her. I didn=B9t want to cause big problems. I wanted to
g=
o
through the school, not the media.=B2

The ACLU=B9s executive director, Vannessa Chong, said the tiki represents a
real man and was an art project put up as part of a campus beautification
project, so it should not have been removed. The civil rights group says a
school=B9s actions violate the First Amendment only if they have a religious
intent, a primarily religious effect, or create excessive entanglement
between church and state. =B3The ACLU believes the (state Department of
Education) was off base in removing the tiki,=B2 Chong said. Most people
view
the tiki as a cultural, instead of religious, icon, she said, adding, =B3On
the other hand, a cross is clearly a religious symbol to nearly all people.=
=B2


Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen said it was prudent to remov=
e
the tiki because some people considered it to be an religious object. Peopl=
e
other than Yamashita called to complain, he said. =B3We are still open to
the
possibility of relocating it as a display of a work of art,=B2 Knudsen said.
=B3Even if it wasn=B9t intended to be seen as a religious object, it is by
some
people.=B2 The tiki has been stored inside the school for the past week.

Yamashita said a private meeting will be held at the school Monday to
discuss the tiki, and he is optimistic the parties can reach an
understanding. The ACLU has not been invited, Chong said.
=B3It took a protracted lawsuit to force the removal of a cross at Camp
Smith
(in 1997), despite the fact that it offended large portions of the
non-Christian population in Hawaii,=B2 Chong said. =B3Here, the state
immediately removed the tiki based upon complaints of a few Christians. Not
only does this show a bias in favor of Christian religion, it shows a
complete lack of sensitivity to Native Hawaiian culture.=B2 

=A9 COPYRIGHT 2000 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.


"William E.McEuen" <afs@lava.net>



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