Bill > SCR59

This Concurrent Resolution urges the Board of Education and Department of Education to change the name of President William McKinley High School back to its original name, Honolulu High School, and to remove the statue of President William McKinley from the school grounds. The resolution argues that the renaming in 1907 and the erection of the statue in 1911 were part of a strategy to politically indoctrinate the people of Hawaii and legitimize the United States' annexation of the Hawaiian Kingdom, which was achieved through the "Newlands Resolution" signed by President McKinley in 1898, an action the resolution deems fraudulent and illegitimate. The resolution highlights that this annexation led to the subjugation of Native Hawaiians, the loss of their sovereignty, culture, and lands, and that the public school system was subsequently used to "Americanize" Hawaiian children. It also points to President McKinley's role in other injustices against Native Americans and the Five Civilized Tribes, and notes recent efforts by the Department of Education to rename schools with racially complicated origins, citing examples like Princess Ruth Keelikolani Middle School, to promote historical understanding and racial equity.