Bringing the Marginalized into Conversations about American Raciality - Erin Kane - Keely Gaeta - Emily Norris

In addition to the Kaho'olawe protest, Hawaiian anti-war activism took place after April 11, 1968, when President Lyndon Johnson announced additional deployment of the Army Reserve and National Guard for duty in Vietnam. Under this deployment, 3,288 National Guardsmen and 782 reservists from Hawai'i were called to serve. This action highlighted the fact that Native/ racially othered bodies were expendable at the hands of the United States in order to achieve gains. The Hawaiian population was disproportionately affected by this, further reinforcing the notion of targeting racialized others. The anti-war sentiments that originated from this unreasonable call to duty led to the Kalama Valley grassroots struggle, which is vastly seen as the origins of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. Kalama Valley activists protested the war not only because of the demands of their population being unequally scapegoated by the U.S. military but also for Vietnamese self-determination. The rights that the Hawaiian activists advocated for on behalf of the Vietnamese were the same as their own: the right to their own sovereignty. “ A L OHA , V I E T NAM : R A C E AND EMP I R E I N HAWA I ’ I ’ S V I E T NAM WA R ” ( S I ME ON MAN )

24