Wake up!

This letter is not about Article 12. Whether by vote of indigenous only or the entire voting populace it will be decided in the polling place. I’m old enough so that a 50-year lease will see me through the end of my days.

This is in response to Keith Brooks’ assertion that “we are only guests on this island.” I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that over the years. Such a notion is absurd. I have worked here for 14 years, others from the mainland much longer. We are no one’s guests. We set our own tables and can complain about the food if we choose to do so.

Keith, you say that you were indoctrinated into a Brahmin-style culture in Maine. Well, I guess the brainwashing worked because you seem willing to accept your inability to involve yourself in the local political process. Wake up! No one has the luxury of waiting three or four generations to begin to participate. This is not a foreign country in Asia. The CNMI is part of the United States. Those born here are U.S. citizens. We are governed by laws patterned after those in the United States. We are subject to the ultimate legal authority of the U.S. Supreme Court.

You say that, “Engaging in legal action only causes animosity, hatred and anger toward those who are pushing for that change.” While that may be true for a small portion of the indigenous population, it is based primarily on fear of change. The same was true when individual States used laws to enforce racial bias by denying the vote to people of African and Chinese ancestry, by prohibiting interracial marriage, and enforcing segregation. It certainly made people angry when they were challenged in court. Change is inevitable. Sometimes it comes quietly and other times kicking and screaming.

You also say that, “By forcing the locals to sell to outsiders you are telling them you want to take away the last piece of their culture that they hold dear.” No one is forcing anyone to sell anything. It is a matter of choice. Anyone who does not want to sell their land may certainly decline to do so. Believe me, there are plenty of indigenous people who think that the restrictions on alienation of real property should be eliminated. The restriction on alienation is a remnant of the Trust Territories concept that the “islanders” are not mature enough to know what is good for them.

Finally, you say, “f you don’t like some of the laws on the island a plane is always available to take you home.” How childish! If you don’t like the way the game is going, run away? Everyone who knows me well also knows that John Davis and I have butted heads on more than one occasion. He is strong-willed and I dare say stubborn but he has strength of conviction. He may or may not prevail in his lawsuit but he certainly has the right to bring it. That is just one of the things that teachers from the mainland (guests?) teach the students of the island. It is also something that the attorney general from the mainland (guest?) will have to defend. If all this gives you a headache you can visit a doctor from the mainland (guest?) at CHC.

Barry Hirshbein
Chalan Kanoa, Saipan