pesky Hawaiians

So last Wednesday I brought up that I was having an issue issue empathizing with the Hawaiian people (of recent years), which led to a small heated discussion in the class, of which I feel I am wholly responsible. Sorry.
I also feel like I made a bit of an ass of myself, partially by broaching the subject in general, partially for speaking at about 70mph during my section of discussion, but also partially because (I feel like) I didn't clearly articulate myself regarding the issues I took with the Hawaiian claims to land/tradition/identity and their rights in regards to their sovereignty.

First off, I think that the attitude that I usually have about relating to people is not appropriate for this class (or indeed any class, really). I'm one of those people where I don't "get" what someone is complaining about unless I can directly or indirectly sympathize or empathize with them. But it shouldn't really matter if I can or can't. So long as I can acknowledge and tolerate other people's right to their own emotions-- a notion America was founded upon-- then I can coexist and observe without any tumult.

On to what I've been griping about (completely under my "old" frame of mind that I just discredited): I never really understood how people(s) can feel a sense of ownership or entitlement about something that hasn't directly happened to them. For instance, my father and I were both born in New Zealand. NZ was absorbed by England much int he way Hawaii was with the USA, albeit with more cooperation. In the end, though, England had to give back some (pretty small) patches of land to the Maori people... What I'm getting at is that I come from a country that was claimed in the name of the British Empire. With that said, I have never met a single person from NZ (Caucasian or Maori) who had a problem with England, or felt that they had been slighted in some way by the government.They acknowledge that some terrible things happened to the people when "the whites" first came, but they don't hate all white people, all English people, or hold the government responsible. How can the Hawaiians?

Let me take a moment to interrupt myself: I don't support colonialism. I think that the entire premises is disgusting. I also feel the same way about the Holocaust, and not just because I'm Jewish. As a matter of fact, I would love to visit Germany-- I wouldn't even be against living there. I just don't really see any credibility to this "genetic memory" that the Natives seem to have. As if I am somehow indebted to all descendents of US soldiers who emancipated my relatives in concentration camps?

Now, I can understand the argument that we TOOK things from the Hawaiians, and fairly recently, at that. We should have to give those things back, absolutely. But who claims them? If there's some way to probe lineage back to lands that were stolen, then I am all for returning those lands, and potentially even relocating the current owners elsewhere. But... Reading that last bit... How do you determine who gets to keep the limited land on the islands? Those who originally owned them? Or those who have legally paid and purchased the lands in recent years (I'm not talking about the people who paid the taxes on already owned lands and then gained them, I'm talking about people who traveled to Hawaii and bought said lands at much higher prices)?

I just don't think this issue is quite as black and white as many people see it. It WAS, at one point, I think. We've been studying the black and white that happened in history... But since then the two listed colors have intermingled/bred/loped, so we have many shades of grey instead.

To be a bit less dramatic: I get that bad shit went down. I'm not forgiving it. But just because there's a simple problem, doesn't mean there's a simple solution over a hundred years later. The only possible solution I see is creating a good socialistic system on the islands, and instituting a good public school system, that way future generations won't become the "pesky minorities" that folks like me can complain about.

If I was unclear/asinine about anything, please don't hesitate to let me know.