Editorials
Wednesday, September 30, 1998

Racial remarks should
be avoided in politics

RACE and ethnicity are major factors in Hawaii politics, but it's not considered acceptable for candidates and their supporters to talk about them. The idea is we're all supposed to be part of one big, happy, multiracial family, which to a considerable degree we are -- although not entirely. But appeals to race and ethnicity are made anyway, in more or less subtle ways.

GOP Chairwoman Donna Alcantara raised Democrats' ire by charging in a fund-raising letter that they would spend millions of dollars "in an ugly attempt to turn good people against each other by trying to convince us that we should vote based on the color of our skin rather than what is in our hearts."

This prompted Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris, co-chairman of the Democrats' coordinated campaign, to issue a denial and demand an apology, calling the accusation "racist and outrageous." Alcantara refused to apologize, saying, "Every election, they (the Democrats) dredge up old stereotypes."

The most blatant appeal to race we've noted thus far in this campaign came at a program for Ben Cayetano. Orlando Soriano, president of the hotel workers local, announced to the audience, "We have to fight for our color over here." Soriano, like Cayetano, is of Filipino descent.

The governor himself made what appeared to be an ethnic reference in commenting on the endorsement of Republican Linda Lingle by the University of Hawaii faculty union, saying he hadn't done well with that ethnic group (whites) anyway. Cayetano is in the habit of emphasizing the Democrats' support of "local values," which appears to be a code for nonwhites.

Hawaii is a multiracial, multiethnic society that prides itself on its harmony and tolerance. But let's not kid ourselves that race has nothing to do with politics here. Soriano was simply being candid. Sure, Filipinos, like other ethnic groups, tend to support candidates of their ethnicity. Of course Cayetano is appealing for Filipino votes, and there is no reason why he shouldn't. But, like all other politicians here, he needs to appeal beyond his own group in order to win.

Everyone will be better off if politicians take pains to avoid references to race and ethnicity in their campaign propaganda -- and caution their supporters to do the same. Otherwise they run the risk that the dialogue could turn vicious -- that innocuous racial appeals could turn negative and racist. Playing the "race card" could bring victory, but at a high price.

Methadone treatment

PUBLIC health officials generally agree that methadone is the best treatment for heroin addiction, but relatively few heroin addicts can obtain it. An overhaul of the federal policy could expand treatment by allowing qualified physicians to administer methadone in the privacy of their offices. Much of the success of the new policy will depend on city and state governments, which exercise strong control over dispensing.

The federal initiative will encounter resistance in New York City, where Mayor Rudolph Giuliani regards methadone as an "enslaver" and believes heroin addicts should go cold turkey. Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the nation's drug czar, calls Giuliani's plan to reduce methadone treatment out of step with scientific and medical wisdom.

Methadone is dispensed daily in liquid or pill form and remains active in the body for about 24 hours, six times as long as heroin. National studies indicate that up to 90 percent to 95 percent of patients do not return to heroin if they stay on methadone for three to five years.

It is dispensed in special clinics such as Drug Addiction Services of Hawaii, which administers it to upwards of 200 people during any given period. Eight states do not permit methadone clinics at all. Many clinics in states where it is allowed dispense it at restricted times that can make it difficult for some recovering addicts to hold down jobs.

While the country's opiate addicts are estimated at 810,000, heroin addicts being treated with methadone number only 115,000. McCaffrey says the new policy will seek to standardize methadone treatment methods in existing clinics and educate the public about its effectiveness. The aim is to increase the number of providers either in clinics or private practice.

The new policy follows the recommendations made by a panel of specialists at the National Academy of Sciences, who concluded that methadone is "more likely to work than any other therapy." That being the case, methadone treatment should be allowed to expand to fully meet the need.

Planning for Waikiki

STATE government in Hawaii is already too powerful. Getting it involved in planning improvements to Waikiki would further encroach on the authority of the city and county. Governor Cayetano has proposed that the state and city form a new planning agency to remodel Waikiki. Certainly the state should cooperate with the city, but there is no need for a joint agency. Waikiki is and should remain a city responsibility.

Back in the 1970s the Legislature established the Hawaii Community Development Agency to redevelop Kakaako. The purpose was to take Kakaako's planning out of the hands of Frank Fasi, who was the mayor at the time and who was as usual feuding with the Democratic Party establishment.

But that decision diminished local government, denying it authority over the district's planning. That step should not be repeated in Waikiki -- as Councilman Duke Bainum fears it would be. Even if the Waikiki agency retained its joint city-state status and did not become totally controlled by the state, it would be a bad idea because it would be responsible to two levels of government and could not act without the approval of both.

That is a formula for delay and frustration. Leave Waikiki to the city.

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John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher

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Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors

A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor