When King Kamehameha III proposed statehood for Hawaii a century ago, he expected the U.S. to agree in about as much time as it takes to say King Kamehameha III. If alive, he would still be waiting—and partly because Hawaiian opinion itself is by no means unanimous for statehood. Some influential white residents, resenting the increasingly important part played by Japanese and Chinese in the island's business and political life, point to a postwar Caucasian exodus and say Hawaii would become an "Oriental state." Others argue that Hawaii should not be a state so long as Harry Bridges' Red-led longshoremen...
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