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Hawaiians Search For Flights To California Rally

Kamehameha Schools' Demonstration To Be Held At Appeals Court

POSTED: 3:23 pm HST August 11, 2005

Some Native Hawaiians are searching the Internet and looking for passes for inexpensive ways to get to San Francisco for a rally next week over the admissions policy of Kamehameha Schools.

Kamehameha Schools graduates on the mainland are staging a rally next week at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Finding plane tickets at the last minute during a busy travel season is no easy feat.

"It would start around $500, $600, and goes all the way to $1,600," Kehaulani Watson said.

But the prices are not going to deter Watson from going to San Francisco.

"It's a sacrifice of time. It's a sacrifice of money. But, I would do so much more for my son's future. I would do so much more for the future of Hawaiian children," she said.

The Aug. 20 San Francisco rally follows a massive march last weekend. Thousands of Native Hawaiians angered after the 9th Circuit of Appeals ruled Kamehameha's admissions policy illegal marched from Iolani Palace to the Royal Mausoleum in Nuuanu.

Legal motions are being filed by Kamehameha Schools' attorneys and the attorney for the anonymous non-Hawaiian student who wants his client to attend Kamehameha this fall.

With roughly 60,000 Native Hawaiians living in California, Kamehameha alumni are trying to spread the word to them about the ruling and the rally.

"I think there is still a real lack of awareness," Kamehameha alumnus Noelani Jai said. "That lack of awareness is working against Native Hawaiians at this point. I think the John Doe ruling has brought attention to it."

Kamehameha alumni on the mainland are also organizing a candlelight vigil the Friday night before the Aug. 20 rally. It'll be held in cities across the nation from Washington to cities on the West Coast and ending in Honolulu.

"I'll buy a ticket. I'll go standby. I'll swim. Whatever it takes," Watson said.

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