World War II had a terrible
impact on Hawaii, but after the war it got better. There was
a strike against the “big five” Hawaiian corporations,
which included Dole and C & H.
The “Big Five” corporations ran Hawaii as an
oligarchy – had pretty much total control of the legislative,
executive and judicial branches of the government, and in
addition controlled the economic life of the territory. The
“Big Five” ran the economy because they controlled
not only employment in the major industries – sugar
and pineapple – but also owned most of the land and
controlled shipping. The union was the vehicle for the ordinary
working person to have a say in the way their life went. If
your boss also runs the government, and they do not allow
you to vote, you can see how important a union would be. The
successful strike of 1946 was the beginning of the end of
absolute rule by the “Big Five” and the actualization
of justice for all.
The experience for individuals living on the mainland was
terrible during the war – it did not improve until the
late 1950s and 1960s. I first noticed this impact, as a child
of that World War II generation, when I went off to college
at Yale and compared my experience with my Japanese counterparts
on the mainland. |