SR96

WHEREAS, in recent years across the nation, there has been a push to address America's dark past regarding locations named after racist and negative figures from American history; and

WHEREAS, this has manifested itself most prominently in the debate over whether to rename locations or remove monuments and statues dedicated to Confederate soldiers and generals who were traitors against the United States as well as ardent advocates of white supremacy who should not be honored in the present day; and

WHEREAS, in the continental United States, many cities, municipalities, and states have changed the names of streets that were named after these racist historical figures and have renamed them to honor people of color or other non-controversial figures; and

WHEREAS, similarly, while there are not many streets named after Confederates in the State of Hawaii, there are however, streets named to honor negative figures from Hawai‘i's past such as people who overthrew the monarchy and made active efforts to suppress the use of the Hawaiian language and culture; and

WHEREAS, additionally, there are streets that had their traditional names changed to replace their original Hawaiian language names with generic names; and

WHEREAS, because several states and municipalities have taken the lead on this area such as the city of New Orleans and the city of San Francisco, the State of Hawaii has many examples of criteria to pick and choose from in order to create a set of guidelines to use when deciding what street names to change; and

WHEREAS, a delicate balance needs to be struck between historical preservation and revisionism, and the goal should be to change some names, mainly the most egregious examples, but not to rename every single street; and

WHEREAS, it should also be noted that renaming streets is not a task for one government agency, because of different jurisdictional oversight, different agencies are responsible for the naming and renaming process; and

WHEREAS, the feasibility of renaming the streets needs to be considered as well as input from the communities in the areas where the streets are located along with other relevant stakeholders; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, that this body requests that a task force be formed to examine the feasibility of renaming streets; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to consider using the following standard when trying to determine if a street name should be changed due to the individual having a problematic history: whether the individual owned slaves, had a documented history of gender or racialized violence, engaged in active attempts to circumvent democratic rights of citizens, engaged in documented attempts to overthrow a legitimate government, or engaged in active efforts to suppress the use of the Hawaiian language and culture; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to invite additional organizations or agencies to participate on the task force and that agencies may request to be put on or taken off the task force; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to include the following in its study:

(1) A list of potential streets to be renamed that meet the criteria; and

(2) A feasibility report on renaming each street on the list of potential candidates to be renamed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to submit a preliminary report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than forty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2023; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Transportation, Director of Accounting and General Services, Administrator of the State Historic Preservation Division, Chairperson of the Maui County Council, Chairperson of the Hawaii County Council, Chairperson of the Kauai County Council, and Chairperson of the Honolulu City Council.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Task Force; Feasibility of Restoring or Changing Historical Placenames on Streets

THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	96
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII