Yes, We Can Shame

My semi-lighthearted post below about Barack Obama’s (and my) high school had assumed that many Hawaiians’ resentment toward the school was a relic of an earlier age. Hawaii senior Senator Dan Inouye, a Hillary Clinton supporter, showed that the ember of class envy may be hotter than I had imagined:

Inouye, in an interview with The Advertiser before the caucuses, said: "If you ask the people in Hawai'i what they know about Barack Obama, I think the honest answer is, 'Very little.' He went to school in Hawai'i but he went to Punahou, and that was not a school for the impoverished.

"I don't hold it against anyone who is a Punahou grad. It's a fine school. I would say one of the finest in the United States. But to suggest that Punahou maybe set his life plan in place, I find it very interesting," said Inouye, a 1942 graduate of McKinley High School.

But Barack Obama hit back.

"Shame on Danny for trying to pull that stunt. I went to Punahou on a scholarship. I was raised by a single mom and my grandmother."

Nobody looks good on this one, neither Dan Inouye for repeating an old canard nor Barack Obama for trying to dispel the odor of elitism that comes with attending a college prep school. Senator Obama could have said “I am grateful for the education that I received, and I will work for the day when every kid can get one like it in the public schools.” Instead, he resorted to playing the victim; being raised by a single parent is the latter-day version of being born in a log cabin (or a manger!).

As for me, I’d have let pass this remark by 82-year-old war hero Senator Dan, who is likely remembering the Honolulu that disappeared right after Pearl Harbor. But what’s with the latest form of argumentation by the leading Democratic contenders? Barack’s “Shame on Danny” is echoed by Hillary’s “Shame on you, Barack Obama” regarding a campaign mailer.

Shame is effective if the target has a conscience. I don’t know if that approach will succeed with Kim Jong-il or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but if we repeat “shame on you” and “yes, we can” often enough, it just might work. © 2008 Stephen Yuen