Hawaiian School should be for Hawaiians only, says school's president

A New York Times article tells the story of Kamehameha, a highly-rated private school in Honolulu, Hawaii that was created 118 years ago. The school was made to educate poor Hawaiians, but today it educates everyone. This bothers Mr. Shim very much. Mr. Shim, president of Kamehameha's Association of Teachers and Parents, wants the school to be for Hawaiians only. The federal courts, Hawaiian government, and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, are against his notion.

But Mr. Shim and several others believe that the school should be given back to the poor Hawaiian students who need the education. One of those others, Dee Jay Mailer, the chief executive officer for a $6.2 billion trust for the school, said the school enrolled about 5,000 students each year, turning down more Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian children than it accepts. Malier, also a Kamehameha graduate, said, "I have never heard anybody of non-Hawaiian ancestry complain about not coming here. Rather, what I have heard is Hawaiians complaining, or being concerned, that they couldn't come here."

I'm sure that there are many poor Hawaiian natives who need a good education, but segregation is still wrong. My solution? Maybe they can set up a scholarship for Hawaiian natives-that is, if one has not been set up already. It will heighten the chance for Hawaiian children to get in to the school. Or they can try setting a limit for the amount of non-Hawaiians that are allowed in Kamehameha, though that still feels somewhat disrespectful to other non-Hawaiians (the idea feels like affirmative action-is the non-Hawaiian student there because he/she is the right student, or because he/she is a non-Hawaiian student?). Is there a way to please Hawaiian natives without robbing the rights of non-Hawaiians?

Also...isn't it a bit strange that the federal courts can restrict what they do with their school even though, according to the Times article, "The school receives no federal funds"?