08/18/23 08/18/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> there has been talk about folks getting offers on their homes and i know from friends that that is happening. the discussion around this makes me fear for the future of lahaina and whether or not it will include native hawaiians and other local people or whether the build back will

focus on outsiders. amy: plantation disaster capitalism. fear is growing among native hawaiians that wealthy interest will seize land and water resources in this time of crisis on maui. as the death cap continues to rise. we will go to hawaii for the latest. then "teach no lies." we go to florida to speak with a historian who is leading the fight against the state's new black history curriculum that claims black people benefited from being enslaved. and we will look at a shocking new "washington post" exposé revealing the smithsonian has a racial brain collection gathered in part by a racist anthropologist. >> there were children in the collection. there were men and women, fetuses. many of them were indigenous people, other people of color. many of them did not have their identities actually recorded,

partly because they were looked at as specimens. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in canada, officials have declared a state of emergency in the british columbia city of west kelowna as a wildfire tripled in size. thousands have been evacuated. meanwhile, mass evacuations continued in canada's northwest territories capital city of yellowknife where all 20,000 residents have been told to leave. >> it is quite scary because with the smoke, of course it is lightning up a little bit but the smoke was very thick this morning. i mean, it is not a good situation, that's for sure.

amy: over 1000 active blazes are burning across canada in its worst-ever wildfire season. in hawaii, the head of maui's emergency management resigned citing health reasons, one week after the deadly wildfires started and one day after herman andaya defended not sounding sirens to warn people as the flames engulfed thousands of homes and businesses. officials have now identified six victims as the death toll of 111 is expected to rise over the coming days. meanwhile, concerns are mounting over climate gentrification in the tragedies wake. many native hawaiians had already been priced out of their land due to a swelling housing crisis, with hawaii ranking as the most expensive state to rent or own a home in the u.s. hawaiians and residents of hawaii have reported receiving predatory calls from developers seeking to buy their property. hurricane hilary grew to a category 4 storm off the pacific coast of mexico and is expected

to bring heavy downpours and flooding to parts of the u.s. southwest and northwestern mexico this weekend. in spain's canary islands, thousands have been evacuated as the tenerifé wildfire continues to burn out of control. tenerifé, a popular vacation island, has seen higher than average temperatures this summer, much like the rest of spain and europe. next week could bring more, possibly record-breaking, extreme heat across the continent. president biden is hosting the first ever trilateral summit with leaders of japan and south korea at camp david. beijing has bashed the summit as a "mini-nato." meanwhile, south korea warned north korea could launch another intercontinental ballistic missile to protest the summit. an assessment by u.s. intelligence predicts that ukraine's counteroffensive will fail to reach the key southeastern city of melitopol. "the washington post" reported the news, which would mean ukraine will not achieve its

goal of cutting off russia's land bridge to crimea. it could also renew debate within the international community over the billions of dollars in military assistance being sent to ukraine to fight russia's invasion. in other news about the war, chinese defense minister li shangfu visited belarus on thursday, vowing to increase military cooperation with the russian ally. meanwhile, belarusian president alexander lukashenko said thursday belarus is ready to use nuclear weapons from russia if it faces aggression. around 1000 palestinians imprisoned by israel have launched an indefinite hunger strike to protest attacks by the israel prison service, which is overseen by far-right national security minister itamar ben-gvir. prisoners have asked palestinians living in the occupied west bank to hold solidarity demonstrations. meanwhile, israel's deadly attacks on palestinians in the west bank continue. at least three people were killed this week, including a 16-year-old boy.

the family of 32-year old mustafa al-kastouni decried his killing as they accused israeli forces of shooting him dead even after he said he'd surrender. israeli forces then detonated explosives in his family's home. this is mustafa al-kastouni's mother. >> we looked and we saw they blew up the house in seconds. it was packed with israeli soldiers. they blew up our house. i wanted to go through the rubble but i could not. the young men helped me. i was looking for my son. i asked them to check under the rubble and they agreed. they told me he died. amy: in guatemala, voters are heading to the polls sunday for any highly anticipated presidential election runoff between progressive candidate bernardo arévalo and former first lady sandra torres. a new poll shows arévalo of the semilla party in the lead. arévalo spoke to the atlantic council in july.

>> what we have seen after what has been in the streets is there is a rekindling of hope and confidence and that people are actually believing that week and -- we can advance and get rid of this corrupt political system. amy: his opponent sandra torres has faced corruption charges and is backed by guatemala's business and political elite. meanwhile, ecuador is also gearing up for a snap presidential election this sunday after current president guillermo lasso dissolved congress in may to avoid his impeachment. at least three political leaders have been killed in recent weeks, including presidential candidate fernando villavicencio. this is progressive presidential front-runner luisa gonzález of the citizen revolution movement party. >> they want to fill us with

hopelessness so they can bury us in sadness and pain. that way they can immobilize us. but we will react firmly and strongly by saying no. amy: in pakistan, more than 140 people were arrested and over 6000 police and paramilitary troops were deployed in the eastern city of jaranwala in punjab province after a group of muslims torched churches and vandalized homes and businesses in a violent spree that has left the minority christian community reeling. the violence was reportedly in retaliation for the desecration of a quran by two christian men. this is a jaranwala man whose house was destroyed. >> when i saw my house, i felt a jolt in my heart. i and neatly came out of my house and sat down. we have not committed any crime. this is a grave injustice toward us. amy: the head of the provincial government mohsin naqvi vowed to compensate and restore victims for their losses.

meanwhile, muslim faith leaders joined their christian counterparts in calling for accountability and protection for vulnerable minorities. this is muslim cleric tahir mehmood ashrafi. >> mr. chief justice of pakistan, the nation demand to establish a court right by the church where the holy cross was vandalized and you conduct a trial within a month. the nation once the culprits to be punished. amy: back in the united states, donald's legal team has asked to push back his january 6 trial to april 2026, citing the overwhelming amount of discovery evidence they'll need to sort through. the justices department has requested the trial start the first week of january 2024. trump remains the frontrunner for the republican presidential nomination as he faces four indictments. in georgia, officials are investigating after trump supporters threatened and doxed grand jurors who voted to indict

trump over his efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat. meanwhile, trump has canceled a planned press conference monday, where he claimed he would present evidence exonerating him from the charges. in related news, prosecutors are seeking sentences of 33 years in prison for the two former leaders of the proud boys, enrique tarrio and joe biggs. they were found guilty in may of seditious conspiracy over the january 6 capitol assault. it would be the longest prison terms for anyone involved in the insurrection. in canada, at least three land defenders were arrested tuesday after officials resumed enforcement of a court injunction used to crack down on activists at the indigenous-led blockade at the fairy creek watershed on vancouver island. this comes as over 140 court cases against anti-logging protesters were recently dropped by british columbia authorities as it was found police didn't properly read or explain the court injunction to them. the injunction was first granted to logging company teal-jones in april 2021 and was lifted a few

months later after a court said it violated the civil liberties of protesters and infringed on press freedom. and a new study shows latinx children living in states with anti-immigrant laws are more likely to experience mental health and chronic physical health issues. the study says racist laws that make it difficult to access healthcare, affordable housing, education, and stable employment have contributed to worsening asthma, diabetes, and other physical ailments, as well as severe mental health conditions, including depression, among latinx children and teens ages three to 17. among the worst states are alaska, alabama, and nebraska. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show in hawaii, where the death toll from the maui fires stands at 111 but as many as 1000 people remain unaccounted for. as the search for bodies continues, we look today at what some native hawaiians are

calling plantation disaster capitalism -- a growing fear that wealthy interests will seize land and water resources in this time of crisis. the writer naomi klein and the hawaiian law professor kapua'ala sproat write about plantation disaster capitalism in a new article in the guardian. they write -- "it's a name that speaks to contemporary forms of neocolonialism and climate profiteering, like the real estate agents who have been cold-calling lahaina residents who have lost everything to the fire and prodding them to sell their ancestral lands rather than wait for compensation. but it also places these moves inside the long and ongoing history of settler colonial resource theft and trickery, making clear that while disaster capitalism might have some modern disguises, it's a very old tactic. a tactic that native hawaiians have a great deal of experience resisting." those were the words of naomi klein and kapua'ala sproat in

the guardian. well, on thursday i spoke to professor sproat from her home on the island of kauai. she is a professor of law at ka huli ao native hawaiian law center. she also co-directs the native hawaiian rights clinic at the university of hawaii at manoa school of law. i asked her to describe what is happening on maui. >> mahola. things are pretty brittle right now in west maui. people are still trying desperately to find ways forward in this disaster of proportions. i am not on maui. i am a couple of islands over. i have not been there since the fire, but that is also absolutely appropriate. people who don't need to be there should stay away and support from afar, regardless of what that looks like whether that means writing opinion

pieces or sending money, whatever is the best people in support from where they are, i think is really important. a word from the folks on the ground is people are struggling. our community has rallied in amazing ways and i think that is part of the message we want to get out, that lahaina strong and maui strong are more than things. people are not waiting on the amount or even on the state or county. relief organizations are springing up in people's homes and garages. supplies are coming in by boat and vehicle and the roads are open. there is a lot of uncertainty. people are concerned because what i see in the midst of this attention and focus and resources being streamed towards maui, there is a naked power grab and land and water grab that is also underway. there has been talk about folks getting offers on their homes. i know from friends that is happening. as i mentioned, there's also

water grab in the works and the discussion around this makes me fear for the future of lahaina and whether or not it will be one that includes native hawaiians and other local people or whether the build back will be insiders. amy: what does a land grab mean? . >> to be clear, i'm not on the ground but what i understand for people who are there ise retorse making offers to people in their most desperate time of need, when people are desperate for funding and other resources to try to build back their lives of people getting offers on their ancestral homes, lands -- when we talked about ancestral lands and our connection to place, we talked in generations and hundreds of years. our native clinic has been on the ground working with community members for several years now. many of our community members

have a long-standing relationships to place. it is some of these community members getting offers on their homes at this most difficult time was to put in my is completely appropriate. amy: you talk about plantation disaster capitalism. explain. >> plantation disaster capitalism i think is, unfortunately, the perfect term for what is going on in west maui right now. the plantation, large lighted interest that have control over not just a land but much of the resources for the last several centuries are using this opportunity -- using this time of tremendous trauma for the people of maui to swoop in and get past the law, basically. they're using the emergency proclamation the government put in place the day after the fires ravaged lahaina, and they're

using this as an opportunity to try to get their way, especially with respect to water resources, something they could not achieve when the law for hawaii's water code was in place. amy: talk more about the water grab. >> water is life. it is one of our most important resources. there are many people who would say freshwater is our most important resource. it is what enables our people to be able to not just survive but thrive in hawaii for more than a millennium. in lahaina in particular, it is special for people who come on vacation and no -- but for the people of this community, lahaina was the seat of the hawaiian kingdom. it was the capital before the island -- before oahu. part of the reason lahaina was such an important place was because of the abundance of resources and abundance of water resources in particular. before the arrival of europeans,

-- right now lahaina is on was like a dry desert area. but when it was managed by native hawaiians, it was abundant with water and other resources. what happen was with the arrival of plantation interest, those water -- especially after the capital was moved to oahu, those resources were grabbed up by land and plantation interest. sugar plantations and later those resources were diverted to support other kinds of development, including luxury residential development and even to support hotels in some instances. what happened is, lahaina was taken by these corporations. what we also know is part of the reason for this extraordinary

tragedy in west maui is also because there has been more than a century of plantation water mismanagement. it is because of extractive water policies where water has not remained on the land, that created the tinderbox and this unfortunate situation of the tragic fire that took place earlier this month. amy: you have raised the issue of the governor wasting no time in issuing emergency proclamations as the wildfires continued to burn, which suspended a series of laws including hawaii state water code. can you talk about why this is significant? >> spotify is so disappointing -- part of what is so disappointing, this naked power grab because it is more than just a water grab, it is also a power grab come is there

specifically usurping both the law. more than that, usurping long-standing and broad-based community interest in support for a more proactive water management and water management that will ensure the resources benefit the people. so to provide some context, for several years, hawaii state water commission has proactively attempted to create what we call water management designation. it is a fancy term, an additional layer that goes over an area where we know water resources are threatened. once that happens, there is an additional layer that allows the water commission to revisit allocations in how water is used and distributed. this is important because in hawaii, we have a public trust doctrine that means our water resources are managed for present and future generations and cannot be owned by any individual. the problem is despite what we call the black letter law, in

small towns like lahaina, companies with a lot of influence have been able to maintain control of the water resources even when their interest like native hawaiian families that have higher call or higher water right according to the black letter law. part of the situation is that because of this long history of struggle, native faux wines and people across the community came forward and participated in public hearings before our state water commission. call for more proactive water management. in june 20 22, there were successful in achieving this water management area designation for lahaina. that means additional permit protections were put in place and many folks who have superior rights come whose rights have been ignored, were able to begin a permitting process. unfortunately, those existing applications were due on monday,

august 7, and the file -- fire ravaged lahaina on tuesday, august 8. on wednesday, the governor's office issued these emergency proclamations which suspended the water code. so despite this huge effort to try to put this additional protection in place, which was predictably opposed by industry industry -- interest, they were unsuccessful. what they were unable to accomplish legally, they were able to accomplish the support of the governor and the emergency proclamation. it is unfortunate -- that is why what is happening right now epitomizes plantation disaster capitalism. because here we have a handful of incredibly privileged large landed interest using this terrible tragedy to displace and push through laws they were unable to secure when hawaii state water code was in place. amy: president biden is coming to maui on monday.

what message do you feel he needs to hear and what do you want to see the federal government do right now? >> i understand president biden will be coming into maui shortly. i hope what he will see and what he will learn and what you will support his the resilience of a people who are on the ground in maui right now the community members who are doing so much with so little. i hope you will see the resilient spirit of our community members and your tremendous need because we need lots of support from the federal government in a whole range of areas. i hope you will also see some of the political shenanigans that are taking place and understand if we really want to protect the things that make hawaii truly special, we can't just throw out all of the laws and other things that help to protect our resources when disaster strikes. we as a community need to come together and lean into each

other and really look to and embrace the principles that have enabled us to thrive here in hawaii for a millennium. amy: kapua'ala sproat is a professor of law at ka huli ao native for wind law center. she also co-directs the native hawaiian rights clinic at the university of hawaii at manoa's school of law. we will into the guardian article she cowrote with naomi klein headlined "what was there no water to fight the fire in maui?" coming up, "teach no lies." we will speak with a historian leading the fight in florida against the new black history curriculum that claims black people benefited from being enslaved. back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "kualana na pua" covered by rufus wainwright. the independent song of hawaii translates as "famous are the flowers." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to florida, where republican governor ron desantis is losing ground as support for his 2024 presidential bid slips to its lowest level this year. students in miami returned to school thursday one day after a

"teach no lies" march to the office of the miami-dade county school board to protest what many call florida's racist new curriculum standards for teaching black history. the measure is part of a broader push by desantis to root out ideas he says are "woke." the new curriculum teaches that some black people benefited from being enslaved because they learned useful skills. protesters wednesday were joined by some members of the teamsters national black caucus, who were holding a conference in the city, and by tennessee state representative justin pearson, who was recently voted back into office after he was expelled along with representative justin jones for protesting republicans' failure to pass gun control laws after the covenant school mass shooting in nashville. this is pearson. >> there were no benefits for people being enslaved. being raped, having our children stolen from you, being denied the right to read. those were not benefits for our ancestors.

amy: the florida education association, teachers union representing about 150 thousand teachers, called it "a disservice to florida students and are a big step backward for a state that has required teaching african-american history since anti-94. for more, we're joined by marvin dunn, who helped organize the protest and leading teach no lies tours that take teachers and young people to places like rosewood, florida, the site of a 1923 massacre of black residents at the hands of a white mob. many eyewitnesses say that death toll was higher. violence began when a white woman falsely accused a black and of assault. i the time the massacre ended, every building in rosewood except one had burned down. no long person agency investigated the massacre. no one was ever charged with crimes. marvin dunn is a professor emeritus at florida

international university, author of numerous books, including "the history of florida: through black eyes." in the book come he writes -- "almost all of florida's painful racial past has been whitewashed, marginalized or buried intentionally. but i was born here. i know florida's flowers and her warts." professor dunn is co-founder of the miami center for racial justice. welcome to democracy now! you are one of those that love the march this week and a rep before kids go back to school. talk about the new curriculum that governor desantis, presidential candidate desantis, is pushing and that the teachers are forced to teach. looks first, thank you very much for having me on. it is a disaster. it cannot be implemented.

teachers in florida don't know how to implement this law. we are now in a confused, demoralized state of education in florida. this man has done the most damage to education in the state that i can imagine. we are trying to figure out what to do next in order to have teachers not arrested for not implementing the standards. we're trying to get certification from the department of education. basically, it is just a mess in florida. amy: you are doing something very unusual. you are taking people to sites of massacres and you are teaching on the ground. talk about what you are teaching and how these stories are changed. for example, with the curriculum saying you have to talk about how slavery actually benefited the enslaved. >> we are still trying to figure

out how slaves had personal benefits when they were unable to be considered persons. there were property. how can a chair or cow -- couch have personal benefits. the very idea of trying to suggest having teachers teach that enslaved people had some benefits of being enslaved. even if the 1% of enslaved who were free and some marketable skill, what about the 99% who basically had no skills at all? what about the millions of slaves who died before emancipation? what personal benefit did they receive? what desantis is trying to do with this issue and others is to equivocate evil. every country had slaves. slavery was in africa and china and asia. why does he want teachers to