Leadership Quote by Neil Abercrombie

A queen’s overthrow is a loaded way to introduce yourself to Hawaii, and Neil Abercrombie knows it. He’s not recounting history as trivia; he’s signaling that his relationship to the islands began under the shadow of dispossession. By leading with the fall of the monarchy, he frames Hawaii not as a carefree paradise-state but as a place with an unresolved political wound. That choice matters because it positions him, a mainland-born politician, as someone trying to earn moral credibility before he ever claims local belonging.

The pivot to gratitude and “the opportunity” is doing double duty. On one hand, it reads as genuine humility: he’s naming the privilege of being allowed to live somewhere with a distinct identity and a long memory of outsiders arriving with entitlement. On the other, it’s careful inoculation. Gratitude becomes a rhetorical shield against the perennial suspicion directed at transplants, especially those who go on to wield power. “Fit in” is the softest possible verb for a harder reality: in Hawaii, you’re measured not just by intentions but by whether you understand the history you’re standing on.

The subtext is political: acknowledging the overthrow is a way of nodding to Native Hawaiian grievance without committing to any specific remedy. It’s a recognition statement that can broaden appeal across constituencies - locals who want their history respected, and newcomers who want a script for respectful arrival. Abercrombie’s line is less about assimilation than about legitimacy: an argument that awareness, gratitude, and deference are prerequisites for governing a place that was taken before it was welcomed.