Honor Killing: Race, Rape and Clarence Darrow's Spectacular Last Case by David E. Stannard

Title: Honor Killing:  Race, Rape and Clarence Darrow's Spectacular Last Case
Author: David E. Stannard
Genre: Non-fiction/true crime
URL: Amazon
Price: $16.00 (list)
Summary (from Amazon):  In 1931 Hawai‘i, Thalia Massie, the aristocratic wife of a naval officer, accused five nonwhite men of gang rape. When the trial ended in a hung jury, Thalia’s mother arranged for one of the suspects to be murdered—an act sanctioned by sympathetic whites as an "honor killing." The ensuing murder trial, Clarence Darrow’s last, enthralled the nation and exposed the shocking realities of a Hawaiian "paradise." This is the riveting story behind one of the pivotal scandals of American history.

My Review:  I’ve been vaguely aware of the “Massie Affair” for a couple of years now, but it wasn’t until I’d read Alan Brennert’s novel Honolulu that I’d decided it was a piece of history I should know more about. In his novel, Brennert weaves elements of the Massie Affair into the narrative and makes Joseph Kahahawai—one of the men falsely accused of rape in that case—a character in his story. After “meeting” Joseph in that novel, I decided that it was time I delve into the details of this dark piece of Hawaiian history. Brennert referenced David Stannard’s “Honor Killing” and so I picked it up and am I glad I did.

Honor Killing tells the story of five men—Joseph Kahahawai, Horace Ida, Ben Ahakuelo, Henry Chang and David Takai—who are accused and tried of raping Thalia Massie, a white woman and navy wife, even though they could not (as trial evidence later revealed) have committed the crime. When that trial ends in a mistrial, Tommie Massie and his mother-in-law Grace Fortescue and two other navy men kidnap Kahahawai and murder him, a crime for which they are convicted and sentenced to 10 years hard labor. Their convictions, however, were commuted by the governor to one hour served in the comfort of the Governor’s office.

Yes, this is a non-fiction work, but it isn’t some dry, scholastic recitation of events long gone by. It is a fascinating and expertly crafted read that really pulls the reader in to the time and place, and Stannard manages to do something that is not all that easy to do in non-fiction: he takes a story to which one already knows the ending and makes it not only readable, but compelling every step of the way. And he does this with an even hand. He doesn’t embellish the facts or sensationalize the events. He keeps the eye of a researcher and historian firmly in place.

With meticulous care, Stannard not only builds Hawaii of that time, but he also gives life, depth and—most importantly--context to the social and political situations that existed in 1930s Honolulu. Stannard doesn’t just rely on society pages and newspaper accounts or the memoirs of those who prosecuted the falsely accused or those who defended Tommie Massie and Grace Fortescue who killed Kahahawai. He digs deeper, constructing full people, both their faults and foibles for public and private records.

In this expert historical study, each person we are introduced to is built from the events and experiences which brought them to the particular place in their lives. Using their own words, the inconsistencies in their own statements, the recollections of others as well as detailed trial transcripts, Stannard creates full people. He doesn’t give us cardboard villains or angelic heroes. The Honolulu of the age is painted as it was…a Paradise, that is if your were one of the privileged white haole, and a tough, poor “neighborhood” if you were of Native Hawaiian or Asian descent.

In the end, Stannard delivers not only an important piece of Hawaiian history, but of U.S. history, a history that should be taught in all American schools. It’s a study of classism, colonialism, and racism. And Stannard manages all this in a riveting yet scholarly manner. Highly recommended.