Charles Ka'uluwehi Maxwell said he has reconsidered and won't be resigning from the state advisory panel of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Commission after all.

Maxwell, on Thursday, said he would resign from the commission's Hawai'i State Advisory Committee in protest after the commission's decision to recommend Congress reject the Akaka bill, which creates a process for establishment of a federally recognized Native Hawaiian entity.

Maxwell said yesterday, however, that a flood of telephone calls from supporters has changed his mind about quitting the panel he has served on since 1974.

"Key people called me to say: 'Please don't resign because they'll just replace you with a Republican who is insensitive to Native Hawaiians.' And I realized that was true," Maxwell said.