Ward Churchill flap
I stand by the writing of Ward Churchill; I’ve been an admirer for years of his plainspokenness on matters of genocide and oppression. He’s the Colorado professor/author/activist currently undergoing character assassination for writing the obvious in a piece three years ago: that “if U.S. foreign policy results in widespread death and destruction abroad, we cannot feign innocence when some of that destruction is returned.”
The controversial essay that he wrote shortly after 9/11 has been in book form for a while and you can read it here: Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens. His speaking event at Hamilton College was cancelled, politicians want his blood, and people all over are freaking out. Of course, some like myself, see the sense in what he’s saying:
* …What I said was that the “technocrats of empire” working in the World Trade Center were the equivalent of “little Eichmanns.” Adolf Eichmann was not charged with direct killing but with ensuring the smooth running of the infrastructure that enabled the Nazi genocide. Similarly, German industrialists were legitimately targeted by the Allies.
…
* The bottom line of my argument is that the best and perhaps only way to prevent 9-1-1-style attacks on the U.S. is for American citizens to compel their government to comply with the rule of law. The lesson of Nuremberg is that this is not only our right, but our obligation. To the extent we shirk this responsibility, we, like the “Good Germans” of the 1930s and ’40s, are complicit in its actions and have no legitimate basis for complaint when we suffer the consequences. This, of course, includes me, personally, as well as my family, no less than anyone else.
Here are a few other links to fill you in since I don’t have much time to comment tonight:
· He was interviewed (if you can call it an interview for how self-righteous, biased, and indignant she was) by Paula Zahn: download and watch the clip
· Columnist Alexander Cockburn reads Churchill’s remarks and asks, “What’s wrong with any of this?”
· It’s not just the right wing trashing Churchill, liberals are joining in as well (further justifying why I don’t consider myself a liberal)
Finally, writer Derrick Jensen, an acquaintance of Churchill, had this to say, which sums up the whole thing quite well:
“I don’t think there really is anything even remotely resembling academic freedom or freedom of discourse within the culture. I keep thinking about RD Laing’s 3 rules of a dysfunctional family, which are also the 3 rules of a dysfunctional culture. Rule A is Don’t. Rule A.1 is Rule A does not exist. Rule A.2 is Never discuss the existence or nonexistence of Rules A, A.1, or A.2. The way this plays out within an abusive family structure is that the members can talk about anything they want except for the violence they must pretend isn’t happening. The way this plays out on the larger social scale is that we can talk about whatever we want–we can have whatever ‘academic’ or ‘journalistic’ ‘freedom’ we want–so long as we don’t talk about the fact that this culture is based on systematic violence, and has been from the beginning. Anyone who’s been paying any attention at all for the last 200 years knows that the United States is based on systematic violence. We live on land stolen from Indians. The economy runs on oil stolen from people the world over. The entire economy is based on conquest and theft. It’s no wonder most of the people in the world hate the U.S. But of course we can’t talk about that. Anyone who does talk about that and is noticed must be silenced as quickly as possible.
Pamela said,
February 8, 2005 @ 12:43 pm
What bothers me the most is how he is being grossly misquoted in the media–and how the media is hound-dogging this as if they’ve discovered fresh meat. It’s so anti-first amendment! I’m astonished at the willingness to ruin this man, even as professed white-supremecists or corporate raiders go about their daily lives without any repercussions.
Great minds tend to be lambasted if they somehow offend this “patriotic” sensibility America has adopted. Like a mad little terrier we defend things we don’t even understand from these threatening pit bulls we see at every turn. Look at how Jean Baudrillard’s book “The Spirit of Terrorism” (great little book BTW) was recieved, and how the press speared Giorgio Agamben when he decided he wouldn’t submit to bio-political tattooing upon entering this country, or how Edward Said’s texts are interpreted by the general population (if they even are).
Anti-intellectualism is alive and well in the US. Therefore, if you find any way we can support this professor, I would be very interested to hear about it. The original essay has been e-mailed to me by a professor I know, have you seen it?
Justin said,
February 9, 2005 @ 10:56 pm
Sickos. Each and everyone of you.
Jeremy said,
February 11, 2005 @ 11:42 am
Dear Justin,
When you can be bothered to check into those pesky details, let us know. The page you linked to is extremely simplistic, wildly off the mark, and rude.
kstreetfriend said,
February 14, 2005 @ 5:08 pm
Please note the following.
Introduction: In a Pittsburgh federal court a well connected corporate crony has suggested a novice “integrity” free speech argument and the legal question is waddling without any legal precedent in need of an activist court.
Creating the free speech crisis is a “red herring” to draw attention away from the plain and clear evidence of the Pittsburgh Federal Court proceeding (best example of the corruption).
Ward Churchill was a relatively unknown professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, until Bill O’Reilly reported a piece about him and requested his audience to make a fuss. His provacative essay was written more than three years ago.
The Western Pennsylvania connection:
Ms. ElizaBETH Hoffman, native of Bryn Mawr, is the President of Colorado University. Go to http://www.hss.caltech.edu/Photos/Alumni/HoffmanElizabeth.jpg and/or http://www.colorado.edu/Carillon/volume47/images/1.jpg to view her picture.
Ms. Mary BETH (Rue) Kotcella Buchanan, native of Roscoe, is the U.S. Attorney for Western Pennsylvania. Go to http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2002-02-26/PH_2002-02-26_iattorney-b.jpg to view her picture.
Background: I attended undergraduate school with Ms. Buchanan. At the Pennsylvania University I succesfully re-established (and served as president) the pre-law society and graduated in 1983. Here Ms. Buchanan would become interested in the law. She graduated after me in 1984.
In addition, I was listed in Who’s Who Among American Colleges and Universities, and given the 1983 Progressive Leadership Award, and 1983 Distinguished Honor Award.
Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1988 Ms. Buchanan secured a clerkship with U.S. District Judge Maurice B. Cohill, Jr.
Judge Cohill is the Western District Judge responsible for enforcing a consent decree governing United States of America v. Port Authority of Allegheny County, Docket No. 91-CV-1694. However, he turned a blind eye to my case Docket No. 95-CV-00339. I had organized (secure a union) a political sub-division.
During that same year members of the state judiciary were charged and convicted for violating my civil rights (fixing cases against me in retaliation of Docket No. 95-CV-00339).
In a case related to Docket No. 95-CV-00339, an alleged EEOC investigative file was prematurely purged and the U.S. Department of Labor refused delivery of its copy despite a subpoena, FOIA Request and Motion to Compel. See Docket No. 98-CV-230. That is, the Department of Labor closed its investigation based on the alleged EEOC decision. But, I had proffered to the court EEOC writings that demonstrated no investigation was conducted.
Discussion: At issue is the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The Bush administration is attempting to change the 50 percent rule. That is, financial aid is available for postsecondary education provided at a college or university that has at least 50 percent of its students campus-based.
Corporations have paid Senators and Congress men and women well, attempting to change the 50 percent rule. The rule is necessary to prevent fraud (absentee students and/or diploma mills).
It appears at least three corporations have abused the administration’s Distance Education Demonstration that wavied the 50 percent rule.
The Career Education Corporation of Hoffman Estates, Ill., has faced lawsuits, from shareholders and students, contending that, among other things, its colleges have inflated enrollment numbers. In addition, F.B.I. agents raided 10 campuses run by ITT Educational Services of Carmel, Ind., looking for similar problems.
Nonetheless, the S.E.C. and FBI investigation is just spin to make it appear the administration is doing its job.
The Pittsburgh case involves Kaplan, Inc., which is wholly own by the Washington Post Company. For-profit postsecondary education has turned the company around. Individuals far more powerful than Martha Steward have made millions.
Thus the current unexplained campaign against free speech appears to be little more than another Madison Avenue scheme to control any discussion.
Sean said,
February 19, 2005 @ 3:07 am
I was ready to think that WC was probably just kind of a dick who still deserved academic freedom, until I started looking at the actual piece as it was reprinted in the PSU Rearguard. Would I have said some of the things he did? No. Would I recommend that he change some things so he could make his points with slightly less chance of having things turned against him? Yes. But I started becoming a lot more sympathetic to him as soon as I saw the dateline on the piece: september 12, 2001. if the piece really was written on that date, then I am much more likely to suspect him of being an amphetamine user than any kind of bigot. Hell, if it was written anywhere close to that date I would forgive a lot of more offensive things. I kind of think *no one* should be held responsible for what they might have said on 9/12, as long as it wasn’t “hey, kill that guy right over there.”
I still haven’t read the whole piece through. I swear that guy’s a tweaker.