Colorado Professor Speaks Out!
Submitted by Jean bedell-mashkikinabinais
Dear Bobbie – Ward has been a defender against colonization but now is getting a bad rap. Can you print the article?
By Erin Gartner, U.S. National - Associated Press
Boulder, Colo. – An embattled University of Colorado professor who likened Sept.11 victims to Nazis got a standing ovation when he told a campus audience of more than 1,000 people that “I’m not backing up an inch.”
Ward Churchill, who had filed a lawsuit after the state-funded university threatened to cancel his address, was interrupted several times by thunderous applause.
Churchill has resigned as chairman of the university ethnic studies department. Gov. Bill Owens has called for Churchill to be fired, and the university
Board of Regents is investigating whether the tenured professor can be removed.
In an essay, Churchill wrote that workers in the World Trade Center were the equivalent of “little Eichmanns”, a reference to Adolf Eichmann, who ensured the smooth running of the Nazi system. Churchill also spoke of the “gallant sacrifices” of the “combat teams” that struck America.
The ethnic studies professor said Tuesday, his essay was referring to “technocrats” who participate in what he calls repressive American policies around the world.
A longtime American Indian Movement activist, he said he is also culpable because his efforts to change the system haven’t succeeded. “I could do more. I’m complicit. I’m not innocent,” he said.
The Boulder Faculty Assembly, which represents professors at the Boulder campus, has said Churchill’s comments were “controversial, offensive and odious” but supports his right to say them based on the principle of academic freedom.
During his 35 minute speech, Churchill said the essay was not referring to children, firefighters, janitors or people passing by the World Trade Center who were killed during the attacks.
The ACLU issued a statement defending Churchill’s right to speak out and called upon regents, legislators and the governor “to stop threatening Mr.Churchill’s job because of the content of his opinions.”
David Horowitz, a champion of conservative causes who has long accused American universities of overstocking their facilities with leftists, has said firing Churchill would violate his First Amendment Rights and set a bad precedent.
He called instead for an inquiry into the university’s hiring and promotion procedures to see how Churchill managed to rise to the chairmanship of the school’s ethnic studies department.
-30-
Dear Jean – I agree with you and just about everyone else who has become involved with this controversy that Churchill was expressing his First Amendment Rights and had every right to do so.
But, I’m not buying the part about the “gallant sacrifices” of the “combat teams” who destroyed the World Trade Centers on Sept 11. Those guys must have been tired of living the rigid, fanatical, fundamentalist life and couldn’t wait to meet the 70 virgins and enjoy all the earthly pleasures that had been denied them until they passed through the Pearly Gates. Anyone for ribs and a cold one?
My dear activist, I cannot see you in a burka, barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. - bobbie
NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.
For news and information on Native American and First Nations actors, go to Annie's site at www.NativeCelebs.com and follow the threads.
Healing Pathways for Native Americans with Breast Cancer.
Prevention Treatment and Recovery on March 25th and 26th at the Radisson City Center - Tucson, 181 W. Broadway, Tucson, AZ 85701.
For more info. or to attend, contact Russ Johnson, Native Solutions - (520)887-4343 for an application form.
Dear Bobbie – Ward has been a defender against colonization but now is getting a bad rap. Can you print the article?
By Erin Gartner, U.S. National - Associated Press
Boulder, Colo. – An embattled University of Colorado professor who likened Sept.11 victims to Nazis got a standing ovation when he told a campus audience of more than 1,000 people that “I’m not backing up an inch.”
Ward Churchill, who had filed a lawsuit after the state-funded university threatened to cancel his address, was interrupted several times by thunderous applause.
Churchill has resigned as chairman of the university ethnic studies department. Gov. Bill Owens has called for Churchill to be fired, and the university
Board of Regents is investigating whether the tenured professor can be removed.
In an essay, Churchill wrote that workers in the World Trade Center were the equivalent of “little Eichmanns”, a reference to Adolf Eichmann, who ensured the smooth running of the Nazi system. Churchill also spoke of the “gallant sacrifices” of the “combat teams” that struck America.
The ethnic studies professor said Tuesday, his essay was referring to “technocrats” who participate in what he calls repressive American policies around the world.
A longtime American Indian Movement activist, he said he is also culpable because his efforts to change the system haven’t succeeded. “I could do more. I’m complicit. I’m not innocent,” he said.
The Boulder Faculty Assembly, which represents professors at the Boulder campus, has said Churchill’s comments were “controversial, offensive and odious” but supports his right to say them based on the principle of academic freedom.
During his 35 minute speech, Churchill said the essay was not referring to children, firefighters, janitors or people passing by the World Trade Center who were killed during the attacks.
The ACLU issued a statement defending Churchill’s right to speak out and called upon regents, legislators and the governor “to stop threatening Mr.Churchill’s job because of the content of his opinions.”
David Horowitz, a champion of conservative causes who has long accused American universities of overstocking their facilities with leftists, has said firing Churchill would violate his First Amendment Rights and set a bad precedent.
He called instead for an inquiry into the university’s hiring and promotion procedures to see how Churchill managed to rise to the chairmanship of the school’s ethnic studies department.
-30-
Dear Jean – I agree with you and just about everyone else who has become involved with this controversy that Churchill was expressing his First Amendment Rights and had every right to do so.
But, I’m not buying the part about the “gallant sacrifices” of the “combat teams” who destroyed the World Trade Centers on Sept 11. Those guys must have been tired of living the rigid, fanatical, fundamentalist life and couldn’t wait to meet the 70 virgins and enjoy all the earthly pleasures that had been denied them until they passed through the Pearly Gates. Anyone for ribs and a cold one?
My dear activist, I cannot see you in a burka, barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. - bobbie
NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.
For news and information on Native American and First Nations actors, go to Annie's site at www.NativeCelebs.com and follow the threads.
Healing Pathways for Native Americans with Breast Cancer.
Prevention Treatment and Recovery on March 25th and 26th at the Radisson City Center - Tucson, 181 W. Broadway, Tucson, AZ 85701.
For more info. or to attend, contact Russ Johnson, Native Solutions - (520)887-4343 for an application form.
posted by Bobbie Hart O'Neill @ 3:40 PM
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