2008 Woodie Awards
What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?
Phil Desantis
Issue date: 3/17/05 Section: Opinions
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Ward Churchill, professor at the University of Colorado-Boulder, is one of the trickiest cases of free speech I have ever encountered. He is either a case of an American patriot, using the First Amendment as a shield and his words against government control as his sword. Or he is an embedded traitor, corrupting the eager young minds of America as they enter adulthood and into one of Colorado's public universities.
Issues arise from an essay that Churchill wrote in the aftermath of 9/11. The two-and-a-half year old essay titled "Some People Push Back; The Justice of Roosting Chickens" talks about those that died in 9/11 in less than flattering terms: "True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But innocent? Gimme a break."
He basically labeled those who worked and died at the Pentagon in the aftermath of the attacks as legitimate military targets and those who died in the World Trade Center towers as tactical targets; a very unpopular stance for those who were victims in either of the attacks. He goes on to compare the Americans to Nazis that allowed those to die in the Holocaust with their apathy, due to the thousands of Iraqis that have died in the past decade from bombings and sanctions. Churchill got in the crossfire of controversy with a speaking engagement he had scheduled at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. The Feb. 3 engagement was to talk about supplementary reasons that the World Trade Centers could have been attacked along with the Pentagon. People protested, wrote letters, and even sent him death threats to keep him away from the college. This ballooned into an even bigger issue, pitting him against the so-called American Patriots in a battle for his job at UC.
People are up in arms at his teaching position, saying it is a corruptive position of power, warping the minds of the children of America. Further complicating the issue is that he is tenured, a kind of insurance for teachers so that they may creatively express ideas without fear of political reprisal or censorship. Additionally, claims have been made by several different parties, including the American Indian Movement, on Churchhill's claim to have American Indian blood.
Issues arise from an essay that Churchill wrote in the aftermath of 9/11. The two-and-a-half year old essay titled "Some People Push Back; The Justice of Roosting Chickens" talks about those that died in 9/11 in less than flattering terms: "True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But innocent? Gimme a break."
He basically labeled those who worked and died at the Pentagon in the aftermath of the attacks as legitimate military targets and those who died in the World Trade Center towers as tactical targets; a very unpopular stance for those who were victims in either of the attacks. He goes on to compare the Americans to Nazis that allowed those to die in the Holocaust with their apathy, due to the thousands of Iraqis that have died in the past decade from bombings and sanctions. Churchill got in the crossfire of controversy with a speaking engagement he had scheduled at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. The Feb. 3 engagement was to talk about supplementary reasons that the World Trade Centers could have been attacked along with the Pentagon. People protested, wrote letters, and even sent him death threats to keep him away from the college. This ballooned into an even bigger issue, pitting him against the so-called American Patriots in a battle for his job at UC.
People are up in arms at his teaching position, saying it is a corruptive position of power, warping the minds of the children of America. Further complicating the issue is that he is tenured, a kind of insurance for teachers so that they may creatively express ideas without fear of political reprisal or censorship. Additionally, claims have been made by several different parties, including the American Indian Movement, on Churchhill's claim to have American Indian blood.
