Indians Should Support Ward Churchill

[Itsthetruth]

Indian Country Today
The Nations'Leading American Indian News Source
February 17, 2005

The termination and removal of Ward Churchill
by: Scott Richard Lyons

Let there be no mistake, the forces of censorship currently afflicting Churchill for committing the crime of truth-telling will not be satisfied with only his demise. Churchill had no sooner been skewered when the Right quickly turned its attention to Shahid Alam, a soft-spoken professor of economics at Northeastern University who had the gall to suggest in an op-ed that the 9/11 attackers may have believed they were fighting against foreign occupation of their homelands. All critical educators are now at risk of being targeted including, I might add, Native American Studies professors (who are not exactly known for pro-American cheerleading).

Unless citizens raise up a firm, collective ''No,'' this witch-hunt is likely to continue. The goal of the Right is to make our universities sound exactly like ''Fox News.''

The last thing we should do right now is try to terminate Ward Churchill by haggling over his identity. It's a red herring. Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter are already making hay out of the ethnic fraud allegations, and anyone who thinks they are doing so to promote tribal self-determination ought to have their head examined.

And despite nagging questions of ethnic exaggeration, which have by no means been conclusively answered, I believe Indians should support him. After all, with all these attempted terminations and removals in his life, how could Ward Churchill, that great warrior of the pen, be anything but an Indian?

Scott Richard Lyons, Leech Lake Ojibwe, is assistant professor of Writing and Rhetoric at Syracuse University, where he also teaches Native American Studies.

http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410377

[bluestateguy]

1. I only support his retention as a professor, NOT his commentary

His remarks about the 9/11 victims were every bit as cruel and mean-spiried as that of the right wing war mongers when they speak of civillian casualties in Iraq. Only three years later did he issue a lame "clarification". But I do support academic freedom, and firing him would set a very dangerous precedent. Academic freedom is far more important to me than not being offended.

[Itsthetruth]

2. Good

Good. If we only defended the liberties and free speech rights of those who we totally agreed with the right-wing witch-hunters would have a field day.

[pretzel4gore]

3. common enemy

while standing up for ward is a must, it should be for everybody....the busheviks are united (read mike lind's 'up from conservativism' for some of the actual mechanics of gop/bush/rnc/kkk solidarity) so if we split up into activist groups the nazipoos will be happy....the rightwing plot to isolate churchill is effective because they control the bushsukkhole media (aka the mass media) and that seems to be a big problem in terms of doing anything

[raysr]

4. There was an excellant

piece on him last nite on FSTV, while listening to him speak I leaned some things I never knew. If you get Dish Network try to see it "When they came for Ward Churchill".