Historians/History

Ward Churchill: Links and Comments from Around the Internet

by Ralph Luker

The following entries were originally published by Ralph Luker at the group blog, Cliopatria. The following entries are posted in reverse chronological order.

February 9

(Click here for the original entry, along with posted comments from readers)

Charlie Brennan,"'I do not work for taxpayers,' prof says," Rocky Mountain News, 9 Feb.

Scott Jaschik,"A New Ward Churchill Controversy," Inside Higher Ed, 9 Feb.

Denver talk radio's Peter Boyles interviews Ward Churchill and Russell Means. The link also offers two Churchill parody songs. Scroll down and you'll find David Horowitz favoring Churchill's retention at CU. Wotf is DH to advise a research university about faculty retention?! Did Michael Jackson advise the Pentagon on the invasion of Iraq? Hat tip to Mark Grimsley at War Historian, but why is Grimsley so tolerant of Horowitz?

Humor Alert: It's"Chutch"; or, Ward Churchill, The TV Action Series. Thanks to Fontana Labs at Unfogged for the tip.

February 8

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The controversy around the University of Colorado's Professor Ward Churchill continues to build. Here are some additional, substantial links:

Thomas Brown,"The Genocide That Wasn't: Ward Churchill's Research Fraud." An assistant professor of sociology at Lamar University with a doctorate from Johns Hopkins, Brown charges Churchill"has committed research fraud, and very possibly committed perjury as well." Specifically, says Brown, Churchill"invented a story about the US Army deliberately creating a smallpox epidemic among the Mandan people in 1837 by distributing infected blankets. While there was a smallpox epidemic on the Plains in 1837, it was entirely accidental, the Army wasn't involved, and nearly every element of Churchill's story is a total invention."

Timothy Burke, It's a Fair Cop," Easily Distracted, 8 Feb. Tim reflects on soft-leftnicity, academic hackery, and the tenured condition.

Paul Campos,"Truth Tricky for Churchill," Rocky Mountain News 8 Feb. A professor of law at the University of Colorado surveys the range of charges that might be brought against Churchill.

Digby,"Witnessing History," Hullabaloo, 6 Feb.

Editors Report,"Churchill's Identity Revealed in Wake of Nazi Comment," Indian Country Today, 3 February. More about Churchill's claim of a native American identity.

In addition to Digby, another source that continues to defend Churchill is PressAction.com."An online publication of news analysis and commentary" since November 2002, PressAction.com has a mailing address in Arlington, Virginia, but offers little else by way of self-description. But, see its publication of a press release by Churchill's publisher,
AK Press, Ward Churchill Under Attack," 1 Feb; and
Rosemarie Jackowski,"Ward Churchill: Super Patriot," 2 Feb.
Joshua Frank,"The Distortions of Acumen: Liberals Trash Ward Churchill." 4 Feb.
Steven Best,"First They Came After Ward, Then ...," 5 Feb.
Jordy Cummings,"Same As It Ever Was," 5 Feb.
Kurt Nimmo,"Churchill, Eichman, and Those 9/11 Technocrats," 5 Feb.
Kurt Nimmo,"Growing Chorus: Prosecute Ward Churchill for Treason," 6 Feb.
Mickey Z.,"Warning: More Hate Speech from W. Churchill," 6 Feb.

Thanks to Mark Grimsley at War Historian, Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit, and Moby Lives for the tips.

February 5

(Click here for the original entry, along with posted comments from readers)

I have updated this list of links to discussion of Professor Ward Churchill's work and the controversy at the University of Colorado. The discussions seem liveliest at the points where several of our academic colleagues characterize others of us as a"hack".

As this piece in the Rocky Mountain News suggests, Churchill's tenured position on the faculty seems safe, if the thirty day inquiry ordered by Colorado's Board of Regents is restricted to his work. Other commentators, however, point out that, if the investigation extends beyond that to inquiry about his claims to be a Native American and it could be shown that he is not, Churchill could be vulnerable on grounds that he has misrepresented himself. His claims on that score do seem tenuous, as I've seen indications in some places that he claims to be 3/16th and other places that he claims to be 1/16th Cherokee. Will ethnic studies reduce us to re-affirming the New South's"one drop" rule? As Michael Tinkler points out, it would be an odd result, given the fact that Churchill's scheduled topic at Hamilton College was to have been -- not 9/11 -- but prisons and Native American rights.

Jim Adams,"Churchill Controversial on Two Fronts," Indian Country Today, 3 Feb.
Stephen Bainbridge,"Voltaire and Ward Churchill," Professor Bainbridge, 4 Feb.
Timothy Burke,"Off the Hook," Easily Distracted, 2 Feb.(Margaret Soltan at University Diaries calls"Off the Hook" a"Rim Shot".)

Oscar Chamberlain,"Writing as if the Malevolent Read," Cliopatria, 3 Feb.
Sherman Dorn,"Ward Churchill Fallout" and"Admirable Consistency and the Morality of Universities". Feb 3, 5.
Henry Farrell,"Hate Filled Stupidity from Right Leaning Academics," and"Academic Freedoms and Ward Churchill," Crooked Timber, 2, 4 Feb.
Mark Grimsley,"Little Eichmans, Parts I, II, III & IV," War Historian, 3 Feb., Part V coming; and scroll down.
John Holbo,"Sigh ..." Crooked Timber, 4 Feb. (Fontana Labs at Unfogged declares"John Holbo: My Hero").

Scott Jaschik,"Showdown in Colorado," Inside Higher Ed, 3 Feb.
Robert KC Johnson,"Contrasting Hamilton and Colorado," Cliopatria, 2 Feb.
D. B. Light,"The Academic Left Revisited," Light Seeking Light, 1 Feb; and The Churchill Affair, Ramifications," 3 Feb.
T. R. Reid,"Professor Under Fire for 9/11 Comments," Washington Post, 5 Feb.
Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit, 28 Jan, 3 Feb, 4 Feb.
Michael Tinkler,"Academic Freedom =/= Speaking Engagements," Cranky Professor, 5 Feb.
Eugene Volokh at The Volokh Conspiracy, 4 Feb (and scroll up).

At Z-Net, Ward Churchill responds to his critics, 31 Jan and 2 Feb.
Kevin Drum's"Pack Journalism" at Political Animal, 5 Feb, is an excellent review of how the Ward Churchill story built in the national press.
Related stories, Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News, 2, 3, 4, 5 Feb.

According to the Denver Post, after a meeting of the University's trustees,"A 30-day review of Ward Churchill's speeches and writings would determine whether the American Indian Movement activist and tenured professor would be removed from his post, Interim Chancellor Phil DiStefano said."