The Continuing Saga of Ward Churchill

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I imagine somewhere that I am breaking some code of conduct that says that if you want someone or something to go away, simply stop paying attention to it. It seems to work on zits, television ads, and the streetlght at 2nd and University that seems content with regulating the passage of invisible cars...whatever the color of the light, you're usually pretty safe walking across this intersection...

So, by all accounts, I should ignore the continuous ravings of CU professor Ward Churchill and he will go away.

Well, if you've been following my blog-world up to this point, you have learned that ignoring the controversial is not about to happen here.

See, three things are happening that are keeping the story of Ward "Whacko" Churchill alive.

- He keeps appearing in public venues. He recently attended a speech in Washington or Oregon despite the fact that the university there didn't want him to show up. He also made a guest appearance on Bil lMaher's HBO show, and true to form, Maher almost wet his pants trying to worship Churchill as if he were standing in the presence of the Messiah.

- A far larger event in this story is about to come to a close, if media reports are correct. In the aftermath of the initial controversy over Churchill's "little Eichmanns" comment, the CU Board is looking into whether or not Churchill's writings contain academic fallacy. If they do, Churchill could be fired...it's actually a long process, but there would be a huge amount of movement toward getting that process started if the man's teachings are found to be total BS...

- And perhaps the biggest event so far...I received a reply to my first article on the subject! Yes, since you come here to read about me and my opinions on matters of importance, you also get to know what I think about the notes I get from people...please note that I maintain my creative policy of trying to sprinkle historic, economic, political, or cultural truth when answering notes from people who avidly hate me with every fiber of their being...the better to inspire and educate you with, my friends...

And now, to Rachel S. and her comments...

Rachel says:

"However, most of the claims he's made, which you are now questioning, are highly controversial. If some historians are telling one side of the story, and some are telling another side, there is bound to be some dispute about "the facts." After all, history is told by the victor, and Churchill is trying to tell the other side of the story."

Well, there are two things wrong with this statement. The first is the supposition that I am questioning claims made by Churchill that are merely controversial. Nope! The claims I am contesting are also being questioned by scholars in the field of Native American studies. These people have facts which say that what Churchill is claiming as genocidal policies on the part of the US military during the time in question is WRONG.

The second thing wrong with Rachel's statement is the idea that history is written by the victors. Nope again! While history may become clouded by stories, foggy memories, and sinister agendas that may combine to create a myth that gets handed down, at the end of the day, just as the DNA strand forms the basis for an entire entity, history is made up of a series of truths. These are spread out on a series of levels...political, military, economic, cultural, and more...and when taken together, they form something rather important...they form a story of what really happened.

The whole "history is written by the victor" line reflects the fact that people telling the story of history often have agendas, such as Ward Churchill, who has marched at protests demonstrating against Columbus Day. When you add that to his statements about a supposed plan to wipe out the Native Americans through the use of disease-laden blankets, you begin to see an anti-American bias that quite frankly also explains his "little Eichmanns" comment.

A historical scientist learns to strip the biases of other people away from the historical fact and keeps his/her own biases away from the observations being made so that what comes from the work being done is as close to accurate as is possible.

I have no doubt that if Ward Churchill wanted to make himself to be a champion of the Native American, he could...there has been enough bad history between the Native Americans and those who later settled the lands formerly belonging to the indian tribes. No country's history is spotless, and no people can call themselves angels.

However, one of history's greatest admonishments for why it is relevant is the teaching of its lessons...because if we don't learn them, we will be forced to stay after class until we do...and history's lessons are often taught with a lot of bloodshed.

With that in mind, Ward Churchill does a dis-service to his students by filling their heads with false teachings...with history that did not happen, with slights against the Native Americans that never ocurred, and with slanders against innocent people whose only crime against humanity was getting up and going to work in New York City on one early Fall day in 2001.

Quite frankly, I know that the White Man has enough historic sin on his head. I don't need to carry extra burdens for things that never happened.

I will continue to follow the Churchill case in Boulder with the hope that not only justice for the students of Colorado University will be done, but also that justice for history will also be done.

John B.