Ward Churchill @ UH
Last night, admitted Al Quaida sympathizer Ward Churchill spoke at UH.
Here is some commentary
1) My letter to Ka Leo on this topic
http://www.kaleo.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/02/23/421c6ea54a571
Letters to the Editor
'Radical leftists' hypocritical
February 23, 2005
How ironic that the Radical Leftists at this university defend the invitation of admitted al-Qaeda sympathizer Ward Churchill by mentioning "academic freedom"!
Yet, where were those same Radical Leftists in Fall 2002 when the staff of University of Hawaii's Academy of Lifelong Learning were threatened for inviting Ken Conklin to teach a non-credit course that took a critical look at Hawaiian sovereignty?
If an admitted al-Qaeda sympathizer like Ward Churchill should have academic freedom, so should Ken Conklin and any other non-leftist speaker.
Pablo Wegesend
UH alumnus
Honolulu, HI
And here is a response to my letter to the editor from Shari Thurow
As a former University of Hawai'i graduate student, I wanted to speak out about this topic for over 10 years, but I felt that Grant Crowell made enough satisfactory statements.
Now, I have changed my mind.Haunani Trask is a racist and a hypocrite. I am amazed that she has not been reprimanded for her actions. Had she said or done things that occurred at the UH campus at any other major university, she would have been reprimanded.
No professor would get away with the polluted, racist statements she has made toward students. I defy her to come to a different university as a professor and make her racist remarks to an African American, Native American, or Hispanic student. Or any student for that matter. Other administrations would have been on top of her inappropriate comments within seconds.
When I attended UH from 1990-1993, Trask made it very clear to me and many of my fellow students that my "type" was not welcome there. I expect better behavior from university professors.
Trask is certainly entitled to her opinions and her First Amendment rights, but she should not be allowed to exhibit her racist mentality toward any student, no matter that student's race.
I already know what Trask thinks of me (and I quote): She wants to kick in my face, and puncture both my eyes, slit my heart with a knife and put a fist in my mouth.
UH deserves better scholars than her. It's a shame that a normally intelligent human being can be so polluted with hate.
Oh yeah, Haunani, I married Crowell. I'd love to hear your garbage opinions on that statement, considering that I formed my opinion of you long before I met him. I met you in person. I listened to your hate speeches. And he does not know that I sent this letter (yet). You don't know me. Your opinions about me are uneducated and uninformed.
This Trask debate should be over. I should not be revisiting this issue over 10 years later. Haunani, that means you need to grow up, look in the mirror, and face your own hypocrisy and racism. Crowell isn't the "publicity-seeking egomaniac."
End of my rant. Thank you, UH, for allowing me to express my opinion.
Shari Thurow
Marketing Director
Illinois
2) Churchill ISN'T a true defender of academic freedom
Check the following out
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3568706,00.html
Grant Crowell finds it ironic that Ward Churchill was at the University of Hawaii holding forth on free speech Tuesday, because he believes Churchill tried to limit his own when he was a student there.
Crowell authored a cartoon while a student at UH-Manoa in 1994 taking a shot at Haunani-Kay Trask, a professor at the Center for Hawaiian Studies who helped arrange Churchill's return visit there this week.
In an interview Tuesday from his home in Carpentersville, Ill., Crowell said Churchill went even further, that day."He used the name of an unnamed Nazi cartoonist, who was convicted during the Nuremberg Trials, executed, dismembered, and cremated," said Crowell, who attended the 1994 rally where he was assailed."
Churchill was saying, 'I'm not saying this should happen to Grant - but if it did, it could be a good thing,' " Crowell alleged.
So much for Ward Churchill defending academic freedom
As for that offending cartoon, link to
http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/art/news/022305cartoon.shtml
Seen it? The cartoon didn't even insult Native Hawaiians, it was directed at Haunani-Kay Trask. But in Trask's mind, anyone who doesn't kiss her ass is considered "anti-Hawaiian"
