Hi 70 / Lo 59
|
Hi 70 / Lo 59 |
Student Publications
©1991-2007
Last modified:
Contact:
|
Volume 70, Issue 87,
Tuesday, February 8, 2005
Opinion Right's wrong in stifling speech By Wylie Lenz
Recently, right-wing talk show hosts such as Bill O'Reilly of the Fox News Network have been on a crusade against college professors they've deemed "un-American." (Yes, that term is actually being used in this discussion, which suggests either historical ignorance or a deliberate invocation and tacit endorsement of McCarthy-era witch hunts.) Two academics in particular have been so labeled because of their expressed views regarding 9/11. Earlier this month, O'Reilly targeted Ward Churchill at the University of Colorado at Boulder for an essay titled "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens," which the professor wrote three years ago. As a result of O'Reilly's coverage, Churchill's speech on American Indian activism to be delivered at Hamilton College was cancelled last week; security concerns were cited after the school received threats of violence. Furthermore, Churchill has been forced to step down from his position as chair of the Ethnic Studies Department. The governor and legislature of Colorado now are calling for him to be dismissed from his teaching post. Also recently, O'Reilly had as his guest Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, a neo-conservative group that runs the Campus Watch Web site. The site has a quasi-academic appearance, and the group claims that it "supports the unencumbered freedom of speech of all scholars" and it merely "reviews and critiques Middle East studies" programs. In fact, as the Jan. 28 issue of the Times Higher Education Supplement explains, Campus Watch posts articles that "attack academics' works, encourage donors to these academics' institutions to withdraw funding and urge universities either to sack the academics or to thwart their progress up the career ladder -- all in the name of free speech." Pipes is now going after Northeastern University economics professor M. Shahid Alam for his essay, "America and Islam: Seeking Parallels." Again, there is campaign calling for the professor's dismissal. Both Alam and Churchill have reported receiving numerous death threats. It is important to note that both of these professors are being criticized not for what they have said in the classroom, or even in their scholarly work, but for editorial writing -- expression of opinions. With a simple Internet search, I easily found both of the original essays. It is clear that the professors' words have been taken out of context and their ideas deliberately misrepresented. However, even if you find some of these ideas controversial, nothing either of these academics could say is more offensive than the concerted attempts to silence them. I hope that you find this ongoing assault on academic freedom chilling -- and, frankly, un-American. It is especially so given the recent study by the University of Connecticut which reported that fully one-third of high school students feel the First Amendment to the United States Constitution grants "too much freedom." The extreme right is coordinating a massive e-mail campaign in an attempt to pressure the respective universities to dismiss, and effectively silence, Churchill and Alam. In the name of academic freedom -- in the name of the founding American principle of free speech -- I implore you to offer a rational counterbalance to this onslaught. In the case of Ward Churchill, write University of Colorado Interim Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano at chanchat@spot.colorado.edu. Regarding M. Shahid Alam, write Ahmed Abdelal, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost for Northeastern University at a.abdelal@neu.edu. Voltaire once said, "I disapprove of what you say,
but I will defend to the death your right to say it." If we act now, it
may not come to that.
Send comments to dccampus@mail.uh.edu |
To contact the
To contact other members
of
 |