{{main|Ward Churchill}}  |  ''[[Ward Churchill misconduct allegations]]''
[[Image:On the Justice of Roosting Chickens.jpg|thumb|right|153px|Churchill book cover]]
Historian and ethnic studies professor Ward Churchill wrote an essay in September 2001 titled "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens" about the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]], in which he argued that American foreign policies provoked the attacks. He described the "technocratic corps at the very heart of America's global financial empire" working in the [[World Trade Center]] as "little [[Adolf Eichmann|Eichmanns]],"
a phrase coined by [[anarcho-primitivism|anarcho-primitivist]] [[John Zerzan]].<ref name=Kersplebedeb050210> Ward Churchill, [http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/s11/churchill.html "Some People Push Back": On the Justice of Roosting Chickens], ''[[Kersplebedeb]] blog'', [[February 10]] [[2005]]</ref><ref name=DailyCamera050201> [http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines05/0201-05.htm  Ward Churchill Statement], ''[[Daily Camera]]'', [[February 1]] [[2005]]</ref>  

In response to 2005 publicity from the [[mass media]] and in [[weblogs]], Churchill was both widely condemned and widely defended.  Some defenders who did not agree with Churchill's analysis and/or with his inflammatory phrasing nonetheless felt that the attacks on Churchill represented efforts at intimidation against academic discourse and suppression of political dissent.

== The essay ==
{{main|On the Justice of Roosting Chickens}}
In "Some People Push Back," Churchill argued that effects of decade-long economic sanctions on [[Iraq|Iraqis]], together with the [[Middle East]] policies of President [[Lyndon Johnson]], and the history of [[Crusades]] against the [[Islamic]] world, had contributed to a climate in which 9/11 was what he called a "natural and inevitable response."<ref name=DemocracyNow050218> [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/18/157211 The Justice of Roosting Chickens: Ward Churchill Speaks], ''[[Democracy Now]]'', [[February 18]] [[2005]]</ref>

The "roosting chickens" phrase comes from [[Malcolm X]]'s comment about the [[assassination]] of U.S. president [[John F. Kennedy]] that Kennedy "never foresaw that the chickens would come home to roost so soon."

Churchill explained what he meant in a February 2005 interview with ''[[Democracy Now!]]''<ref name=DemocracyNow050218/>

{{Quotation
 |If you want to avoid September 11s, if you want security in some actual form, then it's almost a biblical framing, you have to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. As long as you're doing what the U.S. is doing in the world, you can anticipate a natural and inevitable response of the sort that occurred on 9/11. If you don't get the message out of 9/11, you're going to have to change, first of all, your perception of the value of those others who are consigned to domains, semantic domains like [[collateral damage]], then you've really got no complaint when the rules you've imposed come back on you.    
 |Ward Churchill
 |Statement to Democracy Now}}

In an allusion to [[Hannah Arendt]]'s depiction of Nazi war criminal [[Adolf Eichmann]] as an ordinary person promoting the activity of an evil system, Churchill referred to the "technocrats" working at the World Trade Center as "little Eichmanns." He wrote:

{{Quotation
 |As for those in the World Trade Center, well, really, let's get a grip here, shall we? True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But innocent? Gimme a break. They formed a technocratic corps at the very heart of America's global financial empire, the "mighty engine of profit" to which the military dimension of U.S. policy has always been enslaved and they did so both willingly and knowingly.<ref name=Kersplebedeb050210/>
 |Ward Churchill
 |Some People Push Back}}

Churchill compared the American people to the "good Germans" of [[Nazi Germany]], claiming that the vast majority of Americans had ignored the civilian suffering caused by the sanctions on Iraq during the [[1990s]], which he characterized as a policy of [[genocide]].

The essay was later expanded into a book, ''[[On the Justice of Roosting Chickens]],'' which won Honorable Mention for the [[Gustavus Myers]] Human Rights Award in 2004.

== Public controversy ==
National attention was drawn to the essay in January 2005, when Churchill was invited to speak at [[Hamilton College]] as a panelist in a debate, "Limits of Dissent."

The text of the essay was quoted on the January 28, 2005, edition of the [[Fox News Channel]] program ''[[The O'Reilly Factor]]'' and commentator [[Bill O'Reilly (commentator)|Bill O'Reilly]] subsequently discussed Churchill on a number of other segments as well.  The [[January 31]]st edition of ''The O'Reilly Factor'' featured Paul Campos, a University of Colorado professor, who said he was appalled at Churchill's comments.  At the end of the segment, O'Reilly suggested that viewers wishing to voice their opinions could contact Hamilton College or Hamilton's president, Joan Stewart;<ref name=Fox050201>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146031,00.html More Controversy Over Univ. of Colorado Professor Churchill], ''[[Fox News]]'', [[February 1]] [[2005]]</ref> 
Hamilton College subsequently received 6,000 e-mails concerning Churchill.{{fact}}  The lecture was changed to a larger venue, but was later cancelled by Stewart, following what she described as "credible threats of violence."{{fact}}  Churchill has written that he received threats against his life as a consequence of his statements and the corresponding news coverage.<ref name=Kersplebedeb050210/>
			
In response to what he called "grossly inaccurate media coverage concerning [his] analysis of the September 11, 2001, attacks," Churchill clarified his views:<ref>http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_3512084,00.html</ref>

{{Quotation
 |I am not a "defender" of the September 11 attacks, but simply pointing out that if U.S. foreign policy results in massive death and destruction abroad, we cannot feign innocence when some of that destruction is returned. I have never said that people "should" engage in armed attacks on the United States, but that such attacks are a natural and unavoidable consequence of unlawful U.S. policy. As [[Martin Luther King]], quoting [[Robert F. Kennedy]], said, "Those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable."
 |Ward Churchill
 |Statement to Rocky Mountain News}}

He continued:

{{Quotation
 |It is not disputed that [[the Pentagon]] was a military target, or that a [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] office was situated in the World Trade Center. Following the logic by which [[United States Department of Defense|U.S. Defense Department]] spokespersons have consistently sought to justify target selection in places like [[Baghdad]], this placement of an element of the American "command and control infrastructure" in an ostensibly civilian facility converted the Trade Center itself into a "legitimate" target. Again following U.S. military doctrine, as announced in briefing after briefing, those who did not work for the CIA but were nonetheless killed in the attack amounted to no more than "collateral damage". If the U.S. public is prepared to accept these "standards" when they are routinely applied to other people, they should not be surprised when the same standards are applied to them. 
 |Ward Churchill
 |Statement to Rocky Mountain News}}

On January 31, 2005, Churchill resigned as chairman of the Ethnic Studies department at the [[University of Colorado]].<ref name=ColoradoUBoulder050131>[http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2005/44.html Ward Churchill Resigns Administrative Post], ''[[University of Colorado at Boulder News Center]]'', [[January 31]] [[2005]]</ref>

Colorado [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] governor [[Bill Owens]] publicly called for Churchill's dismissal.<ref name=BadgerHerald050401>[http://badgerherald.com/news/2005/04/01/churchill_to_remain_.php Churchill to remain at Colorado], ''[[Badger Herald]]'', [[April 1]] [[2005]].  The Colorado House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution condemning Churchill's statements: [http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=d3f458ee-0abe-421a-007e-b8e9003f63be&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf Colorado lawmakers approve resolution on controversy surrounding CU professor], ''[[KUSA]]''</ref>

The Board of Regents of the University of Colorado, meeting in executive session on February 3, 2005, adopted a resolution apologizing to the American people for Churchill's statements, and ratifying interim chancellor Phil DiStefano's review of Churchill's actions.  DiStefano was directed to investigate whether Churchill had overstepped his bounds as a faculty member and whether his actions were cause for dismissal.  The university's Standing Committee on Research Misconduct agreed that his words were protected by the university's academic free-speech code, but agreed to investigate subsequent charges made against Churchill of [[plagiarism]], falsification, fabrication and [[Ethnicity|ethnic]] fraud (see [[Ward Churchill#Other allegations|below]]). In May 2006, the University announced that its Research Misconduct Committee found  that Churchill's publications demonstrate a pattern of research misconduct.  On June 26, 2006, Chancellor Phil DiStefano recommended Churchill's dismissal to the Board of Regents, and relieved Churchill of his campus duties including teaching, service, and research.<ref>[http://newmedia.colorado.edu/silverandgold/messages/4421.html DEAD LINK]</ref>  In August 2006, the CU student government passed a resolution to support the committee's recommendations to fire Churchill.<ref>http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4234308 Denver Post daily events]; [http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2006/08/23/news/c_u_and_boulder/news3.txt Colorado Daily on upcoming resolution</ref>

== Charges of a "new McCarthyism" ==
When Churchill's comparison of those who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, whom Churchill labeled as "technocrats", to notorious [[Nazism|Nazi]] [[Adolph Eichmann]] was first widely publicized in early 2005, media commentators such as [[Fox News Channel|FOX News]]'s [[Bill O'Reilly (commentator)|Bill O'Reilly]] and [[The Nation (U.S. periodical)|The Nation]]'s [[Marc Cooper]] denounced Churchill's essay.  However, a number of academics and activists defended Churchill's essay, or argued that it was not grounds for firing him from his teaching job.  One of Churchill's fellow professors in the Ethnic Studies department at the University of Colorado, Emma Perez, alleged that the attacks on Churchill were an organized "test case" by [[neo-conservative]]s to stifle liberal criticism of the [[War on Terror]], and to undermine the funding of [[ethnic studies]] departments nationwide.<ref name=CounterPunch050228>[http://www.counterpunch.org/perez02282005.html A Neocon Test Case for Academic Purges: The Attacks on Ward Churchill], ''[[Counterpunch]]'', [[February 28]] [[2005]]</ref>
[[Elizabeth Hoffman (professor)|Betsy Hoffman]], then the president of the University of Colorado, said of the attacks on Churchill, "We are in dangerous times. I'm very concerned. ... It's looking a lot like [former CU President] George Norlin being asked to fire all the Catholics and Jews or the McCarthy era."<ref>[http://newmedia.colorado.edu/silverandgold/messages/4255.html DEAD LINK]</ref>

A number of other political commentators have similarly analyzed the "Churchill Affair" in terms of a "witch hunt"; for example, Gilles d'Aymery,
Fred Feldman,
the Michigan Independent Media Center, Scott Richard Lyons (writing for ''Indian Country'')
and others.<ref name=Swans050214>[http://www.swans.com/library/art11/ga190.html Another Witch Hunt Story: Ward Churchill], ''[[Swans Commentary]]'', [[February 14]] [[2005]]</ref><ref name=CounterPunch050224>[http://www.counterpunch.org/feldman02242005.html Lynching Ward Chuchill: Witchhunts to the Right; Witchhunts to the Left],  ''[[Counterpunch]]'', [[February 24]] [[2005]]</ref><ref>http://michiganimc.org/newswire/display/9492/index.php</ref><ref name=Kersplebedeb050217>[http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/s11/churchill_lyons.html The termination and removal of Ward Churchill], ''[[Kersplebedeb]] blog'', [[February 17]] [[2005]]</ref>

According to over 600 academics signing an "An Open Letter from Concerned Academics":
<ref name=DefendCriticalThinking>[http://www.defendcriticalthinking.org/ URGENT ALERT!  JULY '06], ''[[D E F E N D: Dissent and critical thinking on campus]]'', July 2006</ref>

{{Quotation
 |To be clear: the issues here have nothing to do with the quality of Ward Churchill’s scholarship or his professional credentials. However one views his choice of words or specific arguments, he is being put in the dock solely for his radical critique of U.S. history and present-day policy in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001. Apparently, 9/11 is now the third rail of American intellectual life: to critically probe into its causes and to interrogate the international role of the United States is treated as heresy; those inquiring can be denied forums, careers, and even personal safety.
 | 600+ Signatories
 | An Open Letter from Concerned Academics}}

They continue:

{{Quotation
 |The Churchill case is not an isolated incident but a concentrated example of a well-orchestrated campaign launched in the name of “academic freedom” and “balance” which in fact aims to purge the universities of more radical thinkers and oppositional thought generally, and to create a climate of intimidation.
 | 600+ signatories
 | An Open Letter from Concerned Academics}}

The Denver newspaper [[Rocky Mountain News]] has run numerous and ongoing articles alleging misconduct. Supporters of Churchill's academic free speech take the frequency, content and tone of these articles as evidence of Churchill's having become a political [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/b%C3%AAte_noire bête noire] among Colorado conservatives. (see below [[Ward Churchill misconduct allegations#Rocky Mountain News on the "Churchill affair"|Rocky Mountain News links]]).

A documentary on the reactions to Churchill's essay, called ''When They Came For Ward Churchill'' was produced by the [[Free Speech Network]].<ref name=Freespeech050220> [http://www.freespeech.org/videodb/index.php?action=detail&video_id=10046&browse=0 When They Came For Ward Churchill], ''[[Freespeech]]'', [[February 20]] [[2005]]</ref>

== The Governor calls it treason ==
Pursuing a similar line of thinking to that advanced in his "Some People Push Back" essay, in an April 2004 interview with ''[[Satya]]'' magazine, Churchill said:

{{Quotation
 |If I defined the state as being the problem, just what happens to the state? I've never fashioned myself to be a [[revolutionary]], but it's part and parcel of what I'm talking about. You can create through [[consciousness]] a situation of [[flux]], perhaps, in which something better can replace it. In instability there's potential. That's about as far as I go with revolutionary consciousness. I'm actually a de-evolutionary. I don't want other people in charge of the apparatus of the state as the outcome of a socially transformative process that replicates [[oppression]]. I want the state gone: transform the situation to U.S. out of [[North America]]. U.S. off the planet. Out of existence altogether.<ref name=Satya04Apr> [http://www.satyamag.com/apr04/churchill.html Dismantling the Politics of Comfort: The Satya Interview with Ward Churchill], ''[[Satya]]'', April 2004</ref>
 |Ward Churchill
 |Dismantling the Politics of Comfort}}

Colorado governor [[Bill Owens]] called this comment "[[Treason|treasonous]]," arguing that "Churchill has clearly called for violence against the state, and no country is required to subsidize its own destruction. That's what we're doing with Ward Churchill." On [[February 6]], [[2005]], the ''Denver Post'' reported that this comment would be included by the university in its review of Churchill's tenure. [http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~2693730,00.html]  Although there has been some suggestion that the constitutionally overturned [[Smith Act]] should be invoked in order to prosecute Churchill for his remarks, the debate is mostly focused on whether the First Amendment protects the tenure of a professor of a public university. Many, including Governor Owens, argue that the [[University of Colorado]] (or any other public university) is not required to support faculty that support the overthrow of the government.

On [[June 23]], [[2005]], Churchill told an audience in [[Portland, Oregon]]:<ref name=PirateBallerina05July> [http://www.pirateballerina.com/blog/entry.php?id=167 Partial Transcript of Churchill's Portland Remarks], ''[[Pirate Ballerina]]'', July 2005</ref>

{{Quotation
 |For those of you who do, as a matter of principle, oppose war in any form, the idea of supporting a [[conscientious objector]] who's already been inducted in his combat service in Iraq might have a certain appeal. But let me ask you this: Would you render the same level of support to someone who hadn't conscientiously objected, but rather instead rolled a grenade under their line officer in order to neutralize the combat capacity of their unit? ... Conscientious objection removes a given piece of [[cannon fodder]] from the fray. [[Frag (military)|Fragging]] an officer has a much more impactful effect. 
 |Ward Churchill
 |Statement at Portland OR talk}}

When asked by a member of the audience about the officers' families, Churchill responded, "[h]ow do you feel about Adolf Eichmann's family?"

== The CU Alumni Association ==
Teaching Recognition Awards are voted on annually by students at the University of Colorado; In 2005, more than 2,000 students voted. A plurality of 54 students nominated Churchill for the award in the category for class sizes of 25 to 75.<ref>{{cite web | title=CU alumni group withholds award | url=http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1307904&secid=1 | work=The Gazette (May 27, 2005) | author=Brian Newsome | accessdate=May 20 | accessyear=2006}}.  According to CU vice-president Clark Olroyd, Churchill received 54 nominations, with the second-place teacher in the same category receiving 30 to 40 nominations.</ref> With the ongoing investigations by the Ethics Committee, the Alumni Association responsible for presenting the award has yet to present the award to Churchill.  Clark Oldroyd, The vice president of the Alumni Association stated that "We're giving that committee time to complete its study" and also stated that, "It just seems like the prudent thing to do." <ref name=DailyCamera050527> [http://www.uccs.edu/~ur/media/mediawatch/view_article.php?y=mediawatch_articles&article_id=12673 Churchill's award withheld: Alumni group won't give Ward Churchill his teaching honor], ''[[Daily Camera]]'', [[May 27]] [[2005]]</ref>

Alumni Association President Kent Zimmerman told the campus Silver & Gold Record that the group is holding back the award until Churchill's "name has been cleared" by the committee. He compared it to withholding a student's grade on a final exam "if there were questions about the student's effort."  Zimmerman is also quoted by the [[Denver Post]] as stating that Churchill's "award is being withheld, in part, due to his tendency to "antagonize and create enemies."<ref name=TennesseeUa> [http://listserv.utk.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0506&L=rpa-list&D=0&T=0&P=215 CU students vote favors Churchill, but award withheld], ''[[University of Tennessee, Office of Information Technology - listserver]]'', [[June 1]] [[2005]] </ref>  
According to Churchill, "What Alumni Association President Kent Zimmerman is really saying—obviously—is that it would be really awkward for the institution to have to acknowledge the quality of my teaching in the midst of an effort to paint an exactly opposite portrait of me."  Churchill's attorney David Lane contends, "They are punishing Ward Churchill for his free speech by withholding this award".<ref name=DailyCamera050527/> 

Within the University of Colorado community, opinions on the Alumni Association's actions vary.
Instructor Ann Ellis states "I think it's legitimate [to withhold the award]. I think the students voting on the award were trying to influence the investigation." Churchill is being evaluated, she said, "because the university has a responsibility to make sure that its faculty members are who they say they are." In contrast, graduate program assistant Mary Gregory said, "If it's a student award, and it has nothing to do with the review,
then it shouldn't be withheld."<ref name=TennesseeUa/>

According to the Native American website Idianz.com, "Students at the University of Colorado have overwhelmingly chosen Ward Churchill as their favorite professor but he won't be given the award because he is too controversial."<ref name=Indianz050527> [http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/008430.asp Students name Churchill their favorite professor], ''[[Indianz.com]]'', [[May 27]] [[2005]]</ref>  
Given annually for 44 years, this is the first time the award was withheld from its winner.

== References ==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146031,00.html "More Controversy Over Univ. of Colorado Professor Churchill"] (Transcript of ''The O'Reilly Factor,'' January 31, 2005)
*[http://students.hamilton.edu/2005/jrick/churchill.htm "Take a Good Look at Kirkland Project"]
*[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/02/education/02hamilton.html? "College Cancels Speech by Professor Who Disparaged 9/11 Attack Victims"] (''New York Times,'' February 2 2005)
*[http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E2686093,00.html Ward Churchill Press Statement] (''Denver Post,''  February 01, 2005)
*[http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=456606&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312 ABC News/Associated Press Colo. Regents Weigh Prof's 9/11 Comments January 30, 2005]
*[http://starbulletin.com/2005/02/23/news/index2.html Corrected remarks from University of Hawaii speech]
*[http://www.hamilton.edu/news/wardchurchill/amendment.html Hamilton College Statement]
*[http://www.independenceinstitute.org/article.aspx?ID=1109 "CU leader chills speech"] (by Jon Caldara, OpEd, February 27, 2005
*[http://capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4135 "Professor Ward Churchill, The First Amendment and Free Speech on Campus"] (''Capitalism Magazine'')
*[http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/s11/churchill.html Complete Text "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens"] plus other links
*[http://www.nypress.com/18/9/news&columns/krassner.cfm Professor Stoolpigeon]
*[http://www.claremontcolorado.org "No License to Lie"] (a legal case for firing Churchill)
*[http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~61~2688100,00.html Text of Colorado State House resolution Ward Churchill] (Associated Press/''Denver Post,'' February 02, 2005)
*[http://www.counterpunch.org/jensen02142005.html "Ward Churchill: Right to Speak Out; Right About 9/11"] (a perspective by Prof. Robert Jensen)
*[[David Cesarani|Cesarani, David]]. ''Adolf Eichmann: The Mind of a War Criminal'', (BBC.co.uk, [[February 1]] [[2002]]) Retrieved [[May 31]] [[2005]]

[[Category:Scandals]]