[lbo-talk] Fw: Wayne Morse and Ward Churchill

Leigh Meyers leighcmeyers at yahoo.com
Wed Feb 16 13:52:39 PST 2005


----- Original Message ----- From: MichaelP To: NEWSROOM-L at LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 1:22 PM Subject: [NEWSROOM-L] Wayne Morse and Ward Churchill

George Beres is a member of the Wayne Morse Corporation Board. He says his views are his own, not necessarily those of the Morse Board.

He's responding to the decision of the Wayne Morse Center for Law & Politics - at the University of Oregon to dis-invite University of Colorado Professor Ward Churchill, who was to share with his wife, Colorado Professor Natsu Taylor Saito, a luncheon address at a conference co-sponsored by the Center.

Michael P

On Wed, 16 Feb 2005, george beres wrote:

ON HIS RECORD, SEN. MORSE WOULD WANT TO GUARANTEE CHURCHILL FREE SPEECH

By George Beres Were he with us today, Oregon Sen. Wayne Morse, the gadfly of American politics in the mid-20th century, would be having a field day. He'd be his old self, angry and outspoken about what is happening in Washington, D.C., and Iraq.

But something in his old backyard of Eugene would stir in him an emotion foreign to his experience: embarrassment. How, he would ask, could the Center under his name at the University of Oregon Law School justify turning away an invited speaker, depriving him of something always vital to Morse: freedom of expression?

At question is the decision by the Wayne Morse Center for Law & Politics to dis-invite University of Colorado Professor Ward Churchill, who was to share with his wife, Colorado Professor Natsu Taylor Saito, a luncheon address at a conference co-sponsored by the Center. The March 31-April 1 event, also sponsored by the UO Center on Diversity and Community, is called "Homeland "InSecurity: Race, Immigration and Labor in Post 9-11 North America."

Churchill, an Ethnic Studies professor, became the center of national controversy after he wrote of some justification for the 9-11 airliner attacks on New York City and Washington. D.C. The UO decision to remove him from the Morse program followed action by Hamilton College of New York to cancel his appearance there.

There is irony in the announcement of Churchill being dropped from the UO event coming a month to the day before scheduled reopening of the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza at the Lane County building in downtown Eugene. On March 15, the remodeled Plaza will be opened with the unveiling of a lifesize statue of Oregon's most famous senator.

As a member of the Morse Corporation Board, I've seen the statue. It has the Senator in a typical pose, gesturing vigorously with a forefinger. From what I know of the man, today he would be pointing that finger directly at the Center that bears his name.

Many were the times citizens-- including those in his home state-- did not want to hear what Morse had to say. But he had the courage and freedom to say it. Over and over again he was proven right, no matter how unpopular his stand at the outset. Prime example is his early opposition to the war in Vietnam, as one of only two U.S. Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that illegally expanded the war.

Churchill's essay-- written three decades and three wars later-- used extreme language. He described some victims in the World Trade Center as "technocrats" and "little Adolph Eichmans." True or not, it stirred anger among reactionaries like those who could not abide Morse statements that went counter to government policy.

Margaret Hallock, director of the Morse Center, said she believes that in the aftermath of the controversy growing around Churchill, his presentation with his wife would "overshadow two days' worth of other presentations." What would add to Morse's anger is the assumption the Center agrees with Colorado's governor, who said Churchill holds "pro-terrorist views." At issue is Churchill's written statement: "On the morning of 9-11, a few more chickens-- along with some half-million dead Iraqi children-- came home to roost in a big way at the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center." In response, Churchill said, "I am not a defender of the 9-11 attacks, but simply pointed out if U.S. foreign policy results in massive death and destruction abroad, we cannot feign innocence when some of that destruction is returned." Morse might have used different words. But his willingness to speak the unpopular when it needed to be heard would have resulted in his saying the same thing. Were he to disagree with Churchill, Morse still would insist on his right to express his views. If Prof. Churchill ever does make it to Eugene, there's at least one just venue where he could freely speak: The Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza.

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