[lbo-talk] Churchill - the issue is academic freedom

Chuck0 chuck at mutualaid.org
Sat Feb 19 14:08:47 PST 2005


Thomas Brown wrote:


> Academic freedom does not protect fabrications, any more than
> the Bill of Rights protects libel or slander.


> John Lavelle published his exposes of Churchill's plagiarism
> and fabrication back in the 90s. This is nothing new. The fact
> that the university and the state tolerated it for so long will
> work in Churchill's defense.

This is just ridiculous! Ward Churchill is being attacked by the right wing as part of its campaign against the left and you are outraged about a few citations?

I've read Churchill's works and they are well-documented. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a few citations wrong here and there, but which academic doesn't make mistakes? This is just so trivial.


> Save your energy for the folks who get fired without compensation,
> or even jailed. That is where free speech is under attack. Churchill
> put himself in this situation, he's thriving on it, and he is very
> unlikely to get hurt by it.

I see Churchill as a strong dissident who will weather this storm, but the problem here are the so-called "progressives" on this list who don't

understand the basics of solidarity. The old IWW slogan is "an injury to one is an injury to all." This means that we should support all academics who are under attack from the right wing, not just the ones who conveniently jib with our beliefs. And after all the talk on this list about how to fight back against the Republicans, you would think that our troops would understand the importance of uniting against these right wing attacks.

Chuck



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