Pengantar:
sebenarnya sejak kalangan kanan di bawah Bush berkuasa, dan mendapat momentum
dg tragedi 9/11/2001, AS tidak lagi sorga bagi freedom of speech. berbagai
peraturan diberlakukan untuk membungkam suara2 yg melawan dan dianggap
kontroversial. hal yg sangat bertentangan dg spirit pendiri dan konstitusi
amerika.
freedom of speech, di samping liberty and equality, adalah salah satu faktor
utama banyaknya pakar2 jenius yg nyeberang ke AS dari negara lain.
salah satu korban dari pembungkaman ini adalah prof. Ward Churchill dari
universitas colorado yg mendapat sorotan cukup luas di media mainstream. Esai
Churchill yg menyamakan korban 9/11 dg nazi dianggap sangat kontroversial dan
tak dapat diterima. kalangan rektorat yg sebenarnya membelanya sebagai spirit
dari freedom of speech pun terpaksa memecatnya karena desakan kelompok
penguasa, termasuk gubernur colorado sendiri.
bagi saya, bagaimanapun kontroversialnya, freedom of speech is freedom of
speech. sekali bicara kita dibungkam, tindakan itu akan disusul dg pembukaman2
berikutnya. dan itu tidak sehat bagi perkembangan intelektual di AS.
dalam konteks ini, saya jelas tidak setuju dg sikap kalangan islam 'kanan' di
indonesia yg ingin memboikot ulil dg kontroversi artikelnya di kompas.
kontroversi ilmiah, menurut saya, hendaknya dibalas dg konter yg ilmiah pula,
bukan dg kekerasan.
kembali pada amerika, apabila cara pembungkaman seperti ini berlanjut, kita
akan melihat skala menurut dari perkembangan intelektual di AS ke depan?
bagaimana menurut Anda?
(Razi)
Professor sticks with comparison of Nazis, 9/11 victims
Wednesday, February 9, 2005 Posted: 9:49 PM EST (0249 GMT)
Professor Ward Churchill is the author of a paper that compared 9/11 victims to
a Nazi who planned for Jewish extermination.
Colorado professor Ward Churchill defends his essay.
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BOULDER, Colorado (AP) -- A University of Colorado professor who likened
September 11 victims to Nazis got a standing ovation when he told a campus
audience of more than 1,000 people that "I'm not backing up an inch."
Ward Churchill, who had filed a lawsuit after the state university threatened
to cancel his address, was interrupted several times by thunderous applause.
Churchill has resigned as chairman of the university's ethnic studies
department. Gov. Bill Owens has called for Churchill to be fired, and the
university's Board of Regents is investigating whether the tenured professor
can be removed.
"I don't answer to Bill Owens. I do not answer to the Board of Regents in the
way they think I do. The regents should do their job and let me do mine,"
Churchill said to thunderous clapping. "I'm not backing up an inch. I owe no
one an apology."
In an essay, Churchill wrote that workers in the World Trade Center were the
equivalent of "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf Eichmann, who ensured
the smooth running of the Nazi system. Churchill also spoke of the "gallant
sacrifices" of the "combat teams" that struck America.
The ethnic studies professor said Tuesday his essay was referring to
"technocrats" who participate in what he calls repressive American policies
around the world.
A longtime American Indian Movement activist, he said he is also culpable
because his efforts to change the system haven't succeeded. "I could do more.
I'm complicit. I'm not innocent," he said.
The Boulder Faculty Assembly, which represents professors at the Boulder
campus, has said Churchill's comments were "controversial, offensive and
odious" but supports his right to say them based on the principle of academic
freedom.
During his 35-minute speech, Churchill said the essay was not referring to
children, firefighters, janitors or people passing by the World Trade Center
who were killed during the attacks.
The essay and follow-up book attracted little attention until Churchill was
invited to speak last month at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, which
later canceled his talk out of security concerns.
University of Colorado officials cited those same concerns but backed off after
Churchill filed a lawsuit earlier Tuesday asking a judge to force the school to
let him speak.
The crowd Tuesday night was loud and orderly as Churchill spoke: "I do not work
for the taxpayers of the state of Colorado. I do not work for Bill Owens. I
work for you," he said.
About two dozen police officers were scattered inside and around the ballroom
where the speech was given. Most of those attending supported Churchill.
"I've read some of Ward's work," said 26-year-old Vinita Laroia, an
environmental studies major. "I think what he has to say is true and
interesting. I wanted to hear his actual voice say what he's thinking."
The ACLU issued a statement defending Churchill's right to speak out and called
on regents, legislators and the governor "to stop threatening Mr. Churchill's
job because of the content of his opinions."
David Horowitz, a champion of conservative causes who has long accused American
universities of overstocking their faculties with leftists, has said firing
Churchill would violate his First Amendment rights and set a bad precedent.
He called instead for an inquiry into the university's hiring and promotion
procedures to see how Churchill managed to rise to the chairmanship of the
school's ethnic studies department.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Khairurrazi
Aligarh Muslim University
Uttar Pradesh, India
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