WHITEWATER, Wis.--Amid fervent demonstrations both supporting and condemning UW-Whitewater's decision to allow Ward Churchill to speak Tuesday, the University of Colorado-Boulder professor of ethnic studies vigorously defended his controversial paper that compared some of the victims of Sept. 11 to Nazis.
\I never anywhere in that essay used the word 'justify,'"" Churchill said of the paper he wrote shortly after Sept. 11 that has roused the national press into a furor. ""I didn't justify anything. I spoke to a phenomena that I believe to be natural and inevitable.""
That phenomenon, Churchill said, is that the United States commits atrocities around the world, so the country should not be surprised when someone decides to strike back.
""Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,"" he said.
In his essay, Churchill compared the people who make up the ""technocratic corps at the very heart of America's global financial empire"" in the World Trade Center to Nazis because they got caught up in ""the 'mighty engine of profit' to which the military dimension of U.S. policy has always been enslaved."" In this way, Churchill said Tuesday, they were like the members of the Nazi party that had no control over and could not stop the Holocaust.
Churchill's views led some universities around the country to cancel scheduled speeches. UW-Whitewater, however, allowed the Native American Cultural Awareness Association to keep Churchill's lecture as a part of the university's Native Pride Week.
This prompted partisan rallies on the small campus about 45 miles southeast of Madison. At 4 p.m., UWW College Democrats began a curbside rally in support of free speech.
""[There are] students at Whitewater who, although they may disagree with what Churchill said, they still support his right to speak,"" UW-Whitewater freshman Abril Curiel said.
The university's College Republicans held a 6 p.m. candlelight vigil to honor the victims of Sept. 11. More an anti-UW-Whitewater rally than a vigil, dozens braved cold temperatures to hear state Reps. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, Robin Vos, R-Racine, and Milwaukee radio talk-show host Charlie Sykes condemn UWW allowing Churchill to speak.
""Ward Churchill is here tonight because the academic establishment and UW-Whitewater's campus leadership is out of touch with the mainstream of American life,"" Vos said.
Sykes challenged a group of demonstrators who were chanting in favor of letting Churchill speak and attempting to drown him out.
""Are they standing up for free speech right now?"" Sykes asked. ""How ironic.""
The boisterous outside activities gave way to a more subdued gathering in the Hamilton Center where Churchill spoke. Lecturing before a capacity crowd of 400--and a media horde of more than 100--Churchill strayed significantly from the topic of racism toward American Indians that was supposed to be the topic of his speech. He did highlight mistreatment of American Indians, but only to draw parallels with acts of terrorism carried out by the United States on other countries through the years.
Although these statements may have agitated some in the audience, UWW Chancellor Jack Miller maintained the university made the right call in allowing Churchill to speak.
""It is still my belief that that academia is at its best when it functions as a forum of the free exchange of ideas,"" Miller said. ""I do not share the fear of words that is apparently becoming more prevalent in our society.\
