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Ward Churchill Strikes Again
Ward Churchill, ethnic studies professor at the University of Colorado, presented a lecture Friday on campus where he said the Bush administration is ignoring the U.S. Constitution and the rights it guarantees all citizens, including controversial ones like himself.

More than 300 audience members attended Churchill’s lecture in Fraser Hall Room 4, a part of the CASCAID Advocacy Conference.

Western senior Kyle Shielbs said he appreciated Churchill’s thoughtful and honest point of view.

"Being a Native American myself, seeing Ward was really inspirational," Shielbs said. "It is nice to see someone out making a difference, someone doing some pretty radical thinking."

Churchill spoke about subjects ranging from the U.S. Constitution to the deaths of his friends Mark Clark, a Black Panther Party member, and Fred Hampton, the leader of the party’s Chicago chapter.

"It was amazing to see the way that Churchill could keep up with the thoughts formulating in his head," Shielbs said. "He is very well spoken and intelligent."

Churchill began the lecture by saying the rights the Constitution grants Americans are worthless if the government won’t uphold them in controversial cases.

"You have those inalienable rights right up until the moment you try to use them," Churchill said.

The United States’ laws should protect all freedoms, but as soon as citizens express their freedom in an unpopular manner, the laws fail, he said.

Churchill asked any Republicans in the crowd to raise their hands, because, as Republicans and conservatives, he said their job is to preserve the Constitution. One audience member raised his hand, and Churchill asked him to say what the Ninth Amendment — which Churchill called the most important amendment — does. The audience member couldn’t recall the Ninth Amendment, so Churchill explained.

"The ninth amendment, summarized, states that all the rights vested in the people, which aren’t written in the Bill of Rights, are vested here," Churchill said. "That means dignity and food are obligations of the federal government of the United States."

Churchill compared Washington D.C. to the Roman Empire, highlighting the overwhelming poverty at the capital’s outskirts.

Churchill said the wealth of industrialized nations throughout the world is a result of the poverty and work of others, mostly indigenous races in places such as South America and Africa.

"But you don’t have to look to South American to see starving children," Churchill said. "Just go to an Indian Reservation — one without a casino."

Churchill also spoke about recent immigration controversies and the federal government’s pending decision to build a wall between the United States and Mexico.

"I am just not sure how they are going to build it without discount migrant labor," Churchill said.

When he finished with his speech, Churchill invited Aaron Dixon, co-founder of the Seattle Chapter of the Black Panther Party and a Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate, to the stage.

Dixon said he supports Churchill’s ideas and treasures the camaraderie they shared after living through the aftermath of their mutual friend, Hampton’s, death.

Churchill and Dixon emphasized America’s need for a more constitutionally sound government and said they were opposed to the war in Iraq.

"There is a war being waged in our name," Dixon said. "Over 100,000 Iraqi’s are being tortured and brutalized in our name."

Despite recent charges of research misconduct a committee at the University of Colorado made against Churchill, and the controversial nature of his speech, Korry Harvey, coach for Western’s debate team, said no apparent dissent was present at the lecture.

"I was excited to see that people were more interested in the substance of his experience and claims than the politics of UC Bolder," Harvey said.
Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-05-25
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=153786