Letter of protest from graduate students at University of Illinois
April 26, 2004
Letter from the graduate students of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures sent to the department head Jerry Packard on April 28, 2004.
I stumbled on this letter from the graduate students at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign the other day and it brought back memories of the tremendous battles in the United States in 2004 as the Bush administration under Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice battled to eliminate all opposition to its absolute rule, wiping out those who had been able to resist some of its dictates under the protection of Colin Powell and others—ushering the closest thing to a complete dictatorship the United States had ever experienced in 2005.
It had been determined in April, 2004, that I was not qualified to be considered for extension of my contract as an assistant professor, even after I had been permitted to teach again from 2003 after three semesters of forced sick leave for “mental illness.” My extensive academic work, and my contributions to the University of Illinois, were completely ignored by the tenure review committee that met in secret.
Nobody at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, was willing then, or willing now, to talk about what the real reasons for my suddenly being placed on medical leave a few weeks after the Bush administration seized power on January 20, 2001.
But the graduate students were willing to draft this letter in my defense in 2004, granted it does not mention the specifics of why I was denied tenure.
Those graduate students were most likely unaware that no one was able to hire me to do anything at all, not even translation work, at that time, and they most likely did not know that I would be completely unemployed for three months after I was dismissed from University of Illinois, until such time as the embassy of the Republic of Korea was able to offer me a position working in their culture center in February, 2005.
I was filled with gratitude that my students were willing to make this little protest at that time. My colleagues were not able to lift a finger. They were too busy writing academic papers and worrying about their own tenure review to consider the fate of someone who had joined up early the anti-fascist movement from the time of the infamous Supreme Court ruling Bush v. Gore (531 U.S. 98 (2000)).
Of course, those of us actually involved in the fight knew that this ruling had nothing to do with Bush or with Gore—in fact it did not really have anything to do with the Democratic and Republican parties. It was a brutal shredding of due process that would alter the entire country forever.
"It was a brutal shredding of due process that would alter the entire country forever."
I'd say Gore's election loss to Bush was a particularly brazen event instructing voters that the process is clearly rigged.
Of course, the elections in 2000 was not as bold as exploding a president's head in broad daylight in Dallas. But it certainly was a happening ensuring the US military would be enmeshed in a 20 year Vietnam mess.
That being said, looking back at Bush v. Gore-- did Gore really give a fuck?
And even if he won would things have been much different as "Mr. Sustainability" and his sidekick Zionist Lieberman would've probably found a way to commit similar war crimes.🤔
Of course, the Project for the New America Century bunch (PNAC) and the war profiteers preferred Bush/Cheney, as Blackwater among others were chomping at the bit to abscond with trillions in tax dollars even if it devasted the Middle East and killed and displaced millions. After all, the powerless don't count as they're just collateral damage.😔
So you say, what have we learned from that debacle--absolutely nothing.😳
Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Ukraine and the warfare currently conducted in Africa to "save the earth" devastating the natural environment mining rare earth minerals-- dirty details most in the West are not aware of....🤨
Every successive conflict triggered by a "manufactured crisis" as resulted in the West devolving into an overtly fascist state eager to "replicate" China's biosecurity surveillance system.
However, don't be concerned the World's billionaires are doing quite well:
"The United States still boasts the most billionaires, with 735 list members worth a collective $4.5 trillion. China (including Hong Kong and Macau) remains second, with 562 billionaires worth $2 trillion, followed by India, with 169 billionaires worth $675 billion." 🤑
https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/
I'd say the mission was almost accomplished, except for the upcoming climate change plunder/grift which will be accompanied by a ton of new mRNA-based pharmacology required to control the rageful proles.🙈
I too have been revisiting some past events lately; things that were and still are unfair. I got some support at the time from the community and it meant the world to me, that other people could see the unfairness in what had happened. thanks for your post, and thanks to any humans that show up in support of their comrades.