''a million Mogadishus''

[swellman]

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/087/region/Columbia_teacher_calls_for_a_m:.shtml

This guy is out there.

From the article

NEW YORK (AP) A Columbia University professor told thousands of students and faculty that he would like to see ''a million Mogadishus'' referring to the 1993 ambush in Somalia that killed 18 Americans and inspired the movie ''Black Hawk Down.''

The professor, Nicholas De Genova, also called for the defeat of U.S. forces in Iraq and said, ''The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military.'' And he asserted that Americans who call themselves ''patriots'' are white supremacists.

De Genova's hopes for the defeat of the United States were cheered by the crowd of 3,000 at the Wednesday night anti-war teach-in, Newsday reported. But his mention of the Somali ambush ''I personally would like to see a million Mogadishus'' was largely met with silence.

Expecting the CU damage control to start soon...

 

[arcticpenguin]

Where to start?

Note the guy is a professor of anthropology. This is good news, as it means there apparently aren't enough communists left in the English department.

He calls for a million Mogadishus? 18 U.S. troops died, but I think estimates of Somali deaths are much higher, perhaps 200?

They refer to the guy as 'professor'. I'd be interested to know if he's tenured yet or not.

Oh - and I guess Colin Powell is a white supremacist. ?

 

[Bearguin]

Oh - and I guess Colin Powell is a white supremacist. ?

Of course he is. He just hasn't gone though MJ's transformation process yet, but it'll happen. And then we can say this guy was correct.

 

[Brown]

He calls for a million Mogadishus? 18 U.S. troops died, but I think estimates of Somali deaths are much higher, perhaps 200?

If memory serves, the "Black Hawk Down" DVD said that the number of Somali deaths was in the thousands.

 

[Troll]

Free Speech- the greatest and most accurate method used in locating an idiot.

I'm damned glad we have it, as it allows us to determine who to blow off and who to laugh at.

 

[kedo1981]

With cockheads like that running around is it any wonder we have had such posters as “Wayne Grabert, Sacred chicken, etc “ spewing BS all over this board.

 

[Guest]

Free Speech- the greatest and most accurate method used in locating an idiot.

That there is bumper sticker worthy.

 

[WildCat]

If memory serves, the "Black Hawk Down" DVD said that the number of Somali deaths was in the thousands.

There was a Frontline (for those of you not in the US this is a PBS TV program) a while back in which several soldiers involved in this were interviewed. They said it was like shooting fish in a barrel, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were 1000's of Somali deaths. I think were also allegations that the Somalis were tipped off of the operation by an Italian general (?), has anyone else here seen this?
Anyway, I hope DeGenova disappears while doing a study of New Guinea headhunters.

 

[Guest]

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/087/region/Columbia_teacher_calls_for_a_m:.shtml

This guy is out there.

From the article

NEW YORK (AP) A Columbia University professor told thousands of students and faculty that he would like to see ''a million Mogadishus'' referring to the 1993 ambush in Somalia that killed 18 Americans and inspired the movie ''Black Hawk Down.''

The professor, Nicholas De Genova, also called for the defeat of U.S. forces in Iraq and said, ''The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military.'' And he asserted that Americans who call themselves ''patriots'' are white supremacists.

De Genova's hopes for the defeat of the United States were cheered by the crowd of 3,000 at the Wednesday night anti-war teach-in, Newsday reported. But his mention of the Somali ambush ''I personally would like to see a million Mogadishus'' was largely met with silence.

Expecting the CU damage control to start soon...

I hope Tmy sees this.

 

[Troll]

That there is bumper sticker worthy.

Thanks. Crap, I probably should have copyrighted it, huh?

 

[Guest]

History professor Eric Foner, who helped organize the teach-in and spoke after De Genova, said Friday, ''I disagreed strongly and I said so. If I had known what he was going to say I would have been reluctant to have him speak.''

He said De Genova was a last-minute invitee, was just one of about 25 speakers and ''did not represent the general tone of the event, which was highly educational.''

Yes, that is true. Normally the anti-war protests are of the Bush-Is-Hitler variety.

 

[Skeptic]

For some reason, though, this professor rather live among the evil opressors of Mogadishu in the US, instead of with the brave defenders of Mogadishu in Somalia.

 

[Roadtoad]

For some reason, though, this professor rather live among the evil opressors of Mogadishu in the US, instead of with the brave defenders of Mogadishu in Somalia.

Oh, but he has a reason for being here: he's trying to rescue us from ourselves. (Bigoted, self-righteous, hypocritical ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊...)

This guy reminds me of another bumper sticker I saw: "Ever stop to think... and forget to start again?"

You know what really irks me is that the kids attending the teach in will graduate and wind up making six figures on the commodities market, driving Bimmers and living in Connecticut because the frigging taxes are too high, but By God, they'll be RIGHT THINKING Capitalists! (Even as they're raking cash off the top like Drexel Burnham, Enron, WorldCom...)

 

[Jedi Knight]

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/087/region/Columbia_teacher_calls_for_a_m:.shtml

This guy is out there.

From the article

NEW YORK (AP) A Columbia University professor told thousands of students and faculty that he would like to see ''a million Mogadishus'' referring to the 1993 ambush in Somalia that killed 18 Americans and inspired the movie ''Black Hawk Down.''

The professor, Nicholas De Genova, also called for the defeat of U.S. forces in Iraq and said, ''The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military.'' And he asserted that Americans who call themselves ''patriots'' are white supremacists.

De Genova's hopes for the defeat of the United States were cheered by the crowd of 3,000 at the Wednesday night anti-war teach-in, Newsday reported. But his mention of the Somali ambush ''I personally would like to see a million Mogadishus'' was largely met with silence.

Expecting the CU damage control to start soon...

I served in Somalia and some of my friends were killed there. All the soldiers did who served in Somalia was try to feed starving people and protect them.

I now ponder what the Stalinist Red campus of Columbia would look like if a million Mogadishus showed up there. Oh, but in reality it would only take much, much less.

JK

 

[swellman]

I can't figure what motivates someone to say something so, well, ugly. Did Prof. De Genova's passions get the better of him, or is he just seeking publicity? Or does he really hate the military that much?

I've always supported free speech, and understand that having free speech means sometimes hearing things that one doesn't like, but I just don't get this guy.

Last fall, a history professor at Saint Xavier University got in hot water for some caustic things he said about the US military, "baby-killers" among them. St. X was reeling for weeks, if memory serves. They went into overdrive to spin the school free of this idiot's taint. It will be interesting to see what Columbia does.

 

[swellman]

3 Days and no response from Columbia

Sorry if I'm obsessing, but this incident really bothered me. Have found several reports in the Friday news of the comments, but so far no response from Columbia University. I have read that the university is "preparing a statement", but I'm not holding my breath.

I sent my comments to the public affairs office.

 

[no one in particular]

This guy likes to make inciting statements. He seems very Chomsky in that way. Check out this gem:

"The heritage of the holocaust does not belong to the state of Israel; it belongs to the Palestinian people."

Upon further investigation of him I found his section of the Columbia.edu website that includes the following information:

Nicholas De Genova
E-mail: *****@columbia.edu

Edited by no one in particular, I decided that I would not post his email address on this forum. Note however that it is readily available on the indicated site. Would anyone (swellman?) be so motivated to send him the link to this thread, maybe even invite him to participate?

 

[Lisa]

Bothers me too. Would this guy say to my face "Lisa, I really wish you'd gotten capped in Saudi Arabia"? Would he, right now, stand in front of me and say "Lisa, I hope your husband returns to you in a box"?
No. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't. He's made a self-serving promotional soundbite to get himself in the news. And what really sickens me is that he was successful.

 

[no one in particular]

He's made a self-serving promotional soundbite to get himself in the news.

I suspect you are exactly right! According to the second link in my previous post he is currently authoring two books.

I could hear Troy McClure (as voice acted by Phil Hartman) making an advertisement for Dr. De Genova. “Hi, you may remember me from such statements as ‘the holocaust does not belong…’ and ‘a million Mogadishus’, well now you can read even more of my rants in my two new upcoming books!”

 

[Jedi Knight]

This guy likes to make inciting statements. He seems very Chomsky in that way. Check out this gem:



Upon further investigation of him I found his section of the Columbia.edu website that includes the following information:



Edited by no one in particular, I decided that I would not post his email address on this forum. Note however that it is readily available on the indicated site. Would anyone (swellman?) be so motivated to send him the link to this thread, maybe even invite him to participate?

The guy is a public figure because he stood in public and gave his "speech". He wanted everyone to know who he was, where he worked and what his agenda was. That said, it is perfectly acceptable to contact him via e-mail.

Name: NICHOLAS PAUL DE GENOVA
Title: ASST PROF
Dept: ANTHROPOLOGY
Mail Addr: DEPT OF ANTHROPOLOGY
416 Hamilton Hall, Mail Code 2880
1130 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10027
Phone: MS 4-0199 +1 212-854-0199
Fax: +1 212-854-0500
UNI: npd18
EMail: npd18@columbia.edu

ALSO...

President of Columbia
Name: LEE C BOLLINGER
Mail Addr: 202 LOW LIBRARY
mail code 4309
Phone: MS 4-9970
+1 212-854-9970
UNI: lcb50
E-mail: bollinger@columbia.edu

Department Chair
NICHOLAS B. DIRKS, Professor and Chair
Telephone: (212) 854-7785
Office: 960 Schermerhorn Ext.
E-mail: nbd7@columbia.edu


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nicholas de Genova's curriculum vitae

NICHOLAS DE GENOVA, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Chicago
Telephone: (212) 854-0199
office: 416 Hamilton
email: npd18@columbia.edu <mailto: npd18@columbia.edu>

The central concerns of my research and teaching include: labor and class formation, racialization, the production of urban space, nationalism, the politics of citizenship, and transnational social processes, especially migration. My ethnographic research explores the social productions of racialized and spatialized difference in the experiences of transnational Mexican migrant workers within the space of the U.S. nation-state. More specifically, I examine transnational urban conjunctural spaces that link the U.S. and Latin America as a standpoint of critique from which to interrogate U.S. nationalism, political economy, racialized citizenship, and immigration law. This work contributes to a reconceptualization of Latin American, Latino, and "American" (U.S.) Studies. Likewise, I am interested in the methodological problems of ethnographic research practice and the limits of anthropological disciplinary forms of knowledge and modes of representation.

Representative Publications:

1995 "Gangster Rap and Nihilism in Black America: Some Questions of Life and Death." Social Text 43: 89-132. 1995 "Check Your Head: The Cultural Politics of Rap Music." Transition 67: 123-37. 1996 "Split-Level Bedlam: Chicago at the End of the Twentieth Century." Public Culture 9:1: 114-25. 1997 "The Junkyard of Futures Past." Anthropology and Humanism 22:2: 171-79. 1998 "Race, Space, and the Reinvention of Latin America in Mexican Chicago." Latin American Perspectives 102: 25:5: 87-116.