Why?

by Cliopatria

Why does the Organization of American Historians' Distinguished Lectureship Program still include Paul Buhle as a"distinguished lecturer"?
Why does Ward Churchill continue to be a member of the faculty at the University of Colorado?
Why does the University of North Carolina Press still market the uncorrected first edition of Christine Heyrman's Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt?
Why is John R. Lott still a"resident scholar" at the American Enterprise Institute?

I'm, you know, just askin'.

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Ralph E. Luker - 2/10/2006

As you should know, I don't share Harvey Klehr's or Haynes' politics, but continuing to ignore the fact that at some levels there was an interface between the CPUSA and Soviet spying in the USA is to do history with ideological blinders.

Louis Nelson Proyect - 2/10/2006

Okay, you can have the last word after this if you want. Frankly, I find these sort of point-counterpoint exchanges on the comments section of blogs rather counter-productive. I told one of the contributors to Max Speaks that I was begging off on a discussion of Malthusianism on my own blog because I much prefer mailing lists for a serious exchange.

There are 2 sorts of critiques of Buhle. One comes from people who are sympathetic to his politics but who are impatient with his obvious sloppiness. This includes Hoberman and Cineaste magazine, although I have a feeling that the anti-Buhle articles at Cineaste might be the result of some kind of falling out between Buhle and Dan Georgakas, who was his co-editor on Encyclopedia of the American Left.

Then there are the criticisms of people like Haynes and Klehr, who you endorse. They attack him for not acknowledging the CPUSA was some kind of espionage network and raise all sorts of stinks about the Venona files, the lack of an entry on spy work in the Encyclopedia, etc. I don't want to belabor the point, but I consider Haynes and Klehr to be totally useless when it comes to understanding what Buhle is trying to do. They are operating in two different worlds. Haynes and Klehr are trying to indict the CPUSA as espionage agents, while Buhle is trying to show the importance of somebody like Abe Polonsky or Big Bill Haywood. There are no factual corrections that will assuage Klehr and Haynes. Basically they want him to confess (on behalf of the CPUSA) just the way that Joe McCarthy or HUAC wanted people to confess.

Ralph E. Luker - 2/10/2006

There's really no point in discussing this with you because you have Paul's disregard for what is true. His mistakes go _far_ beyond spelling errors. I don't know anyone who hates Buhle. I know lots of historians who believe that his "scholarship" is careless, lazy, and irresponsible.

Louis Nelson Proyect - 2/10/2006

But what does misspelling Paddy Chayevsky's name have to do with the "truth"? Buhle is hated because he champions people like the Hollywood Ten or the Wobblies, not because he misspelled somebody's name.

Ralph E. Luker - 2/10/2006

Mr. Proyect, I agree that Paul Buhle, Ward Churchill, David Horowitz, and you have the same elemental disregard for what is true.

Louis Nelson Proyect - 2/10/2006

Yes, I am aware of the sloppiness question. In the Nation Magazine, J. Hoberman wrote:

Buhle's transliterated Yiddish is haphazard, and his fact- checking is desultory. The klezmer musician Mickey Katz is transformed into "Sammy Katz"; the "f" in screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky's name repeatedly turns into a "v" and back, sometimes on the same page. The title of Art Spiegelman's story "Ace Hole, Midget Detective" is misremembered as "Ace Defective, Midget Hole."

These sorts of trivial errors are certainly not what gets Professor Ralph Luker's goat, however. He doesn't like Paul's politics, or Ward Churchill's.

There has been a well-orchestrated campaign to get people like them fired and in a way I find David Horowitz's upfront redbaiting much more honest than what what Professor Luker is up to.

Ralph E. Luker - 2/10/2006

Buhle has published one sloppy book after another. Marxism is no excuse for carelessness. In fact, a self-respecting Marxist wouldn't demean studies on the left with it. Your "friend" simply refuses to be held accountable to anyone.

Louis Nelson Proyect - 2/10/2006

Well, since I have known Paul for over 10 years and consider him one of my closest friends, let me take a stab at this. Paul is the preeminent historian of the American left. He has distinguished himself as a documentarian of the ordinary working men and women who have tried to make the USA a more just and more peaceful country. Here are some things I have written about Paul:

http://www.columbia.edu/~lnp3/mydocs/american_left/buhle_images.htm

http://www.columbia.edu/~lnp3/mydocs/culture/tender_comrades.htm

http://www.swans.com/library/art10/lproy16.html

http://www.swans.com/library/art11/lproy24.html