In this diary Olympia shares the news that the ACLU is defending the KKK. Go read that, then come back.
I have another thought on this. Not only do I support the ACLU for this action (see my comments there) but this is wonderful news.
What does the ACLU do? It defends the civil liberties (such as the right to free speech) of unpopular organizations. Mainline Protestants don't need the ACLU, for example.
But who has the ACLU needed to defend in the past?
In 1925, they defended the right of evolutionists to teach.
In World War II, they defended the Japanese-Americans who were interned.
In 1954, they were leaders of the Brown v. Board of Education fight.
In 1973, they defended Roe in Roe v. Wade.
Yes. The causes we believe in. And they continue to defend such groups. But....
In 1978 they defended the Nazis in Skokie.
and now they are defended the KKK.
How wonderful.
Not just that the ACLU exists to defend the right of ALL of us to speak, but that the KKK needs their defense. Not all that long ago, well inside the lifetime of many people now living, the people who needed the ACLU were the opponents of the KKK. People like Martin Luther King. Bull Conner never called the ACLU; nor did any of his fellow-bigots of that time and place.
At times, we lose sight of the fact that progress is being made.
It may be slow, but it is there.
Bravo to the ACLU. I am proud to be a member for many decades; I will be until I die. Because nothing is more American than civil liberties. Nothing.