Skokie

Few people, few Americans, really get what being American really means.   Here is one American’s take on really getting what it means to be American.

In 1977-78, a bunch of neo-Nazi thugs claimed the right to peacefully assemble and speak in Skokie, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.  Not only is Skokie predominantly Jewish, but a significant portion of its population is Holocaust survivors.   The Nazis were looking to pee in the faces of their victims.

The ACLU, the American Civil Liberties Union – an organization of lawyers that is committed to defending Americans’ Constitutional rights, especially their First Amendment rights, especially their First Amendment right to freedom of speech and to assemble peaceably – came to their aid.  The ACLU has always counted on the Jewish community for their financial support, many of their pro bono lawyers are Jewish, many of their past presidents have been Jewish, and the lead attorney in this case representing the Nazis’ right to assemble and speak was Jewish.  The ACLU – representing the Nazis – prevailed.  Americans don’t deny freedom to those we detest, those who believe things that most of us find abhorrent.

That, my friends, is what it looks like to be an American.  Being willing to put your money where your mouth is (the defense of freedom of speech) and defend Nazis’ right to speak, at the same time that if you lived in another place and you could get them in a back alley, you’d cut out their guts and throw them to the dogs.  If we don’t defend the freedom of speech of those we hate, what is the point of calling it freedom of speech?

Americans should be proud of their written Constitution.

And not so certain that they know what it says and means.

Addendum: today
On the other hand, neither Facebook nor Twitter nor the NY Times owes you a soapbox for your freedom of speech, as they are all private corporations and the U.S. Constitution doesn’t dictate what private entities may and may not do (only what the federal government may and may not do, and sometimes local governments, too).  Private corporations can do what they please (within the law), most often responding to “market forces” or their own idealism or whim; they can allow or deny a platform to a neo-Nazi, a racist, or a Sierra Club member, it is their right.  But they do have charters of incorporation and they may have a contract with their users that gives YOU some privileges with them, but it would be up to you to go to court to enforce your right to say what you please on their platform.