Op-Ed: Those who exercise free speech should also defend it — even when it's offensive (via latimesopinion)
Protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd and systemic racism have been boisterous, righteous assertions of the constitutional liberties of free assembly, expression and speech — even as police have too often breached those rights. Yet as a wider precept, free speech is losing ground. As activists take to the streets demanding systemic change, they should consider that a robust defense of free speech is crucial to their goals.
But the president’s defense of free speech is selective at best, and the White House and its allies frequently wage war on speech with which they disagree. The president pushed the NFL to punish players for kneeling in demonstration. He has persistently discredited legitimate media outlets and retaliated against them for unfavorable coverage. And he even went so far as to call for military suppression of protests under the Insurrection Act.
Throughout U.S. history, people have claimed the 1st Amendment to protect speech they favor, but resisted similar safeguards for expression they find offensive. In 1978, when the ACLU defended the right of neo-Nazis to march in Skokie, Ill., memberships from its largely liberal supporters tanked, partially recovering only when the organization explained that the city ordinances they challenged had also been used to stop Jewish war veterans from parading.
The details behind these controversial dismissals have not been fully aired, and there is an argument that drastic repercussions are sometimes necessary to puncture institutional complacency and root out ingrained biases. Amid tectonic shifts in society, those who cannot — or will not — make the necessary leaps may slip into the cracks.
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