We are now in the early waves of a reactionary era in racial relations in America. The landscape has changed significantly for the worst. One of those groups in the past which was in the legal vanguard of protecting the rights and liberties of minorities under the constitution was the ACLU. The ACLU was often the lead in the vanguard of legal pursuits and appeals in our courts to protect the First Amendment Rights of those disenfranchised and under attack by reactionary interests in our country.
The ACLU campaigned on this mission and they became beneficiaries of respect, admiration and money for being one of our nation’s premiere iconic civil rights organization.For many the iconic stature of the ACLU was beyond approach and challenge. It was tough navigation when the criticisms of the ACLU came from Black progressives. The ACLU from the optics of many in that vanguard have now become as arrogant and patronizing as any bigoted collective lecturing to Black Americans on what is important and significant. The objectives and mandates of the ACLU of late do not intersect with Black Americans from the ACLU positions of affinity schools which are designed for only Black males only to metal detectors and the police in urban schools which protected the lives of vulnerable students but pose a problem for the ACLU idealists and censors.
The ACLU is under no obligation to Black America yet this reality will not end their fund raising efforts of course in Black America. It is also true that Black America’s reliance on ACLU was not always a productive and progressive posture or union. The ACLU is dedicated to defending and promoting the principles as constructed in the Bill of Rights. Black Americans of course had no part or in the construction of any rights for Black Americans in the US Constitution. We should remind ACLU of this historical reality when they lecture to us about the Bill of Rights. We have more paramount themes in America than the objectives of the ACLU when they intersect on matters of race and law in our country.
The ACLU theories and posturing about liberty will place Black Americans in peril and get many of us killed. This was recently the case in Charlottesville where the ACLU supported the Alt-Right and Nazi’s petition to march onto the grounds of UV with torches and vomit hate speech all under the endorsement of the ACLU. The ACLU sought no insight from those on the ground and at risk when the ACLU carried out this mandate on behalf of these racist interests as part of its mission.
The objectives of the ACLU in these situations place Black American and others in peril and as such Black Americans should be aware that in such situations the ACLU is not our ally but an adversarial force that is not there for us. When the ACLU is willing to put Black Americans at risk and in peril to promote their principles on the souls and welfare of Black Americans is where the ACLU becomes our adversary.
A strident devotion to abstract principles of liberty, freedom and free speech will not stop a bullet. In the real world miles away from courtrooms, reality dictates and dominates the narrative.
Just because one can do something does not mean one should do something. The ACLU should have the courage to acknowledge this reality in this new racial era of America.
BLM
