Opinions: Rights of hate groups deserve protection too

White nationalists, neo-Nazis, and Ku Klux Klan members have an absolute right to protest peaceably.

An important point of view — that has not been acknowledged by most of the media hysteria surrounding the events in Charlottesville last weekend — is the question of free speech.

Most politicians, the mainstream media, and editorial writers are eager to point out the obvious: how evil, disgusting, hateful, and un-American these extreme right-wing groups are.

Points well-taken and agreed upon. Trump, as President and our moral leader, should forcefully denounce neo-Nazis and white separatists.

But what our learned commentators leave out is the basic principle that even the most hateful among us have the right to free speech, the right to march and demonstrate, (and be protected) however abhorrent is it to our individual beliefs.

It is evil to deny this right.

The ability to say what’s on your mind is what America is all about.

It is part of what our country has been about since the pilgrims came.

One of the defining attributes of fascism is forcible suppression of views

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) courageously defended the protesters’ right to demonstrate at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, protesting the decision to tear down a statue of General Robert E. Lee.

When the city of Charlottesville tried to revoke the permit of one of the protesters, Jason Kessler, the ACLU came to his legal defense, arguing that the right of free speech is absolute.

Federal Judge Glen Conrad said that “Kessler has shown that he will likely prove that the decision to revoke his permit was based on the content of his speech.”

The judge noted that while the right-wing extremists’ permits were denied, the permits of the counter-protesters were left in place.

This is old ground for the ACLU. In the 1970s, the ACLU defended a neo-Nazi’s right to march through Skokie, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.

The case went to the Supreme Court which sided with the ACLU: National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie.

The ACLU suffered greatly for its stand in favor of free speech. Donations dropped and many members resigned.

“What’s legal and what’s right are sometimes different,” said Albermarle County, Virginia resident Waldo Jaquith, who resigned from the ACLU Board. He told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that he still believes the organization does essential work, but “can’t facilitate Nazis murdering people.”

But others applauded the ACLU for its courageous stand.

The ACLU explained: “The notoriety of the case caused some ACLU members to resign, but to many others the case has come to represent the ACLU’s unwavering commitment to principle. In fact, many of the laws the ACLU cited to defend the group’s right to free speech and assembly were the same laws it had invoked during the Civil Rights era, when Southern cities tried to shut down civil rights marches with similar claims about the violence and disruption the protests would cause.”

What is not protected, nor should it be, is the violence that occurred in Charlottesville. Driving a car into a crowd is murder by a psychotic individual spurred on by right-wing propaganda and young male testosterone. Any violent behavior should be vigorously prosecuted as a hate crime.

Some will argue that allowing neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups to take advantage of their free speech rights will legitimize and mainstream their views. It will open up a space in which hate-motivated violence is permitted.

But free speech advocates maintain that the airing out of these odious views will ultimately lead the public, in the marketplace of ideas, to reject racism and bigotry.

It was widely anticipated that violence would break out this weekend. This is not the first time crowds with with deep-seated opposing views have faced each other.

Indeed the city itself argued against permitting the demonstrations in court last week because of potential violence.

Both sides have been preparing for these protests and counter-protests for months.

Much blame should be laid that the feet of the Mayor of Charlottesville and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who failed to provide proper police (or even National Guard) presence able to keep these volatile groups apart.

In fact, the lack of police presence betrays a glaring double standard: if non-white protesters had gathered, armed with weapons, the police would definitely have gotten involved.

According to newspaper reports, “For hours, police watched but generally did not attempt to break up the groups as they beat each other with sticks, sprayed each other with chemical weapons like pepper spray, and hurled projectiles at one another, including cans filled with cement, and bottles – some filled with water, others urine.”

Late Saturday night, the ACLU released a statement reacting to the day’s violence. The ACLU of Virginia stated after the rioting, “What happened today had nothing to do with free speech. It devolved into conduct against individuals motivated by hate that was initially thuggish, and ultimately, deliberately murderous.”