Who can say what? The controversy over this question does not die down. Conservatives accuse liberals of wanting to change and control language – keywords: gender asterisks and “cancel culture”. Liberals accuse conservatives of wanting to ban certain teaching content – keywords: gender diversity and “critical race theory”. Both camps focus on schools and universities.
In the US state of Florida, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill with the somewhat unwieldy name “House Bill 7” last April. Its apologists also call it the “Individual Freedom Act” or “Stop Wrongs To Our Kids and Employees” (Stop Woke). According to this, teaching or discussing various topics should be prohibited. Pupils and students should not be taught to feel responsible or guilty for acts committed in the past by members of the same race, nationality or sex.
Several organizations have challenged the law, citing the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech. In many cases they were right, but DeSantis and his family have appealed. Since then, the atmosphere at many Florida universities has deteriorated. Some academics have vowed they’re already following the law to defend Florida values. Others are afraid of being spied on and reported by students.
There is a documentary about Glasser’s life called Mighty Ira
One of the organizations that has sued House Bill 7 is the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). It is one of the oldest and most important civil rights organizations in the United States. By its own account, it has more than 1,750,000 members and supporters in all 50 states. She handles around 2,000 court cases every year. The ACLU campaigns for freedom of expression, protection of privacy, the right to abortion, equal rights for homosexuals, against the death penalty and police violence and for the separation of church and state.
That not only sounds radical, in practice it often is. “Why we must fight for the right to hate”: This is the headline for an article by Ira Glasser published two weeks ago on the website spiked-online.com, which is mainly published by left-wing, libertarian and Marxist authors. Ira Glasser is 84 years old and was a director of the ACLU for 23 years, from 1978 to 2001. Born at Brooklyn Jewish Hospital in New York, Glasser later taught mathematics and served in various capacities at the ACLU for a combined 34 years. There is a documentary about his life called “Mighty Ira”.
A right to hate? The ACLU has a very broad concept of freedom of speech and opinion. Glasser fought in 1968 for the right of racist George Wallace—a Democrat and Alabama governor who had run for the presidency—to speak in a stadium owned by the City of New York. In 1977 he fought for the right of neo-Nazis to parade through a district inhabited by many Holocaust survivors with swastika flags. Glasser has also campaigned for the Ku Klux Klan.
All power must be limited by civil liberties
Glasser writes that in a democracy it is never certain who has power, so any power must be limited by civil liberties. Otherwise, a majority could dictate what may be said. All social achievements in the United States – from desegregation to trade union rights to abortion rights – were initially represented by small groups claiming freedom of speech.
If a government wants to ban hate speech, Glasser writes, the question immediately arises as to who is allowed to define what hate is. No authority should be granted this power of definition. Because restrictions on freedom of speech are like poison gas: As soon as the wind changes direction, it is blown in your own face.
Glasser’s essay is as brilliant as it is fundamentalist, his concept of freedom as comprehensive as it is radical. At the same time, he leaves no doubt about his basic political orientation.
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