Stop The ACLU made an interesting post yesterday (their database is down currently, or I would link to it) including Part I of a History of ACLU video. It goes into the Communist connections in the 1940s and Roger Baldwin’s statements in support of anarchy.I find it particularly interesting because I was shown a remarkably similar video (ragtime background music and all!) the first day I started working for ACLU. Unfortunately, the copy our office has is on VHS, not even DVD, let alone YouTube. It had most of the same content, except that the “draft dodgers” were called “contentious objectors” and it focused more on how anti-communist we got in the fifties (kicking out members and board members!). This is only the first half of the video, and it appears to be telling the story chronologically, so perhaps that’s in the second half.
Judging by people’s reaction to the video around the office, I think today’s ACLU is more ashamed of excluding communists in the 1950′s than associating with communists in the 1940s. We don’t talk about communism in the office much, it’s not seen as the almighty goal. We’re pretty much about sticking to the mission, although there are a few stances we’ve taken that puzzle me (eg ACLU Michigan and the Muslim footbaths). Civil liberties aren’t generally seen as a stepping stone to some greater goal; they are a great goal in and of themselves.
