Rahul Sharma's AP Govt Blog 1.1

Rahul Sharma, 7th - Why the ACLU defends white nationalists’ right to protest
The ACLU advocates for the guarantee of free speech rights for everyone, even for the bigots. The ACLU has been involved in controversial matters regarding free speech for decades now. The ACLU has protected the free speech rights of the neo-Nazis and even the KKK. Most recently, the ACLU defended the white supremacists in Charlottesville.  

From the ACLU's perspective, even hurtful speech that the public does not support should be protected. A few decades ago, some governments promoted racist views, and the public supported that. Overtime however, the public's minds changed. 
Now, the ACLU's argument is that governments should never be allowed to restrict free speech based on its content. Everyone has a voice and should have an equal opportunity to express their opinions. The views of the white supremacists in Charlottesville are not supported by the public, but they still have the right to express their beliefs. The ACLU has to come in to protect the supremacists and guarantee their right of free speech.
In the past year, liberals have increasingly backed the ACLU because of Trump's election. Trump promotes racist behavior and restricting minority rights. The rights of minorities are in danger and need extra help from organizations such as the ACLU.
The ACLU believes that in no circumstances ever should the government be able to restrict the right of free speech. If the government could restrict free speech, all civil rights advocates could be shut down by the people in power if they do not agree with the ideas of the protestors.
Even though white nationalists have the right to speak freely, allowing them to continue their speeches can also be dangerous, because the ACLU can inadvertently legitimize the views of the white nationalists. Defending them allows them to grow stronger and spread their message more quickly and efficiently. The ACLU first started defending the free speech rights of hate groups in the late 1970s. The ACLU defended the Neo-Nazis' right to free speech, even in Skokie, despite it's large population of Jews and Holocaust survivors.
The ACLU standing up for Milo Yiannopoules is controversial because Milo has targeted Muslims, LGBTQs, and POCs with hateful language for years, whereas the ACLU protects the rights of several/all of the groups Milo targets.

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