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The ACLU’s Drift From Radical to Neutral Tells the Story of Modern American Liberalism

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Once an arm of the radical labor movement, the ACLU now defends free speech as a neutral principle — including the anti-union speech of bosses and the political speech of corporations. The story of the ACLU’s evolution is the story of liberalism itself. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, communist labor activist and a founder of the ACLU, addressing a crowd during an IWW memorial service to bomb victims, Union Square, New York City, July 11, 1914. (Bettmann Archive via Getty Images). Our new issue, on AI, is out now. Subscribe to our print edition today. When Americans think of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), most imagine an organization committed to defending free speech regardless of its content. The ACLU will defend a leftist’s right to burn a flag, a Nazi’s right to march in the streets, and, astoundingly, even a corporation’s right to “speak” through campaign donations, as seen in its defense of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. The main impression Americans have of th

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