This past week, our class has been extremely focused on civil liberties and the rights of an American individual. We talked about perilous times and how liberties were violated in some cases, and not others. Yet looking into more current civil liberties issues, racial profiling comes to mind. By just googling "Racial Profiling" it led me to this cool cite, click HERE for access. It is the cite of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and it consists of current updates on the racial profiling topic. As wikipedia states, "The ACLU's stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." I wondered, how powerful and how legit is the ACLU? I've never heard of it before, so it sparked my interest.
ACLU is made up of 500,000 members and supporters, and 200 attorneys. It also has staffed offices in all fifty states, including Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. Just by the numbers, I can tell that it must have a magnitude of impact in Americans lives today! Yet, as in most political issues, there is strongly opposing opinions of the ACLU. I despise this idea of "polarization in politics." There seems to be no common ground anymore.
Hey Sarah- the ACLU seems awesome!I too had not heard of it before reading your post, but agree that it seems to have the potential to change a lot of people's lives. If so many people are dedicated to ensuring that everyone's civil liberties remain in tact, why are so many freedoms violated daily? I hope this union continues to grow in size, because in perilous times first amendment rights are often overlooked!
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