Get Herald RSSWhen we think of the 1950s, we think of "Leave it to Beaver," Ike, "Rebel Without a Cause" and also cold, soul-sucking religious and social conformity.
Important progressive social developments occurred in the United States during the 1950s, however. Brown v. Board of Education refuted the precedent of "separate but equal." The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952 removed racial and ethnic quotas to immigration. These important developments toward equality underscored the importance of reaching the "hearts and minds" of nations that may have turned Communist.
By trying to become a worldwide leader in equality, the United States hoped to influence rogue nations inclined toward violence and used that ideological strength as a way to make the world safer for democratic freedoms.
Our current situation with the War on Terror is analogous to what happened in the 1950s. We are in a war to promote the ideals of democracy and freedom abroad. However, the Bush administration has been the catalyst of unprecedented, dangerous erosions to civil rights and civil liberties that are a dangerous affront to our own very basic freedoms in the United States.
The Bush administration has tried to sell to the world a freedom it halfheartedly protects at home. It's doublethink at its finest.
President Bush's Orwellian Patriot Act undermines basic rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Section 802 of the Patriot Act defines "domestic terrorism" as an act "appear(ing) to be intended ... to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion." This vague wording functions to criminalize nonviolent political dissent and your right to associate.
The aim of any political association is to change the policy of the government. Yes, joining an organization as friendly and amiable as your local American Civil Liberties Union chapter is tantamount to terrorism, under the provisions of the Patriot Act.
As if the Patriot Act weren't enough, earlier this year word leaked from the office of Attorney General/Minister of Freedom John Ashcroft about a proposed Patriot Act II. This blockbuster sequel promises more: more repression, more constitutional restrictions on your speech, more fundamental liberties robbed from you. At least it doesn't cost $9.75.
Bush's dangerous erosions of civil liberties set a dangerous precedent for your rights in the United States during a time of war. Bush's erosions of civil liberties make it dangerous for you to associate with like-minded political activists. Bush's erosions of civil liberties give the enemies of the United States ideological capital to use to paint the United States as an adversary of human freedoms.
If you want to win the war on terror, fight for your liberties here at home.
Tristan Freeman '06 is president of the Brown chapter of the ACLU.
