It should be possible to affirm that black lives matter, without supporting Black Lives Matter
The most boring class I took in law school was “Freedom of Expression,” taught by Thomas Emerson, a cherubic, white-haired man, a founder of the left-wing Lawyers Guild and a lion of the ACLU.
The class was boring because there was no debate of any sort. Whatever the particular issue — loyalty oaths, time and place limitations on demonstrations, flag-burning — we all agreed that the solution was maximization of freedom of speech.
The Nazis would not march in Skokie until a few years later, but I’m confident that well over 80% of my classmates would have supported their right to do so.
We were hardly fire-breathing radicals: Most would go on to large corporate firms and become, as a college roommate put it, “the grease that allows society to function.” Just good ’70s liberals.
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