The Skokie Incident essays

The Skokie Incident essays The Skokie Incident started in the village of Skokie when the National Socialist Party of America wanted to march in Skokie. Skokie is a village with a many residents being Holocaust survivors and a larger number being Jewish. Clearly the holocaust Survivors and fellow citizens of the city were outraged and cried against it. The Nazis with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union were able to fight for their freedom of speech. Some issues brought up with this incident were the First Amendment right to freedom of speech and assembly and on the other hand the right to the citizens if Skokie to live without intimidation. The court ultimately sided with the Nazis and The First Amendment. The two sides consist of the ACLU the Nazis against the Skokie government its citizens and the Anti Defamation League. There were many views portrayed throughout the movie with groups like the Nazis, The ACLU, The Village Government, the holocaust survivors and the Anti-Defamation League. The ACLU and the Nazis go almost hand in hand, they both believe that the Nazis should have the right to march in Skokie. This comes from the First Amendment and ones right to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble. Although they share this view the ACLU did not promote the ideas or principles of the Nazis and with there involvement in the case the ACLU lost many members and sponsors. The Holocaust survivors go in a category of their own, they did not believe the Nazis should have the right to march and claimed the right to live without intimidation. The Holocaust survivors believed that by allowing the Nazis march it would be like the beginning of the Jewish oppression in WWII when the Nazis marched through the streets. Yet this time the Holocaust survivors would fight back with violence they also had the Jewi sh Defense League on their side willing to fight. The Last two groups, the Anti-Defamation League and the village government, believed in the same princ...