Aclu Chief: Morality A Community Virtue

The ascent and decline in morality takes a different contour when viewed in terms of community rather than personal behavior, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union says.

In an interview Saturday, Ira Glasser of New York denounced the notion that the 1950s represented a peak of morality and the 1960s the start of a long decline.

“We see the 1950s as a time of moral depravity and the ‘60s as a time of moral redemption,” he said.

The 1950s were marked by “a ruthless system of Jim Crow (segregation), sanctioned by the government,” Glasser said. “We see lynchings going on while children prayed in school, terrorism of women, gays living in quiet terror.

“There wasn’t even free speech. It was a time of loyalty oaths.”

Those who take opposing views are “all about personal behavior - living together out of wedlock, women choosing abortion,” Glasser said. “We define morality as civic virtue, whether it’s OK to be different, whether it’s easy to be free without being punished.

“If you look at morality as personal behavior, you can see why they think the 1950s were so good. People were sexually repressed, gays stayed hidden in the closet, abortion was illegal, condoms were even illegal in some states, there was no talk of marijuana.”

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