Ira Glasser: Former Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union for Nearly a Quarter-Century

Ira Glasser (born 1938) was the iconic executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1978 to 2001. His life was the subject of the 2020 documentary Mighty Ira (his nickname). Glasser is an ardent proponent of freedom of speech, even today despite the proliferation of hate speech on social media. In 1978, he controversially defended the right of neo-Nazis to march in Skokie, Illinois, a Chicago suburb that was home to many Holocaust survivors at the time. The ACLU website credits Glasser with transforming the organization into a nationwide civil liberties powerhouse.
 
Quote: “Glasser has not been shy about very vocally and vehemently criticizing what he regards as a retreat by the modern-day ACLU from the organization’s long-standing mission. He is particularly scathing about how the politicized money that has poured in has caused the group to pursue standard-issue liberal policy goals at the expense of the Constitutional rights it once uniquely and fearlessly defended.”
 
Sources: Wikipedia, the intercept.com
 
Learn more about Ira Glasser on Wikipedia. ►
 
Read “ACLU free-speech icon Ira Glasser profiled in new film” and watch the brief video trailer [1:45]. ►
 
Watch “Former ACLU Head Ira Glasser on Why You Can’t Ban Hate” [16:51]. Speech ►
 
Watch “Mighty Ira Q+A with Ira Glasser and Nico Perrino” [47:29]. ►
 
Photo: WGBH
 
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