Throughout the semester, one
question has been pounded into my head to the point that when I think of our
class this question synonymously pops into my mind: “What does freedom mean to me?” As I tried to come up with a simple answer, I
quickly realized there is no simply answer to such a profound question. So obviously I turned to the almighty World
Wide Web for some answers. I looked up
the definition of freedom, and like me, the Internet had no simple answers
either. I scrolled through the many
different definitions and interpretations of the word freedom, and the obvious
answers showed up—“freedom of speech, rights, liberty, free will”, all of which
come to mind when I think of the word freedom.
Reading further I came across another answer—“moral responsibility.”
I had never made the conscious
connection between freedom and moral responsibility. I found the infamous Spiderman quote that says, “with great power comes great
responsibility” very applicable in this instanse. Although I have seen that movie countless
times I have never applied that quote to freedom. Yet what greater power is there than
freedom? As I thought about this quote
in relationship to slavery it was pretty apparent that white southerners had
never seen Spiderman. Slavery in many people’s opinions, including
mine, was one of the most irresponsible uses of power in the history of the
United States.
The next question I tried to tackle
to really get a sense of what freedom meant to me was to answer what it meant
to be enslaved. For me it is
unimaginable. The closest thing I can
think of when I think of being enslaved was being grounded in high school. As I tried to conceive what it must have been
like to be a slave at my age, I realized I couldn’t. Freedom is all I’ve ever known. As a free person, trying to conceptualize
what being a slave was like is similar to trying to describe the idea of color
to a blind person. It is nearly
impossible.
After taking all of these things
into account I came to two conclusions.
First, freedom is different for each and every person based on their
past, where they come from, and their views on the world. And secondly, I came to my conclusion of
freedom. To me, freedom is two things:
having a voice and expressing that voice with moral responsibility. The fact that I can do what I want, when I
want, yet still have the sense to do what is morally responsible, to me, means
that I am free.
Freedom has many different meanings
to different people. I encourage all of
you, even if you don’t comment on this post, to really challenge yourself and
discover what freedom means to you.
Kristen, I agree with your analogy “as a free person, trying to conceptualize what being a slave was like is similar to trying to describe the idea of color to a blind person.” In my religious studies course, we have talked about how one worships the god of their experience. I believe that experience is a precursor for the way we see most things in life.
ReplyDelete***In no way am I attempting to defend slavery or say that it was right. However, if having slaves were all you had ever experienced, would you still realize that it was wrong? If every day you woke up and had someone make your bed and wash your clothes, would you think that it was your job to do it? I realize I am veering away from the topic of freedom, however this post made me think. Today I know that slavery is wrong and was as you said, “one of the most irresponsible uses of power in the history of the United States.” But, I am not sure if I would have realized it was wrong at the time if I was a wealthy white child born in the South during the time of slavery.
No, I agree with you, Lucy. If it's all that you've experienced, it's hard to break free from the process radically. I admire that you are able to veer from the topic because this wasn't something that I had really thought about. You're right. The values that our parents instill in us are the ones we display. It's human nature to learn from our parental figures. However, I think Elizabeth Taylor in African Queen states what I believe much more eloquently than I ever could, "Nature is what is put on this earth for us to rise above."
ReplyDeleteActually, slightly veering off the topic a little bit as well, in one of my classes, I learned about this experiment that was conducted with mice and overpopulation. Apparently overpopulation caused mice to develop depression and cannibalistic tendencies, which is what caused many classical sociologists to believe that this would also be applicable to humans. However, the neo-classical theorists refuted that notion completely believed that we, as humans, have one thing that most organisms don't: We can adapt. I think this is also true with what you were saying. Though, I definitely agree in that it is much harder then to breakaway from the idea that "slavery is normal," especially within the context of the societal views at the time. We can all attest to the power of peer pressure!
ReplyDeleteWould you known that hurting abusing animals was wrong? Then I think any moral compass would know that enslaving human beings was wrong too.,
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