What is freedom?
So this question is one that can go a long way and also in many different directions. As it pertains to freedom in the United States of America many people will express different opinions on what freedom truly is.
For so long in this country black people have not been truly free and there are many things to support this statement. Sure we were freed in 1870 from slavery, I mean 1965, I mean in 2008 with the election of our first black president, or I mean just now with the post racial society we live in. As you can see either I am completely confused or being completely sarcastic. I am most assuredly not confused at all but being very sarcastic.
Freedom has never looked the same to people of color in this country. We have gone from being enslaved with chains to being mentally enslaved which is a result of the physical chains. People won’t admit that the mentality of the African has come from being enslaved by the whites in this country. So if we look at the plight of the African today what is being manifested is a direct result of the slave industry. Yes if anyone did not know the African was a commodity and the African was not seen as human but as property. In 2016 if you look at the overall treatment of the African in this country you can see that systemic issues still plague us today. I cannot tell you what freedom fully feels like, but I can sure tell you what it would be like to experience it. I can tell you with no uncertainty that we as a nation are not filled with people who feel like they have freedom.
When the words of the constitution were written they were written for people not property and remember that we were considered 1/3 human as well as the white man’s property. We had no say so and were treated as such. We could not be educated it was against a law that was created by whites. We could not do anything without the consent of whites. I have brought up all of this history to make the point that we today are still not treated as free men and women of color. Let’s take guns for instance a white man in an open carry state can walk around freely without any police interaction but you can see and statistics have and will prove that if a black man open carries he will be stopped, harassed, and in many cases shot and or killed. How is this freedom? This is because throughout history and this is also something that has not been addressed, African men and people are seen as imminent threats.
We are harassed if we don’t put our hands over our hearts for the pledge, but our republican representative can do this and nothing is said. We can’t silently protest murder in this country exercising our first amendment rights without being called unpatriotic. We can’t sit during the national anthem without being called niggers, disruptive, one who insults the memories of the fallen in uniform, and everything else but exercising our rights. This is why I say we are not free because if we were there would be no resistance to the exercising of the rights under the constitution.
When systemic issues such as race and rights are not properly addressed then you have the situations we find ourselves in right now in 2016. So because many feel like a black president has place us in a post racial society many educated and conscious individuals realize that it only made things worse. We have so many things that divide us today that is actually scary. With the rise of Donald Trump those closet bigots have now been given a voice. With statements like; “let’s make America great again” the uninformed will assume that this country is not already great. If we have to assume that it’s not great then we have to ask ourselves what does again mean? Our past is very tragic, offensive, full of degradation, violent, and full of painful situations. Aint nobody got time for that! No one I know wants to go back to any part of this country’s past. This is why we know that this is code language for something else. This also makes you wonder why people don’t feel free.
Africans lost millions in the 2008 market crash and with only a small percent of this country’s wealth we never regained what was lost. This scales have always been tilted towards those who have always held economic power. This is not freedom to anyone who lost their home and has not regained the ability to buy again. This is one of many examples I could give but when it’s all said and done freedom is something that has not truly been experienced by all in this country.
If you were to ask me what freedom means to me I would say it’s when I can walk freely without police harassment for my skin color. It’s the ability to get a job without being overlooked because of how I look. It is people understanding that white women have benefited more from affirmative action and title 9 than any other race or gender of people and it is not assumed that’s why I have gotten the jobs I have gotten. It’s looking around inner city neighborhoods and seeing black owned businesses instead of other minorities who have been given loans and opportunities that blacks can’t for some reason qualify for. It’s not seeing genocide, drug addiction, guns, and poverty in the inner city. When I see equality seen in the same light under the law for all men. When equal sentences are given to people of all races. When racial profiling stops. When dialog begins with our leaders for change and not just amongst people with little to no influence. When I see Hollywood more diverse in movie, television roles and the entire Oscar committee diverse. Ultimately when I see this country say it’s sorry for giving us a 238 year disadvantage by creating labor unions, then opening up the US boarders and giving other people opportunities over Africans because we built this country for free, and possessed most of its skills, after we were supposedly “freed” by Lincoln. When this country is willing to help us catch up without handouts then I will say that we are truly as African people free. When voters suppression stops and republicans in this country stop trying to take us back to whatever make this country great again is then I will be ready to move forward into the path of freedom. Until then the powers that be will continue with the political games, economical manipulation, and complete deception we will not be truly free. When the powers that be can admit that they are completely insulting the intellect of those who can see through all of this bull then we will be a step closer to really being free.
So that last verse in the national anthem that has lied for years that goes;” For the land of the free, and the home of the brave!”, truly becomes this for Africans in this country and is relevant to all people then I will say we are walking in true freedom!
So if I were to leave you with anything as the reader it would be to really take a close look at what has happened in this country. Do research, check out the history I mean the true history of what has happened in this country to bring us to this point today in 2016. Don’t be afraid to get pissed off, embarrassed, empathetic, conscious, and ready to be about the future by demanding change. This is what I would ask of the reader to do after reading this blog. I know it’s not one that makes you feel good or leaves you completely inspired like many of my other blogs but I would hope this does inspire you in other ways. Take the challenge to be about change in this country as it is greatly needed.
As always I want you to have a great day!
D