True Liberty by Veronica Lau

True liberty involves both physical and spiritual freedom; a person is not truly free unless both aspects of true liberty are fulfilled. The reality of this truth is supported by many documents written about freedom. The Declaration of Independence defines the “unalienable rights” of all men. In The Second Treatise of Civil Government, John Locke describes “the natural liberty of man.” Two famous black leaders, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Frederick Douglass, recognized the importance of both spiritual and physical freedom and urged true liberty for blacks. Man, made of both body and soul cannot free one, yet keep the other part enslaved.
The Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, and Locke’s The Second Treatise of Civil Government both clearly define “liberty.” In both documents, race is not a determining factor for liberty. The Declaration states that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” As blacks are men, they are equal to whites and therefore, have the same rights. They have the right to their life, to do what they please with it; liberty, to do their own will; and the pursuit of happiness, to become what they want. When freed from slavery, blacks were given only portions of each “unalienable right.” A person does not have their right to life if they cannot do what they want with it. Likewise, a person does not have liberty unless they can do their own will nor can they pursue happiness if they cannot become what they want. Each right is inseparable from the other two: unless all are granted, none of them can be fulfilled. Locke defines liberty as following “my own will in all things…and not to be subject to the inconstant, uncertain, arbitrary will of another man.” Although freed from slavery, whites still had power over blacks, preventing blacks from attaining certain jobs or pursue certain career paths. African-Americans, given physical freedom but not liberty to “follow [their] own will,” were not “truly freed.” Freeing the body, but not the spirit is not giving one true liberty.
Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech illuminates African-Americans’ bondage, that they had not yet gained true liberty. Blacks were “crippled by the manacles of segregation and chains of discrimination;” they were not given their “unalienable right” to the “pursuit of Happiness” because the Jim Crow laws prevented them from going to certain places and gaining certain jobs. By not granting them that one right, whites basically denied the blacks true liberty. In his speech, Dr. King expresses his hope to “be free one day.” The freedom he speaks of if not his physical freedom; he is speaking of freedom from racial prejudice. He, and all the other African-Americans, denied true liberty, in which not only are they free from the “arbitrary will of another man,” but have the ability to “follow [their] own will.” Dr. King urged for the true freedom for blacks by peaceful protests and boycotts. His concern for freedom from racial intolerance indicates how important a free mind and spirit are.
Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and his speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” both address the importance of freedom for both mind and body. In his Narrative, Douglass claims that because of slavery, he “was broken in body, soul, and spirit.” As a slave, Douglass and many others were not given the ability to follow their own will and had to obey the will of another man. According to Douglass, the healing of the mind, which is education, is just as essential to a person as physical healing. An ardent abolitionist, Douglass advocated for not only blacks’ freedom from slavery but also the freedom for blacks to have the same liberty in spirit as whites. In his speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Douglass mourns that blacks cannot celebrate the Fourth of July because they are not given the “rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence.” He rebuked the whites for their hypocrisy – while they were celebrating their freedom, they continued to deprive their fellow men of it. Douglass knew that slaves would not truly be free unless their spirit and soul were free along with their bodies.
The hypocrisy of the whites continued on to the days of Martin Luther King, Jr. Though they freed the blacks from slavery, they kept the blacks’ spirit in chains. Their spirits and souls were not freed until the Jim Crow laws were abolished and segregation ended. True liberty came when blacks were given freedom to live their lives to the fullest and have fair opportunities. They finally gained their “unalienable rights” of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. hoped, the blacks of America were finally able to say “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

The Dr. King Inside by Sarah Hills

I have been teaching fifth-graders for many years now, at the small middle school in my town. Every year, I get a group of about twenty-five students. Some are black, some are white. Some are Asian, some are Latino. Some are Russian, some are Irish. Some are boys, some are girls. But there has always been very little fighting between the different cultures and races in my classroom, a fact of which I am very proud. And, they are only fifth-graders. Yet, as I sit here, writing at my desk, a glass of steaming hot chocolate next to two of my favorite vanilla cookies, my mind skips back to last February, where one simple incident caused me to think back over a hundred years ago in order to teach a lesson about right and wrong. Back to a time when the African American people had to fight to own…themselves.
It was cold and cloudy that day. It had just snowed the day before, and the students were rowdy after a day off from school. I was walking into the school, clutching my coat about me, when something grabbed my attention out of the corner of my eye. I turned and saw two of my students throwing punches at each other. They were slowly becoming surrounded by a group of older students, who weren’t doing anything but watching with smirks on their faces.
I shook my head and stormed over. The crowd immediately dispersed. I heard ‘teacher’ whispered all about me and word reached the fighting youngsters. They stopped and turned to look at me as I approached. It was then I noticed one boy was white, the other black. I shook my head again, only imagining what had happened. I glared at Thomas, my Caucasian student, who glared back defiantly. Without a word, I bent over to help Elijah to his feet. He had been pushed into a large pile of snow. As he stood and brushed himself off, I watched the pair of them for an instant. Thomas looked down and Elijah never looked up. Finally I said, “I will see you both after school. Get to class.” They nodded and ran for the door, each trying to beat the other there.
I tried not to dwell on the incident as the day progressed. I tried to focus on my job. Thomas and Elijah were silent all day. They never volunteered to read out loud or answer a question. And finally the day ended. My students packed their bags and left, whispering among themselves as Elijah and Thomas remained seated. After everyone had left, I motioned for them to come forward to my desk. They came silently, careful not to touch each other.
I took off my glasses and paused for a second before saying, “Care to explain what happened this morning?” I looked at both of them. Thomas looked down but I saw Elijah glance up quickly. “Elijah, have you anything to say?” He looked up at me and mumbled something. “What was that Elijah?”
He was silent for a second and then he said, “He called me names.” Thomas’s cheeks were burning but he continued to look at the floor.
“He did, did he? What did he call you?” I asked, looking at Thomas but addressing Elijah. Elijah just shook his head. I sighed and looked back at Elijah. I gently said, “Honey, did it have anything to do with who you are?” A pause and then a nod of assent. I turned to Thomas. “What did you say, Thomas?”
He looked up at me and said, “I told him to give me his lunch.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why would you do that? You already had a lunch…you were eating it today.”
Thomas looked down and said, “He had a better lunch.”
“What did you have for lunch, Elijah?” I questioned.
“A sandwich and a juicebox, Mrs. Hollis, and Thomas had a sandwich and cookies and a juice box.”
“So why would Thomas want your lunch? Or is he trying to cover something up?” Thomas shifted but didn’t speak. I sighed impatiently. “One of you better tell me what really happened before I put you both in a month’s worth of detention.”
Thomas looked up at me quickly and I knew I had struck a chord. Thomas was on the hockey team and had practice. “Fine, Mrs. Hollis,” he said. “I called him black.” I raised both eyebrows. “Are you sure that’s what you called him?” I prodded.
Elijah piped up, “He called me a Negro!” And there was the crux of the matter. Thomas was carefully examining at his feet.
“Where did you hear that word, Thomas?” I asked. “On TV,” he mumbled. I grimaced. Yet another point against that monstrosity of modern entertainment.
“And do you know what that word means?” Thomas shook his head. “It is a derogatory term…” Thomas looked confused. “It is a bad word for the African American people. It makes them unequal, different, from the people who use it.” I rubbed my forehead. I felt a migraine coming on and I still had to drive home. “We’ll deal with this tomorrow. As of today, you are both to report here after school every day for the next two weeks. I will see you tomorrow.” The boys nodded and hurried to get their stuff. After they left, I placed my head on my desk. How was Mrs. Hollis going to deal with this? And then the idea came to me. And I smiled. Tomorrow would be a great lesson.
The next day as my students came in I wrote three names on the board: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Fredrick Douglass; Nat Turner. As soon as everyone had gotten to their seats and said the pledge of allegiance, I pointed to the names on the board. “This month is Black History Month class. So, I decided today’s lesson would be about some amazing African Americans who fought for liberty and racial equality.” Thomas and Elijah shifted uncomfortably. I continued. “Who here has heard of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?” Everyone raised their hands. I smiled. “Who has heard of Fredrick Douglass?” About half the class raised their hands. “And what about Nat Turner?” No one raised their hands. “Then we shall start with him.” I paused. How was I going to explain this in terms my students would understand?
“Now Nat Turner was a slave and a preacher to his fellow slaves. And he said that he had a vision from God telling him to rise up against slavery. So he and other slaves rebelled and the slave owners in Virginia got frightened and called up the army.” The class was listening intently now. “But by the time the army got there, Nat Turner had already been captured. And he was killed for rising up against the Virginians. Do you know why what he did was so important?”
As one, the class shook their heads, except a small girl in the back. “Yes, Janey?” I said. She said hesitatingly, “Because he fought?” I smiled. It was close enough.
“Yes Janey, that’s right. He fought slavery and died rather than remain a slave.” The history teacher inside me screamed at embellishing on Nat Turner but I was trying to get my point across to two certain young people…it was probably a good idea not to expand on how he fought, I realized. That would not drive the point home. “He fought for equality and though he didn’t win it immediately, his actions made many Virginians consider emancipation.”
“What’s that?” interrupted a boy from the front row.
“It means freedom in the sense of freedom from something, in this case slavery,” I replied.
“Well, why didn’t you just say that?” he said grinning. A few students laughed and in spite of myself, I grinned back. He had a point. Another boy raised his hand. “Yes, Stephen?”
“Why did Nat Turner make the people think about…e-man-cie-pai-tion?” I looked at the boy with pride. He was a history major in the making.
“They thought about emanciapation because they realized the people they had taken from Africa were just that…people! People who weren’t going to take their lot in life without argument. And that frightened the Virginians. And even though the slaves weren’t freed, Nat Turner still made an impact.”
I looked at my board to see my next name. “Now, we move on to Mr. Fredrick Douglass. Now Fredrick escaped from slavery as a young man. But he never forgot the people he left behind in slavery. He didn’t start a new life and stop thinking about slavery now that he was free. No, no…Fredrick became an abolitionist. Who can tell me what an abolitionist is? Stephen’s hand shot up but I called on Thomas instead.
“Someone who didn’t want slavery,” he said quietly.
“That’s close, Thomas,” I said. “An abolitionist didn’t want slavery, that’s true. But there were many people who didn’t want slavery and not all of them were abolitionists. People who were completely 100% against slavery often joined abolition groups, which held rallies and protests. Many wrote letters encouraging people to give up slaves. A religious group called the Quakers was very strongly against slavery. And Fredrick Douglass did all that. He wrote amazing speeches and at rallies, he would say those speeches and everyone would be cheering and really listening to what he had to say. He edited an abolitionist newspaper, The North Star. Fredrick Douglass was a busy man and fought tirelessly against slavery.
“And that brings us to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Everyone knows who he is right?” Everyone nodded. “Okay, well let me just recap for you…first of all, Dr, King was a very smart man. He skipped the ninth and twelfth grades. He received over twenty different degrees. He was a pastor at his Baptist church. He got over fourteen awards and wrote six books. But he is famous for what speech?”
“I have a dream!” they recited.
“That’s right. He’s famous for that speech. He’s famous for his thirteen years of work on civil rights activities. He led movements and marches for the underrepresented and inspired our country. He wanted everyone to recognize that everyone was equal. This concept is called, very scientifically, ‘somebodiness’.” My class smiled.
“But, while fighting for racial equality, he never physically fought. Dr. King didn’t believe in violence.” I saw Thomas and Elijah look at each other. “He was arrested thirty times but he was never violent. He never gave up. He gave hope and dignity to the African American community, to everyone in the country. But, unfortunately, a lot of people disagreed with Dr. King. One man disagreed so much that he shot and killed Martin Luther King. His name was James Earl Ray and he ended the life of a man who had done nothing but worked for equality, for basic rights, for freedom. Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for racial equality, and he died for it. He was unselfish and loving and willing to make the human race better by serving them.”
My whole class was silent. I surveyed them. Thomas and Elijah were both staring at me, listening intently. Finally, I said quietly, “You are the future of America. You must carry on that message of unselfish love, of nonviolent protest against things that violate the dignity of a human person. It is up to you to make sure that Dr. King’s sacrifice was not in vain, that Nat Turner’s sacrifice was not in vain. That Fredrick Douglass’s life’s work was not in vain. Each of you is a Dr. King inside: deep down, we all know that each one of us is equal. It is up to you to display that knowledge to the rest of the world. Now please, take out your books and turn to page hundred and seven. We’re going to read a short biography on Harriet Tubman.” My class immediately got out their books.
When the bell rang, my class exited, jabbering and calling to each other. I sat at my desk, organizing my papers. Thomas and Elijah stayed where they were; they had detention. Thomas stood up to get a drink of water and tripped over his desk. Without hesitation, Elijah got up to give Thomas a hand up. Thomas smiled at him as he stood. And I knew there wouldn’t be any more problems. The next morning, I saw them walking down the hallway talking and laughing and sharing lunch…together.
Thinking about that day makes my heart warm up. And as I sip my hot chocolate, I look at the picture of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on my desk, and I smile. And I ask myself, How do I show the Dr. King that’s inside me?