A Reflection on the Meaning of Freedom in America
We have two conflicting ideas of freedom, but just one word for freedom
The fifteen days from Juneteenth to the Fourth of July provide the ideal opportunity to think about the meaning of freedom in the United States, how freedom is interwoven with warfare in this country, and the iteration of freedom that our nation prioritizes and empowers.
At first glance, the freedoms that came after the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, when the American colonies declared their independence from the British, and General Order No. 3 on June 19, 1865, that abolished slavery in the United States, could be mistaken as the same iteration of freedom, in that they were both supposed to be a freedom from an oppressor, but upon closer inspection, these two documents and their aftermaths represent two different concepts of freedom. The two types of freedom created from these acts of American liberation represent what I call Freedom From and Freedom With.
In this article, I will talk about these two different iterations of freedom, and explain how Freedom From destroys freedom and how Freedom With preserves freedom, but before I delve into these two concepts, I must highlight how thus far our society only has one word—freedom—to express these vastly different interpretations of freedom. And as a result, people can talk about two different concepts of freedom and believe that they are talking about the same thing because each side calls it “freedom.”
In America, more often than not, Republicans and conservatives defend Freedom From, and Democrats and progressives defend Freedom With, but both sides just say “freedom.”
These two iterations of freedom have shaped this nation and the clashing of these freedoms has shaped the culture wars that have defined the United States ever since Black Americans obtained their freedom. If we are to ever have a truly free society we must understand both of these iterations of freedom.
To learn more about Freedom With, Listen to this podcast episode - ‘Freedom With’: What the LA ICE Protests Are Teaching Us About Freedom
The Freedom of the Fourth of July
Freedom From is the type of freedom that Americans celebrate on the Fourth of July, and more often than not it is what most Americans understand freedom to be. Freedom From is the freedom of the Declaration of Independence. This is a freedom that declares a freedom from an oppressor. The American colonies freed themselves from the British and in doing so they proclaimed their independence because they were no longer bound to a monarch and constrained by their rule. Freedom From is a natural expression of freedom and it is the prevailing idea of freedom that drives people to resist and escape the bounds of authoritarians and oppressive societies in the modern world. When Americans say “freedom,” more often than not, they are expressing Freedom From.
However, despite the prominence and ongoing inspiration that we derive from Freedom From, this iteration of freedom can easily devolve into an expression of “freedom” that equates to the erasure of someone else’s freedom. Freedom From is an interpretation of freedom that can proclaim that slavery, oppression, and exploitation of the other are part of freedom. The liberators of a Freedom From can also regress into becoming the oppressors that a new iteration of freedom fighters will seek to free themselves from. This regression will occur because Freedom From is an underdeveloped and irresponsible understanding of freedom that remains dependent on the presence of the other. There must be another group who you must liberate yourself from so that you can be free. This group is the other.
Fascists, authoritarians, and tyrants attack the other and any form of opposition in the name of restoring freedom to their supporters, and this is how Freedom From will eventually destroy freedom.
Since, Freedom From is dependent on the other, this understanding of freedom does not emphasize how people should behave and interact with the world around them so that they can preserve their freedom. In Freedom From, freedom is merely something you have and not something you do, and as a result, freedom then becomes the ability to do what you want while also being in the absence of an other who is preventing you from doing what you want. With Freedom From, freedom is something that you possess and not something that you practice. The Bill of Rights enshrines our freedoms and articulates the freedoms that Americans can possess, but it does not teach us how to best practice those freedoms.
Since freedom has now become a possession and not a practice, independence and irresponsibility will become defining features of Freedom From. Independence–both individually and collectively–is foundational to Freedom From because this type of freedom emerges from no longer being attached to anything or anyone that may limit your freedom, yet this independence will also breed irresponsibility because people will also want to be independent from or disconnected from the negative impact of their actions. If the actions of a slave owner or colonizer are harmful to them, they will use the Freedom From that they possess to blame the other for the mistake. And they will also use the power of possessing, but not practicing freedom, to deny freedom to the other, so that they are never held responsible for the terror that they inflict upon the other. This is how independence coupled with irresponsibility can destroy freedom.
The corrupting of freedom that is embedded in Freedom From will create societal regression and the destruction of freedom. Freedom From will create terror and it is a freedom that does not encourage or cultivate wisdom. Wisely using your freedom is not part of Freedom From.
Instead Freedom From celebrates power and strength because people need to be strong and powerful enough to liberate themselves from their oppressor. Yet over time the prioritization of power over wisdom will destroy freedom and the democratic societies that depend on it. Freedom From will eventually devolve into fascism and other iterations of authoritarianism and tyranny.
The chaos and ineptitude caused by this unwise, irresponsible, and powerful expression of freedom will result in social instability, and when this occurs the adherents of Freedom From will blame the other for their problems and proclaim that their freedoms will return once they have been liberated from the other.
Fascists, authoritarians, and tyrants attack the other and any form of opposition in the name of restoring freedom to their supporters, and this is how Freedom From will eventually destroy freedom. Freedom From has long been the dominant interpretation of freedom in the United States and you can see it in every facet of our society.
America’s irresponsible relationship with guns is also an example of Freedom From. Americans are encouraged to have a gun, but are not taught how to be responsible with their guns. As more people die because of gun violence, conservative Americans and the Republican Party refuse to regulate guns because it would deprive people of their freedom. Americans proclaim that people need guns so that they can defend themselves against an other who may try to take away their “freedom.” The terror, chaos, and incompetence of American gun laws are an expression of Freedom From.
Additionally, immigrants and people of color have long been used as the scapegoats for the evils that befall this nation. Any occurrence that may impede the dominance and irresponsibility of America’s majority-white culture is often described as an attack on freedom. DEI is called an attack on freedom because equity and inclusion, and especially diversity, were never supposed to be a part of the Freedom From created by America’s founding fathers. When Americans encounter economic hardships it is normal for them to blame immigrants, people of color, foreign businesses, or another other; and proclaim that freedom will return when they obtain their freedom from the other. Enslaving, deporting, oppressing, silencing, and imprisoning the other are some of the methods used for obtaining Freedom From in America.
The presidencies of Donald Trump have also been built upon America’s culture of Freedom From. His plan to deport and incarcerate millions of Americans is Freedom From. ICE raids are the terror of Freedom From. Due to the terror, oppression, and cruelty of Freedom From, the other will strive to obtain the power and strength to free themselves from their oppressors. Freedom From ultimately leads to a perpetual cycle of oppression by one group against another and also produces a cycle of American regression that will destroy our democratic foundations.
Freedom From is an American problem, but it is not a problem that originated from or is exclusive to the United States. Today, beyond the United States, there are current examples of terrorizing the other in the name of “freedom,” and agendas and government policies around displacing and murdering the other that are obvious expressions of Freedom From.
To prevent, “freedom” and Freedom From being used to justify the taking of an other’s freedom, we must reconstruct freedom. In America, the reconstruction of freedom happened during Reconstruction. This was the beginning of Freedom With in America.
The Freedom of Juneteenth
When Major General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, he implemented what many American abolitionists believed would be the final act for abolishing slavery in the United States. General Order No. 3 was supposed to be another expression of Freedom From.
The implementation of the abolition of slavery at the national level began on January 1, 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that abolished slavery in the Union, but since this proclamation occurred during the Civil War, the Confederacy, obviously, refused to acknowledge it because the South had commenced the war in order to preserve the institution of slavery. Despite Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendering to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox, many Southern states refused to surrender. As a result, Union troops continued to fight against the Southern states who wanted to preserve slavery. The Union army defeated these Confederate armies and forced the states to surrender one-by-one and, as each state surrendered, the abolition of slavery became the law in each state.
Reconstruction is about the practice of being free with the other.
On June 19, 1865, the Union troops finally reached Texas, and now all of the former Confederate states were under Union control, and slavery was officially abolished in the United States.
The Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3 both existed to liberate Black Americans from their white oppressors, but this manifestation of Freedom From differs from that of the Revolutionary War because following the signing of the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783, the British left the United States. Americans were legally and physically free from the British.
In contrast, Black Americans were legally free from enslavement and slave owners, but not physically free from white Americans who wanted to enslave them. In fact, General Order No. 3 advised the newly-freed “to remain at their present homes, and work for wages.” The plan was simply for the relationship to shift from enslaver and enslaved to employer and employee, and for Black and white people to still be bonded together in a relationship where white Americans hold the power. Freedom From was the intent in 1865, but it was also an impossibility. Black Americans possessed Freedom From in theory, but not in reality, so another conception of freedom needed to be created.
Freedom With was born from the impossibility and inadequacy of Freedom From and it came into being because Black and white abolitionists were able to become friends and allies, and they now had the power to reshape and reconstruct America. The purpose of freedom was no longer to be free from the other, but to form a relationship with the other and engage in dialogue. The iterative nature of this new practice of freedom is evident throughout the era of Reconstruction from 1865 to 1877 because the era is defined by the continued practice of expanding, modifying, and improving freedom and equality.
The Emancipation Proclamation led to General Order No. 3 which then led to the creation of the Thirteenth Amendment that enshrined the abolition of slavery into the U.S. Constitution. Black freedom then prompted a conversation between Black and white Reconstructionists about the meaning of freedom, and the rights and protections that come with freedom. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 addressed many of these questions, and the Fourteenth Amendment, essentially, enshrined the ideals of Freedom With into the U.S. Constitution. Birthright citizenship and the guarantee of due process and equal protection under the law attempted to remove the other from America’s democracy and create a status quo of Americans regardless of race who are free with each other.
Trump’s attacks on birthright citizenship, due process, and equal protection are merely Freedom From attacking the Freedom With created in the Fourteenth Amendment.
Also, the freedom of Reconstruction is not a freedom of possession and irresponsibility like Freedom From. None of the progress of Reconstruction is supposed to be perfect or finished, where the responsibility of our freedoms resides in the perfection of the document. Reconstruction is about the practice of being free with the other. Our responsibility is to each other and this helps to sustain freedom and Freedom With.
Freedom With could be called tolerance, equality, and inclusion; but it also means that as you learn more about the other—who is also your friend, ally, and neighbor—you modify and update your laws and norms to ensure that freedom continues to grow. The Fifteenth Amendment, the creation of the Department of Justice and the Department of Education, and the Civil Rights Acts of 1870, 1871, and 1875, are all examples of the practice of Freedom With and the expansion of freedom during Reconstruction.
Freedom With is a mature understanding of freedom that requires shared responsibility, dialogue, and wisdom. It is a profound philosophical shift beyond Freedom From. Freedom With occurs when people grow from a new and immature freedom to a mature freedom that can preserve a democracy.
The violence and terror waged by former Confederates and white supremacist militias against Reconstruction must be understood as a clash between the adherents of Freedom From and the creators of Freedom With. The end of Reconstruction in 1877 ushered in the return of Freedom From as America’s main interpretation of freedom. Freedom From created Plessy v. Ferguson, Jim Crow, racial segregation, and a new American apartheid.
The battle between Freedom From and Freedom With has defined this nation ever since Reconstruction, and it still defines us today.
Freedom From and the End of Freedom
If you examine the conflicts that have defined this nation, they all center around freedom, and the violence that is interwoven into Freedom From. We fought to be free from the British, and ever since then, America has had domestic conflicts because we want to be free from other Americans.
As America has grown into a more diverse, united, and equitable society by championing Freedom With, there have always been Americans who want to stop the progress, define the expansion of Freedom With as the erasure of freedom, and champion the Freedom From of our founding fathers. This cycle of regression has always been the American norm and today we are witnessing how quickly freedom can get destroyed when the proponents of Freedom From wield the power in our democracy.
The powerful, irresponsible, violent, and immature understanding of freedom that defines the Trump administration shows that Freedom From is on the rise, and freedom and democracy are on the decline.
Also, the tolerance, diversity, and inclusion of Freedom With does not mean that Freedom With must strive to find a way to coexist with Freedom From. It is impossible for Freedom With to coexist with Freedom From, but this also does not mean that violence, conflict, and erasure are inevitable.
Freedom With does not aspire to be free from Freedom From. If Freedom With had this aspiration, it would be aspiring to become Freedom From. Practioners of Freedom With do not need to find common ground with adherents of Freedom From, and they do not need to oppress or violently remove them either.
Instead Freedom With requires that we hope and teach how Freedom From–the initial exuberance, joy, and freedom that can come from freeing oneself from an oppressor–must mature into Freedom With before this immature expression of freedom ends up destroying freedom. Freedom From often represents the birth of freedom, but freedom will die if it remains a child and does not mature. As America continues to deify our founding fathers and their Freedom From, we have prevented our freedoms from growing, maturing, and expanding.
Freedom With represents the necessary evolution of freedom that all free societies must make if they want to preserve their freedoms.
If we are to preserve our freedoms, we must be able to name and express the type of freedom that we want. We must proclaim that we want Freedom With, otherwise Freedom From will destroy our freedoms.
This is a profound philosophical shift! Extremely timely, and critical for folks to understand and start to live out. Thanks for your work, BHP!
https://open.substack.com/pub/jamyschoby/p/if-you-dont-agree-with-me-youre-not?r=1gjomx&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=post_stats