Je-Vonni S. Williams

ENG 1121-D439

Prof. Schmerler

Mar 1, 2019

Free World?

Today we pride ourselves on saying that we live in a free world. Despite having negative inclinations and responses to different races, religions and even genders. As humans we have a tendency of having negative feelings towards things, we do not understand without trying to learn about them. So, how do we expect for persons who subscribe to these categories to even feel some sense of freedom with in their communities? According to the oxford dictionary, freedom refers to the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants. So, with that being stated, are we all truly free today in our so called “free world”? I think to truly be free is to live within a society that respects other’s differences. Not accept but respect these differences, we can’t all subscribe to everything within our societies. This is so, because we are all thought different things during our infancy. However, we can all respect these differences, as an aim to make everyone truly feel free as well as keeping harmony among ourselves.

When I moved to this country my dad would always warn me about how I would carry my self outside of the house. Being a teenager from the islands I never understood that these warnings were the result of the years of stereotypes made surrounding the black male, and how carrying myself a certain way can even be harmful to me. To be more specific, my dad would always warn me about leaving the house with my hoodie over my head. It was never my aim to seem cool or hood while wearing a hoodie. It’s just that it provided an extra layer of protection against the bitter cold of New York that I was still getting a custom to. As a result, I was not able to enjoy the freedom of wearing my clothes how I felt comfortable and even certain accessories. Consequently, because of a stereotype that made to generalize a certain race. So, Now tell me am I truly free?

Life is the most beautiful yet tragic experience we are ever going to have. As a result, we all hold onto or believe in something that is higher than ourselves when the trials of life come our way. I think this is the driving force behind religions. We are all taught different religions during our development as children and we all believe that each of our religions is the correct form of belief. As a result, we may not respect the other religions of the world. Simply because we are ignorant to what is being taught within these religions, consequently drawing inaccurate conclusions. For example, I believe the events of nine even has created if not increased a stereotype amongst Muslims and Islam. This stereotype is that all Muslims and persons of Islam are dangerous people and even terrorists. But my question to you is should persons of that religion feel scared to practice their religion because of the actions of a group of people that subscribe to their religion? I subscribe to Christianity, but I do have friends that practice Islam and they are some of the most peaceful persons I know. If we are to make the general population of this religion feel uncomfortable to practice their religion, are they truly free today in our “free world”?

Lastly, today we live in a world that is flooded with vehicles. To date, having a driver’s license and learning to drive has become as basic skill, as basic as learning to cook and clean. On 26 September 2017, King Salman issued an order to allow women to drive in Saudi Arabia. Consequently, women that lived in Saudi Arabia were not allowed to drive many years before that. I could these women truly feel free if they did not have the freedom to decide whether or not they wanted to drive? I conclusion do we really live in a free world?