A Free Country
Dublin Core
Title
A Free Country
Description
"This is a free country.
Sure it is- but free for what?
It is Free for work. No man has to be what his father was before him. No man has to work where his father worked. In time of emergency, we may voluntarily regulate our manpower but it is done under the laws we ourselves made, which are to be abrogated when the need is over.
It is free for knowledge. No man need stay ignorant if he has the will to learn. The history of the country has proven that. Of course, there are differences in educational opportunities- but the man who truly wants to learn, who is willing to work at the job of getting ahead, can do so. No man need stay ignorant.
It is free for courtesy. Where each man is counted as one, there need be no servile scraping nor condescending nod. Each man is free to accord to every other man the same courtesies of behavior to which he is himself entitled. It takes but one person to be polite.
It is free for friendliness. We are all equals under the law, bound by the same rules and regulations. We can therefore accord the comradeship of citizenry to our neighbor, regardless of his class, creed or color.
It is free for integrity. No man wears the yoke of another. No man is bound to another as his slave. Each man can stand alone-incorrupt- and loyal to the finest ideals/
It is free for thought. The unfettered mind of man is the secret of the advancement of the nation. Here no man deed be told what to think or when to think it. He blows not hot or cold as he is ordered. He can be for or against and, provided he keeps to the law of the land- that self made law of free men- he can think and act as he pleases.
It is free for belief . No man need worship or to worship at the behest of his master. Each man is responsible to his own conscience and to his own concept of God. Strong in his faith , he can stand or fall by what he believes. His beliefs are his own.
This is a free country-founded upon freedom and free to grow with the times to a newer and finer fulfilment of the law of liberty which is the law of righteousness."
Sure it is- but free for what?
It is Free for work. No man has to be what his father was before him. No man has to work where his father worked. In time of emergency, we may voluntarily regulate our manpower but it is done under the laws we ourselves made, which are to be abrogated when the need is over.
It is free for knowledge. No man need stay ignorant if he has the will to learn. The history of the country has proven that. Of course, there are differences in educational opportunities- but the man who truly wants to learn, who is willing to work at the job of getting ahead, can do so. No man need stay ignorant.
It is free for courtesy. Where each man is counted as one, there need be no servile scraping nor condescending nod. Each man is free to accord to every other man the same courtesies of behavior to which he is himself entitled. It takes but one person to be polite.
It is free for friendliness. We are all equals under the law, bound by the same rules and regulations. We can therefore accord the comradeship of citizenry to our neighbor, regardless of his class, creed or color.
It is free for integrity. No man wears the yoke of another. No man is bound to another as his slave. Each man can stand alone-incorrupt- and loyal to the finest ideals/
It is free for thought. The unfettered mind of man is the secret of the advancement of the nation. Here no man deed be told what to think or when to think it. He blows not hot or cold as he is ordered. He can be for or against and, provided he keeps to the law of the land- that self made law of free men- he can think and act as he pleases.
It is free for belief . No man need worship or to worship at the behest of his master. Each man is responsible to his own conscience and to his own concept of God. Strong in his faith , he can stand or fall by what he believes. His beliefs are his own.
This is a free country-founded upon freedom and free to grow with the times to a newer and finer fulfilment of the law of liberty which is the law of righteousness."
Creator
Ruth Taylor
Source
Negro Star
Date
1950-4-7
Collection
Citation
Ruth Taylor, “A Free Country,” African American Fourth of July, accessed April 29, 2024, https://africanamerican4th.omeka.net/items/show/174.