Kim Wymer

Ms. Kitt

English 1H

27 November 2016
With A Price

Were people really born with rights? Freedom is the basis in which many countries live

by. But if freedom is their motto, why are governments so big? And why are jails so full?

Freedom is not a right all citizens experience. People instead, must struggle and fight for the

unalienable rights that were promised to them, yet never fulfilled. Everyday is a struggle,

especially for the minority, who face discrimination and obstacles every single day of their lives.

In Martin Luther Kings I Have a Dream speech, Nobody Turn Me Around by Charles

Euchner, and Reading Lolita in Tehran by Nafisi, acts of restriction, discrimination, and racial

injustice show that the lack of freedom is prevalent in todays society.

In the I Have a Dream Speech, King says, This note [The Declaration of

Independence,] was the promise that all men, yes black men as well as white men, would be

guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today

that America has defaulted on this promissory note (Martin 48). At the time, when King first

said this quote, everyones eyes opened to this idea and people began to realize that blacks and

other minorities should not be treated with such injustice. Nevertheless, this fact is dismissed and

overlooked today because people believe that everyone is born with freedom. However, the 21st

century is still crawling with inequality and exploitation. Americans are forced to buy healthcare

they may not be able to afford, and the government has gone to the extent of fining those who do

not pay. Such sovereignty should not exist in a country that believes in freedom for all.

Furthermore, many people are unaware that the problems society faced years ago, are still

considered major complications that limits a persons freedom today. King says, I have a dream

that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin (Martin 50). With far too many people turning away from raising racial

awareness, movements such as Black Lives Matter are established to prevent racial injustice. If

we did not have unjustness in our country, there would be no use for groups and campaigns such

as Black Lives Matter. By using violence and systematic racism against another human being,

or merely judging a person because of their physical appearance, an individual is violating

another persons freedom. The way in which a person expresses themselves, whether it be by

choice or genetically inherited traits, should not be judged and criticised in a free world.

Similarly, Charles Euchner writes about the obstacles blacks encountered through the

struggle for freedom. In Nobody Turn Me Around Euchner quotes Kings I Have a Dream

Speech, [The Emancipation Proclamation]... came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night

of [the slaves] captivity. (Euchner 55). For years, blacks in America faced discrimination,

segregation, and even slavery. A person in bondage, held against their will, is not considered free.

Nor is a person that has to endure racial slurs, physical abuse, and neglect. When a person is

taken away the right to education, proper water sources, and the pursuit of happiness, they are

never free. But when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, he opened the

door to freedom for slaves. Charles Euchner also explained the parallel between Jewish slaves in

Egypt and black slaves in America. They [Jews] endured because of their faith in god- like

blacks in America. And then one day, they freed themselves from bondage like blacks will, one

day as well. The significance behind this quote is almost common sense to people. King

expressed that their fight to freedom was not over yet. Just because they were freed as slaves,

didnt mean they experienced the same rights as whites, or that they were treated with the respect

they deserved. King also says, Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he

has nothing for which to vote. The voices and opinions of the citizens of America should matter,
yet voting still restricts many people who should have a say in the countrys decisions. Only

adults can vote, yet the Post-Millennials are expected to carry society. In the past, blacks were

forbidden from voting in the deep south, and many in the north were not able to afford to vote in

the first place. In fact, the majority of the middle class could not afford to vote, and believed their

say did not matter. If the middle and third class were stomped upon in society, they would

obviously not believe their ballot would affect the country. To top it all of, women werent even

able to vote until the 19th amendment was passed in 1920, only 96 years ago. All of these facts

are plainly antonyms of freedom. Limitations instituted in Americas history are thriving today,

and acts of injustice are not corrupted.

As a final point, in a memoir called Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi describes a

girl named Sanaz who ...pauses a moment on the top of the stairs to put on thin lacy gloves to

hide her nail polish. (Nafisi 82). It is in her best interest to not be seen or heard or noticed. She

doesnt walk upright, but bends her head towards the ground and doesnt look at passerby.

(Nafisi 82). Everyday of their lives, women in Iran are forced to follow these laws, to dress a

certain way, walk a certain way, even speak a certain way. Not only are these women stripped of

their dignity and freedom, but they are forced to abandon their personality and expressions.

Nafisi also says, If she gets on a bus, the seating is segregated.(Nafisi 82). Nobody in their

right mind would be able to tolerate such horrendous situations, yet many Iranian women do.

They are disrespected among men and are forced to live under laws that undermine women.

Many of these women do not even know what freedom is. The regime that ruled them had tried

to make their personal identities and histories irrelevant. (Nafisi 83). Nobody deserves such

inhumane treatment. The age of marriage plunged from 18 to 9, and the punishment for adultery

and prostitution once again is to be stoned. Iranian women have no say because their voice does
not matter in society. Many take for granted what they have in their home country, yet other

people such as Sanaz are humiliated and ridiculed for trying to be free.

Regrettably, the peoples struggle for peace, unity, and freedom will never end in a world

filled with hatred and inequality. However, people still may not have been swayed by such

compelling stories of courage and discrimination. They may believe that people are born with

freedom, no matter where they are found in the world. But so many people do not hear the pain

of those suffering at war for their country. They are blind to the humans suffering in refugee

camps; under torture or the immediate threat of death. And refuse to acknowledge the diseased in

Africa, soon to die without treatment. If humans were born with freedom like many people still

bluntly believe, there would be no necessity for firearms, soldiers, or even law enforcement. No

need for petitions, Martin Luther King Jr., protests, speeches, The Declaration of Independence,,

and wars. Instead, prostitution, murders, communism, havoc, riots, large government's, poverty,

and hunger would thrive throughout the entirety of Earth. But, fortunately, these people are

wrong. Humans must fight for their rights. Whether it be about the smallest reasons like the right

to express their values in a newspaper, or big ones, like when someone sacrifices their life for

their country, freedom is something that must be earned. Freedom is not free.

Works Cited
Martin Luther King Jr., I Have a Dream. California Collections Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,

------2010, pp. 47-51

Euchner, Charles. Nobody Turn Me Around. California Collections Houghton Mifflin

------Harcourt, 2010, pp. 55-68

Nafisi, Azar. Reading Lolita in Tehran. California Collections Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,

------2010, pp. 81-83