Freedom Rider as a Paradox - Essay Example

It may be that we are in poverty- after all, we were once slaves. Our ancestors left us with no riches to inherit and no lands to claim but their legacy remains skin deep: our freedom to voice out what we feel and think. This legacy has been brought about by the history of our people who have been burdened by issues such as slavery and persecution and yet we have chosen to rise from our conditions. Our history has made us strong and persevering in the face of obstacles and in times of crises. All these we inherited from our ancestors and with all these attributes that I have called into mind, I ask you not to fear for my life in my participation in the freedom rides. Like our ancestors, I am strong, I will persevere, and I shall rise above our prejudiced conditions, for the main reason that I want to voice out what I feel and think is right.

Being a “freedom rider” is a paradox of some sort. As you might know already, we will be riding interstate buses into the segregated southern United States. I assure you that we’re not riding with the flow of current events, that is, we're not just riding on the issue of segregation in the south just to get mileage. Instead, what we aim to do is to challenge the status quo of having racially segregated waiting rooms and terminals. Though we know that we face arrest by authorities and possible attacks from mobs, we choose to fight back with non-violence and willful determination. We choose not just to go above our social conditions such as racial bias and injustice, but we choose to be above those who have fought with much bloodshed and violence, precisely because we have freedom. We are free to choose our goals and our means to achieve those goals, and we choose to be peaceful just like many who have come before us.

This is a learning experience for me as it is a learning experience for our society. Our very ways will show society that the end doesn’t necessarily justify the means. On my part, I hope to realize that our society is not that rigid and that it can be molded by people like me into a better place for everyone to live in, which is again, one of the reasons why I’m doing this: I wish that in the future, we would be able to live equally, in every essence of the word, among others. I know that in the future, we will also reap the benefits that our present actions hold today and I want to learn how it truly feels to have freedom. Finally, I want to give back to society including your Mom, who has been nothing but patient with my decisions and caring with my life, so please let me do this… Read More