The Meaning of Freedom

My friends often ask me if I teach my students the meaning of freedom and the meaning of democracy. I answer their questions by telling them the following stories.

Lincoln was one of my students from Liberia. He is very intelligent and was always a great conversationalist in class. During conversation class, we decided to discuss politics. The class was use to "hot" topics and they always followed my one rule - You can say whatever you want but you must respect the opinions of others.

The class focused its conversation on George W. Bush. Everyone spoke but Lincoln.

I reminded Lincoln that in the U. S. we have freedom of speech. I made some negative remarks about President Bush to illustrate this point.

Lincoln was still not speaking. I asked him why he would not take part in this conversation. He told me that in Liberia, if you make negative comments about the President, there is a knock on your door in the middle of the night and you are never heard or seen again.

I taught a student from Vietnam. As I do with all my students, I asked her why she came to the United States.

She told me that during the Vietnam war, the Communist Party placed her husband in prison. She was forced to leave the university and her family was relocated from the city to live in the country.

Five years later her husband was released from prison. Realizing there was no future for their children, they escaped Vietnam and came to the United States.

I tell my friends we do learn about freedom and democracy in class. My students are the teachers and I am the student.