The Pursuit of Freedom

For over two centuries America has proudly called itself ‘The Land of the Free.’ While the history of the USA has been driven by the pursuit of liberty, there is significant difference in the definition and understanding of this history among Americans today. For African Americans, the pursuit of freedom was, and is, a struggle to overcome the inequalities and poisonous legacy of the system of slavery in place at the birth of America, driven by activists fighting the government to secure equality. For European Americans, freedom has flowed from the legacy of throwing off a colonial ruler, establishing constitutional government, and the subsequent desire to ensure freedom from oppression not just for Americans but for the whole of humanity.