Freedom

By: Aaron R.

            Freedom can be interpreted differently by anyone. I look at freedom as having the ability to say and do what I want, be treated fairly, and only have consequences against me when things can be proven. I wouldn’t want to serve a consequence for an action that I didn’t do. I also wouldn’t want everything that came out of my mouth or every move I made to be controlled or have to worry about what I was doing. I don’t think many people realize how broad of a word “freedom” is.

            The Amanda Knox case stood out to me because there was a good chance that she wasn’t guilty. She was accused of murder and convicted with no deliberate proof. I think that because she was involved with Guede, who was also in trouble with another case, she was looked down upon before real facts could actually be given. People like Nelson Mandela are the types of people who are free to begin with, but deserve their consequences. Mandela was imprisoned for sabotaging the South African state trying to prove a point between blacks and whites. He admitted to this sabotage, and there was also proof, therefor he deserved his sentence. Rubin “Hurricane” Carter was arrested for a triple homicide, I completely disagree with this case. He was arrested but there was very little evidence and no finger prints were taken at the scene. I believe that this is the opposite of freedom and that he was arrested because he was a well-known African American in the 60s so he was portrayed as someone that would commit this crime.

            Freedom should give everyone equal rights. Some of the people above deserved arrests while the others did not. False accusation and jumping to conclusions takes away the right of freedom. These people could be innocent and serving someone else’s sentence. Their freedom has been taken from them for things that were never proven. Freedom is portrayed differently by everyone, but everyone deserves it.