Public Policy Research



Quest for Freedom Must Be Constantly Renewed


Written By: Stan Faryna
Published In: New Coalition News & Views
Publication Date: April 1, 2003
Publisher: The Heartland Institute


Booker T. Washington--who was born a slave and became a hero, a leader, and a scholar--said over a hundred years ago: “Following in the tracks of the lowly Nazarene, we shall continue to work and wait, till, by the exercise of the higher virtues, by the product of our brains and hands, we make ourselves so important to the American people that we shall compel them to recognize us because of our intrinsic worth.” Booker T. Washington’s hope, that the intrinsic dignity of the human person would be fully recognized in the black American, is a witness to the ongoing quest for freedom in American history. Similarly, Reverend Dr. King’s dream for black Americans to enjoy a fuller share in the life of society reminded Americans that the quest for freedom must be constantly renewed. All over the world, we have witnessed that same longing for freedom. As Pope John Paul II told the United Nations General Assembly in 1995, this is truly one of the distinguishing marks of our time. In America, we have known this quest to be a plow that makes way for seeds that will grow into the heavy fruits of freedom.

Black Americans have increased the treasure that belongs to all Americans. When America became disaffected with the cause for freedom, black Americans reminded the world of the intrinsic dignity of the human person and of the universal right of the individual to participate fully in society as is commensurate with his dignity as a free human being. Again and again, black Americans have renewed America in the wisdom that there is a universality to human nature and experience. As Booker T. Washington wrote long ago, suffering was their school--though it is often difficult for some to see that beyond the pain and humility of that immense suffering lies a store of radiant virtues.

The bold, new voices of black conservatives have become forceful voices for freedom because they draw their wisdom from the treasury of their heritage and the greater treasuries of the nation and humanity. As their voices grow stronger, the old foundations of politics and economics will crumble.

These courageous men and women are reawakening black America’s trust in itself as a community of free and acting persons who know themselves to be the children of God. They have inaugurated a new beginning for black Americans by giving public notice of the available and real opportunities for them to participate economically, politically, and socially in the life of American civilization. Indeed, the vision of black conservatives is both profound and powerful.

Excepted from “Black Diamonds: Discovering the Lessons of Freedom in Black Conservative Thought,” in Black and Right: The Bold New Voice of Black Conservatives in America, Stan Faryna, Brad Stetson, and Joseph G. Gonti (editors) (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, April 1997, 216 pages cloth), pages 123-139. Available for $20.95 through Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0275953424/theheartlandinst.