Douglass and Freire: Friends from Different Times

I believe that Douglass and Freire would have been friends.  There are some major differences in regards to the era that they each come from, but I think that those differences would have been set aside.  Freire speaks out in direct opposition to what I would call tradition teaching.  He thinks that the student-teacher relationship referred to as banking is not only encroaching upon students’ freedom, but removing it completely.  Freire believes that a liberal education is what it will take to lead students to learn, not just divulge what they have memorized.  This is why I think Douglass would be friends with him.

            Douglass grew up in a time when only white people were educated and an African-American was a slave.  There were practically no people other than white’s receiving education, and this was a direct action against Douglass’ freedom.  I believe that the key point that would start their friendship is that Freire supports a liberal education while Douglass lived it.  Douglass never had a teacher who sat down with him and taught him facts.  Douglass was on his own, and he became his own teacher, breaking the trend of education through direction from a professor.

            Education plays a huge roll in regards to one’s freedom.  A person will not understand if something is wrong if they do not know the truth, and the only way for the truth to become apparent is if they learn.  The only way to learn is to have freedom, so that what you learn is not biased or dictated, but rather received with an open mind, having both sides presented.  Thus, freedom comes through education. A country stifles freedom if it limits education.