Some who have been emancipated busy themselves thereafter oppressing others as they were once oppressed, as though freedom were no more than an exchange of roles. Some attempt to recover and re-live the pathos of emancipation over and over again, as though a step beyond it would be a step back into the old oppression. Emancipation is only the negative moment of freedom; it should open the way to fulfillment in self-government. Freedom is a way of living that builds on the event of emancipation, preserving its gains and realizing its promise.
