Reflection On Equality

America is commonly characterized as the greatest country in the world, the glorious “land of the free and the home of the brave”, “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. This idealization of the American identity conveniently focuses on what people want to hear and blurs out most everything else. In reality, Americans do not live up to the dreamscape created by our views, and we never really have. America is no longer characterized by its freedom and democracy, nearly every first world country can afford that luxury. Nor are we set apart by the great opportunities given to our people, for those are far from universal. We aren’t equal, we aren’t unified, we aren’t kinder or smarter or richer than any other country across the board. It’s easy to find the shortcomings of American culture, all the things we aren’t, but the things we are have proven to be more elusive. First, let’s examine the nots.

The United States of America is a big, powerful and wealthy country in the world. The diversity of class, individuality, religion, and race are a few of the embellishments within the "melting pot" of our society. The blend of these numerous diversities is the crucial ingredient to our modern nation. America has been formed upon them, its inhabitants- the "average American"- have a single means in common; a single concept; a single goal; the American Dream. The Dream consists of a seemingly simple theory; success.

Our American belief that everyone is equal has given people hope, changed lives and helped people’s dreams come true Diana Pham was from communist Vietnam and lived as boat people trying to survive in their home country. Diana Pham her husband Vi Luu came to Chicago in 1980, the day she arrived she knew her family had endless opportunities to be whatever and whoever they wanted to be. “My daughters, like other Americans, had an equal opportunity to succeed. America has given our family the chance to become whatever we choose to become.” stated Diana Pham. America’s equality changed just one simple immigrant family from Vietnam and is changing so many other immigrants who risk their lives just to come to America and have an opportunity to be whoever and whatever they want to be.

Although America promises a lot of great things such as freedom and equality for everyone, those promises do not always translate into reality. They say that you have freedom to do and achieve anything you want but you have to follow certain sets of rules. As for equality we are all supposedly given the same chances and opportunities but that is not true. Yezierska states “rise slowly from job to job.”(Yezierska 22). To reach your goals in America you must rise up in the chain. But the

In America, we are told that it is the land where everything and anything is possible. For many years, it wasn’t like that for African American. With many hard work, strength, and courage African American manage to earn the right to an education. To the African American community education became more of a need than a want. We’ve learn that education is such a powerful asset that with it you are unstoppable. You can do so much if you put your time and energy to it. Having an education to African American is the one hope for a brighter and better

In America, the land of the free, people believe that it’s the greatest place to be. And America would probably be what everyone believes, but it has a very serious problem that could eventually destroy the country as whole. America is built upon Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but it has a strong equality issue that has to be taken care of. Equality is a social contract in America and unfortunately it is a broken one. A social contract is an agreement amongst the members of a society, but equality is a serious issue. Equality poses the biggest problem to America simply because in any country the people make the country, and if the people can’t get along either internal conflicts occur, or people eventually leave. Throughout America everyone regardless of race, color, or sexual orientation has experienced inequality in some part of America. Words are exchanged, fists are thrown, and in serious cases lives are lost because people are racists to one another. Equality is a broken social contract in America that will eventually be its demise if not attended to.

The great American dream is about seizing an opportunity when it passes by, in the form of education, or blood, sweat, and tears, otherwise known as hard work. America is an opportunistic society, not egalitarian. One has to forge one’s own way in the path of social mobility versus waiting for an equal and fair

Living in America is often taken for granted, but many would risk their lives just to live in this free country. My parents risked their lives escaping from Laos after the Vietnam War in order to reach America hoping for a better life. My dad’s struggles in life has inspired me to pursue higher education in order to create a brighter future for myself. Being the first generation children born in America has given me the opportunity of free education. In America education

"Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today" (Richardson 382). One of the most amazing things people have dreamt to obtain is the “American Dream”. It is so profound in all the things it can symbolize. It is freedom, justice, but most of all, it is a hope for a better way of life. The immigrants who made the long and dangerous voyage to America wanted their children to have experiences that they never got to experience, one of those things being to have an education. Education has been so important and cherished for many years now. Without it, usually meant a mediocre job was imminent. Without it, people will not be using their full potential. Without it, the American Dream is not

The United States has made great innovations in the past century to ensure that all people have the same chances to better themselves. While steps have been taken to bring about equality from Roe v. Wade to legalizing same sex-marriage in every state still more can be done—especially in the field of racial inequality.

The United States has become the nation it is today due to several disputes on equality. These disputes have led to the creation of many documents that represent the equality and rights that should be given to every American. An example of two U.S seminal documents are the Economic Bill of Rights and the Brown vs. the Board of Education; these documents not only represent the fights on equality, but both authors use literary devices in order to persuade the reader that their argument is valid.

America’s education system is one of the most respectable, reputable and sought after commodities in our society, but it is also the most overcrowded, discriminatory, and controversial system ever established. Most people yearn for a higher education because it 's what 's expected in this society in order to get ahead. It means a better job, more money, power, prestige and a sense of entitlement. But this system has let down the children that are supposed to benefit from it. Education discriminates against minorities, and poorer class students are not expected nor encouraged to attain a higher education. The education system is set up to ensure that every child get a basic

If anyone in the United States were asked, "What is the best part about living in this country?," most people would answer "equality". The United States is built on and known for the equality among its citizens and is often referred to as the 'melting pot'. After reading Jonathan Kozol's, The Shame of the Nation, equality is nonexistent within the schools he has gone to, and has been employed through. With his travels, expert testimony and personal stories gathered from the people within the community and schools, he shows the exact opposite of equality. Minority schools being his main focus, he discusses the inequalities these students endure and truly opens up your eyes to just how awful these minority schools have it. Jonathan Kozol is successful in his writing of The Shame of the Nation, and makes himself a voice for these minority schools that are denied of their voices.

"It is not fair that other kids have a garden and new things. But we don't have," said Elizabeth. I wish that this school was the most beautiful school in the whole why world." This letter was written by Elizabeth to Jonathan Kozol, explaining to him that her school did not have a pleasing appearance and low resources. These are one of the few things Kozol addresses in his article, "Still Separate, Still Unequal: America's Education Apartheid" that affect students with their education. I agree with Kozol that due to poor financial resources and educational opportunities the American education system challenges the core belief of the American dream by not giving everyone equal opportunity.

Specific Purpose: To tell a story about the my experience in the United States school system compare to the Jamaican school system.