The American Dream

Intro: The American Dream attracts many people from all over the world, people have an image that living in America grants them the life of their dreams, but does living in america really grant people the perfect life? The Case For Reparations by Coates explains how African Americans have struggled in the past with racism and discrimination. He goes on to talk about their lives during slavery and post slavery, and how African Americans are unemployed and undereducated. Aja ET AL.’s essay From A Tangle Of Pathology To A Race Fair America also talks about the lives of African Americans, the discrimination, segregation, and unemployment. They both go on explaining how Blacks are always discriminated against and are not given equal

Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the United States and the president who signed the Civil Rights Act into law, once said, “Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men’s skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact.” Many are unaware of how well a person can receive their education when their race differs from the dominant white majority of the U.S. Whether it’s ignorance or the deliberate choice of not giving other races the same opportunity to succeed, we don’t know, but that is what we have set out to find. Throughout all of our literature, we can see examples of people not getting the same choices or opportunities as other citizens

The American dream is a subjective idea that can mean money and fame for some or just the idea of freedom to others. What we believe is our path to reach this dream determines whether or not we are blinded by corporations’ image of the “American Dream”. Corporation’s main goal is to subtly coerce consumers into believing in the corporate world’s idea of the “American Dream”. They accomplish this by placing consumer’s into general categories which depicts how they will consume and place them in a cycle of false-consciousness which ultimately leads to the circulation of money within the rich and the stunting of the poor’s “hope” and possibility to obtain a better life. The barrier that stops low class citizens from advancing creates a “new primitive” society in which everyone blindly participates in the “norm” and becomes stuck in time.

Many affirmative action efforts have been made since the end of the Civil War in order to remedy the results of hundreds of years of slavery, segregation and denial of opportunity for groups that face discrimination. Many African Americans such as President Barack Obama, Senator Cory Booker, the writer Toni Morrison, the literary scholar Henry Louis Gates, media star Oprah Winfrey, and rap star Jay-Z have achieved positions of power and influence in the wider society (Giddens, Duneier, Appelbaum, Carr). However, today blacks and other minorities are still more likely to live in poverty, be killed by the police, attend poor schools, and have unequal economic opportunities. This object of this paper is to understand why affirmative action is still needed in the United State by discussing the differences between whites’ and racial/ethnic minorities’ access to education and employment.

In our American society, a gap between one’s aspirations and reality remains extremely wide. Currently, the United States has the least equality and opportunity than almost all other advanced industrial countries. The notion that America is a land of opportunity continues to be questioned as a multitude of studies have exposed this notion as a myth. Economic mobility in the United States is lower than most of Europe. This paper expands on the ways in which the lack of social and economic mobility is even more alarming when looking at the limited movement of African Americans up the social and economic ladder. A portion of this inequality is explained by discrimination based on race. African Americans and Latinos still earn less of the dollar than whites (Khau 2013). In addition, the disparities are explained by the fact that the life prospects of an American are far too greatly dependent on the income and education (Lareau 2002). In turn, it has become more evident and a true reality that social and economic mobility are not equally accessible for all, but rather it is more of a truth for whites in America.

Racial injustices and inequality have been in place in various areas of operation within the society. The existence of the notion that a given race is more superior to another has been the main source of the constant injustices across different communities. The inequality and racial injustices within the societies are deeply rooted which it makes difficult to develop policies and strategies that can have a significant impact if the past events and actions are anything to buy. Thus, the increasing inequality across the United States is based on wealth and social status where racial consideration is key in many societies. Even though there have been efforts to ensure that there is better engagement among different races within the country, there are no significant steps that have been made as the inequality among races keeps increasing.

The American Dream is a concept that has been wielded in American Literature since its beginnings. The ‘American Dream’ ideal follows the life of an ordinary man wanting to achieve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The original goal of the American dream was to pursue freedom and a greater good, but throughout time the goals have shifted to accumulating wealth and high social status. Deplorable moral and social values have evolved from a materialistic pursuit of happiness. In “Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity”, Roland Marchand describes a man that he believed to be the prime example of a 1920’s man. Marchand writes, “Not only did he flourish in the fast-paced, modern urban milieu of skyscrapers, taxi

One would not want to live a life if they knew their chances of reaching their goals, were almost certainly downsized or marginalized by their race. Well, sadly this is the case for Blacks in America. Blacks are often found to be, at the bottom of the American society. America is suppose to be “The land of the free, and the home of the brave,” allowing all citizens equal opportunity. However in a harsh reality it is not, but instead the land of the incapacitated, and home of the Whites. Looking back in time, America has always been a country of racial inequality that benefited Whites and demeaned any other race. Examples of racial inequality in our history consist of the American-Indian war, slavery, Jim Crow laws, and general discrimination. Thus the term “White Supremacy,” meaning Whites have dominance and are superior, came about. The feeling of Whites Supremacy is still felt in today’s society, and is one of many reason why race still matters. Even though the are many theories of why race still matters, it is important to realize 3 major reasons why that is so. In short, race matter because of the increased likelihood of minorities experiencing: poverty, racial profiling and Institutional racism.

Lasch asserts, “Americans have always equated opportunity with upward mobility” (50). However, due to the gap between our economic lives, social mobility is unrealistic. Without economic equality, moving up the social ladder is essentially impossible. Lasch argues, “In our own time money has come to be regarded as the only reliable measure of equality…derived not merely from the distribution of wealth or economic opportunity but, above all, from the distribution of intelligence and competence” (59). Historically, opportunity is associated with social mobility, yet inequality has always been a problem that Americans have faced. Based on the double standard in American society, whites have the ability to succeed and thrive in our class system. To white individuals having a job and an education symbolize American citizenship. On the other hand, to blacks, “home ownership became an emblem of American citizenship” (Coates 27). However, I find that inequality is often tough to discuss, as many Americans are narrow-minded when it comes to what our political systems should achieve. As a result, African Americans at the bottom of our American hierarchical system are not given the opportunity to be freely, choosing individuals. This great gap between whites and blacks has caused two distinct ways of living in one, “united” country. Therefore, as Coates pointed out, blacks establish a sense of patriotism not to their country, but to their neighborhood or block (Coates

Throughout the United States, many people, unique as they may be, have one goal and want that is the same. For lots of those individuals, that goal is just to get around the immense amount of challenges that one day brings upon them. For many, they will do whatever it takes to provide financially for themselves and or their family, in an attempt to build supportable and desirable lives. This concept is known as the American Dream. In Barbara Ehrenreich’s, Nickled and Dimed and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the American Dream is an everlasting concept that is perceived differently by both of the book’s main characters. Although these two pieces of writing were written in different eras, the characters actions about the American Dream

Acclaimed writer and professor of English literature, Azar Nafisi said “The negative side of the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream”. The American Dream is the “ideology that states that if people work really hard and are determined to achieve their financial goals, they will attain financial success” (Tyson). The Marxist belief that the American Dream is a restrained belief system is widely evident in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The means by which some people pursue this dream ultimately results in the destruction of the dream itself. This is explored through the narcissist attitudes of the individuals who are living the American Dream, the alternatives the proletariat population uses to obtain the dream and the widespread evidence of the unachievability of the dream itself

The American Dream is the idea of the United States having an endless opportunity for anyone, regardless of their past, race, beliefs, and their economic life now. In the novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, each character was driven to something that they enjoyed or wanted; something they had to work hard for and strive to have it. In the book, many of these objectives were connected to achieve The American Dream. Lennie and George's American Dream is to pursue their ideal life by owning their own ranch, Candy’s dream is to help Lennie and George buy their ranch and become apart of their little group, and Curley’s wife was dedicated to become an actress and live the “big life” in Hollywood. In conclusion, Lennie and George

Although the wealth gap between blacks and whites is still unbelievably big, African-American’s income and employment rates are steadily on the rise (Desilver) . African-American’s tend to move up in their same social class or completely move out of it. Even though African-Americans face prejudice and discrimination, they are not the only minority group to experience these issues.

The deeply rooted racial and ethnic gaps in economics and education has its legacy ingrained in American history and economic policies (Jones, 2000; Soares, Assuncao, & Goulart, 2012). Consequently, the effects are often overlooked with racism being a causative agent to many of the health outcomes and economic woes of African Americans. As per a report entitled Rewriting the Rules of the American Economy: Building an Inclusive American Economy released by the Roosevelt Institute and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, the authors

America was always seen as a country that will give everyone what they want. Immigrants that were coming to America, they believed in the American Dream. People that wanted to live better life come to America and hoped that they will have an opportunity to work and get their dreams. The American Dream is the heart of all American images, its controls how everyone act and what they do. Most people believe that the American Dream can be if you work hard and give all your effort to the work that you do. In the both stories “The Lost ‘Beautifulness’ & Soap and Water” by Yezierska, she gives examples of American Dream that became a nightmare for her characters. Two stories are telling awful situations that were in America and were ironical for