White America / Black America

While many people view the achievement of the American Dream as the highest form of success, it is really a false reality built on an ongoing history of white supremacy and superiority. “The Dream” is one that is held by the willfully ignorant, those believing themselves to be white, and people who do not wish to reflect on the issues of race and discrimination transpiring in modern day society. As a result, “The Dream” is consequentially detrimental to the African American race.

In Coates’ interview about his book, “Between the World and Me”, Coates presents the reality of the American Dream and how the Dream, along with the Dreamers, will not only terminate the existence of the black population but the Earth itself. In “Between the World and Me”, Coates writes to his son about being a black man in a country lost in the American Dream. The American Dream is the idea that everyone would have equal opportunity for prosperity and success in America. However, Coates reasons in his book “Between the World and Me” that the American Dream is a lie, and there was never an equal opportunity for blacks.

According to a February poll from the Public Religion Research Institute, an overwhelming 87% of black Americans say black people face a lot of discrimination in the United States, but only 49% of white Americans say the same thing. From this poll, we can see that racism, especially in the black community in America, can negatively affect a person’s level of confidence and their willingness to work hard in order to achieve an important dream. The American Dream, the archetypal notion that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative, is an ideal that most people strive to achieve. Unfortunately, in the past and in modern day, the population that surrounds

When asked the question, what does it mean to be black in America , the first thing that came to mine was struggle which means to make forceful or violence

Although African Americans had to fight for equal opportunities for jobs back in the 1960s, there is still this division about hiring in the 2000 century and having a competitive salary whether you are educated or not. Salaries for whites are still higher than salaries for African Americans. When looking at the opportunities to obtain the American Dream, for an African American, you have to ask yourself, “Will I be able to obtain that

Though it may be hard, achieving the American Dream is attainable. Anna Quindlen states, “A mongrel nation built of ever changing disparate parts, it is held together by a notion, the notion that all men are created equal…” (Staff 2010) All men are created equal, therefore every person has the chance to achieve the American Dream. Quindlen also states, “This is a national founded on a conundrum… characterized as ‘community added

Before addressing Coates’ truth about the American Dream, the idea of race needs to be discussed in relation to the American Dream. Coates proclaims that "Americans believe in the reality of ‘race’ as a defined, indubitable feature of the natural world. Racism- the need to ascribe bone- deep features to people and then humiliate, reduce, and destroy them" (7). This thought perfectly defines how the American society-and

The concept of the American Dream has been with us as long as we have been a nation. In Brandon Kings “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, Or On Hold?” he presents us with his version of the American dream. According to Kings, the American dream is defined as “The potential to work for an honest, secure way of life and save for the future” (611). The American dream may differ between every individual and how they perceive it. To some, the American dream is to have a decent job and to be financially prosperous. However, to others, having a job is defined as just living paycheck to paycheck every passing month. The American dream to African Americans in 2015 basically designates opportunity, that is the opportunity to make an impact in life through tough work and dedication. . To me, the American dream means the ability to be financially stable and the liberation for the nightmares of racial strife to culminate. As Langston Hughes, an American poet, asserts in his poem “What happens to a dream deferred”, “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun or fester like a sore and then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar cover- like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode” Hughes describes what a dream is when it’s delayed. It’s like the American dream becomes a nightmare when there is no hope, to dream, or for example, if there is no way to gain financial stability. Then people will commence to defer their dreams and there would be an

Over the years, the meaning of the American Dream has been modified for specific groups of individuals simply because of race, gender and ethnicity. The supposed definition of the American Dream are the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American, which is based off of bias. This implies that, anyone that works hard should gain success and happiness in America. But instead, many tend to fail or face hardships because the supposed definition varies between individuals. In the autobiography Black Boy by Richard Wright, he faced harsh obstacles and it’s up to him so resolve them.

Race has become so embedded, and instilled into people, that many walk around feeling that there is no racism happening around the nation, but as long as society is ok with unfair incarcerations, communities being left behind, children not being given a chance, this society will continue to be one that never reaches its true potential. The color of one another’s skin and culture should not determine how individuals see one another. As long as race continues to influence society in all the ways that it does, America can never approach the post-racial stage. Obviously the old ways of racism would never be accepted within society today, but it does not imply that it has disappeared altogether. An equality of opportunities will help to create a post-racial society in America, a society where people are not stereotyped and judged because of their culture or the way they dress. America will never reach that great milestone of a post-racial society if America does not exclude race from every aspect of society. Only through being

Race played a critical role in the pursuit of The American Dream. In spite of the fact that Americans were immigrants by nature, African Americans in particular were treated as if they didn't belong. Furthermore, they were considered to be less valuable than those of European descent. Put another way, opportunities made available for a white man were simply non-existent for a black man with the same qualifications. Racism was so prevalent in these times that it remains a problem in modern day; the magnitude of which is still tragically

The United States of America: the place that praises the “ American Dream”, a dream that countless people try following but have a hard time accomplishing because of systemic racism. It’s easy to tell people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, but what if they don’t even have boots to begin with? The American Dream is a sugar coated lie. After hundreds of years of colonization ,imperialism, mass genocide, institutionalized racism, white supremacy, marginalization, and the white patriarchy, it is deceptive to let minorities believe that they can be as successful as their white counterparts when the system they live in favors white men. The United States lives in a tight hypocritical bubble that denies their raw history and white washes

Given, the current high believes toward the American dream, there are still people in the world that would disagree with this dream. It is, however, important to acknowledge that the dream of opportunities and the chance of doing better economically does not apply to everyone. In contrast to white people, most African American people can`t live the American dream because of their skin color. Whereas, white people are being privileged with opportunities. Further, I will elaborate on my personal opinions in regard to how racism still affects people today. I will base it on the MLK meeting I attended last Thursday.

The idea that affluence in a capitalist society can be achieved through hard work and dedication regardless of the social and economic circumstances of the individual has been romanticized throughout history and entrenched in American thought culture. Private ownership is a hallmark of the “American Dream”, representing the opportunity for American citizens to achieve upward social mobility. Though America is famed for providing equality of opportunity to American citizens, a look at America 's past tells a different story. After spending 245 years in slavery accumulating wealth on behalf of white Americans, African Americans were denied the 40 acres and a mule promised to them by the United States government. Even in the absence of de

America: the land of equal opportunity? The American dream has caused many people to believe in something that is not necessarily achievable. The American Dream is similar to a contract that claims in order to have a good life you must work hard for it, but the small text “Terms and Conditions” says otherwise. These Terms and Conditions are racial profiling, gender discrimination, status, and a certain time period in the United States. These factors limit people's opportunities to improve their quality of life. Achieving the American Dream comes down to personal luck and unfortunately does not apply to everyone.