The American Dream — Does it Exist?

When most people think of “The American Dream”, they often think about social mobility, family, and success. Some people even define it as the ability to move up in social class through hard work, and dedication. The American Dream is the ideal way of life that many Americans, and immigrants can only desire. However, where did the “American Dream” narrative come from? According to The Library of Congress, The American Dream was first mentioned by James Truslow Adams ( “American Dream”). In his book, The Epic of America, he stated that it was “…the dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement… it is not a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position” (Adams 214). In fact, Adams shared the same core beliefs as the founding fathers of the Declaration of Independence, where it states people should experience “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. Nevertheless, if this is what The American Dream consists of, has it ever truly existed for everyone? In an ideal world, everyone should have equal rights, and be treated with dignity and respect. However, minorities in this country have experienced every sort of mistreatment from White people, and have been victim of institutional racism, setting many groups of people back from truly succeeding and having the same ample opportunity that White people (more specifically straight, White men) have been granted. The American Dream has existed for most White people, but unfortunately, is a false narrative that has been sold to minorities.
James Baldwin, an award-winning African-American author, spoke on the American Dream, touching on how many White people were able to achieve this, based on the work and labor of Black people, during slavery and post-slavery days. In his speech, “The American Dream and the American Negro”, he boldy states, “It is a terrible thing for an entire people to surrender to the notion that one-ninth of its population is beneath them. Until the moment comes when we, the Americans, are able to accept the fact that my ancestors are both black and white… that we need each other, that I am not a ward of America, I am not an object of missionary charity, I am one of the people who built the country — until this moment comes there is scarcely any hope for the American dream” (Baldwin). This is, in fact, true; many African-Americans were unable to build generational wealth or success due to enslavement, and many female slaves fell victim to rape, and sodomy, while male slaves had to endure beatings, and sometimes, even murder. Through the blood, sweat, and tears, of African people, they built up America with no compensation for it. 12.5 million slaves were kidnapped and taken from their native lands by White, colonial men and were separated from family members. No doubt, this emotionally and physically scarred for slaves for life — thus building generational trauma. Black people have never been able to set their race up financially and be on the same level as their White counterparts. In fact, the men who wrote the Declaration of Independence (which James Truslow Adams based the American Dream on), owned slaves, and believed that Black people were “inferior” to White people. Thomas Jefferson, owned over 600 slaves, and only freed two. Clearly, the Declaration of Independence, was only written with White men in mind, and the authors only contradicted themselves, as their personal lives were very different from what they wrote.

Even after slavery, Black people were unable to vote until 1965, and were subject to segregation. Additionally, Black Americans were not allowed to sit in the front of the bus, had to use separate water fountains, were lynched, and had to march on Washington just to been seen and heard. The segregation of schools caused Black Americans to not have the same quality of education that white people had, which is another example of a setback. Black schools were barely funded by the government, and even after slavery was abolished, Black Americans had to start from ground one in building homes, businesses, and families. During the Civil Rights era, many Black people were imprisoned for false rape accusations, petty crimes, and they were even arrested for protesting for their very existence. What part of the American Dream is this?
Nonetheless, Black people were not the only ones who were mistreated and abused. Many Native Americans were killed off, when this very American country, was their homeland. The Native American Genocide resulted in the wiping out of “80 percent of California’s Native Americans” (Blakemore). On June 26th, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court finally decided to make gay marriage legal in all 50 states. While this is a win, it should have already been in effect. Back then, queer people were looked down on and were subject to harrassment, bullying. In fact, in 1953, President Eisenhower passed a law where employers were able to to deny employment, to those were openly gay.
While many people may say that marginalized communities have more rights than ever before, that is not true. There are still pay inequalities between women and men, and Donald Trump has been bold in making sure that people of color do not feel welcome in America, through the locking up of immigrants and caging immigrant children. Many aspects of America may seem to have improved compared to its past history, but honestly, racism has not gotten worse — people are just being recorded and put on blast in this current day and age of social media. If equality existed, the Black Lives Matter movement wouldn’t had been created, and there would not be an increase in young activists.
While the American Dream is most supreme and ideal way of life for many Americans, many marginalized groups can attest to the fact that they have not truly, and authentically experienced it, due to sexuality, race, religion, social class, etc. The core idea behind the American Dream is that everyone has equal opportunity, and through this, a rise in social class can result, as well as success. Equality has not existed in America. Immigrants are being imprisoned and immigrant children are being separated from their parents and put in cages. Donald Trump has publicly mocked a disabled person on live television. America has a President who has sexually harassed women. White police officers are killing unarmed, Black men without reason, and getting away with it. Overall, the American Dream exists for straight, White men, as that is top tier privilege, but it does not exist for those who are poor, those who are women, those who are Black, those who are people of color. Without equality, the American Dream will never exist for marginalized groups.
