Term Paper on "American Dream Entails That Anyone Coming"

Term Paper 4 pages (1338 words) Sources: 0

[EXCERPT] . . . .

American Dream entails that anyone coming to the United States would have unlimited and equal opportunities to accumulate and provide his or her family with wealth, or at least comfortable living conditions. For others the dream entails an improvement of whatever factors pushed them away from their home country. For some freedom from oppression of any sort is the most important issue. This fantasy of liberty and opportunity is what has attracted and will continue to attract untold amounts of immigrants to American shores, to be welcomed by the Statue of Liberty. Sadly however, the reality is far different from what is envisioned when immigrants first come to the United States.

Indeed, even for citizens originating from the United States, the American Dream is an increasingly distant and unreachable fantasy. When for example considering Robert Pear's reference to the increasing rate of poverty in the United States (in Rothenberg, 2004, p. 286), this becomes clear. According to the author, the American economy is becoming increasingly strained, and this is evident from the poor living conditions that are beginning to affect even middle-class homes. Prosperity has always been an image that formed part of the American Dream in the mind of the immigrant and the foreigner emerging from poor economic conditions in their home countries. This image is however breaking down together with the rest of the Dream.

Another aspect of the American Dream is the god-like status of a near faultless president, together with a system of politics that ensures all the freedoms and rights entailed in the Dream. Once again the reality is different. According to Pear (in Rothenberg, 2004, p. 287), neither President Bush nor the former President, Mr. Clinton, paid sufficient attention to the economy of the country to ensure that the economy remains sound. It appears then that these leaders merely close their eyes to the grim realities of the situation and perpetuate their own version of the American Dream by refusing to face reality.

The Matewan story is evident of how people are betrayed by their leaders and employers. It does also however show how people of different levels of race and class can unite to become equal partners against injustice. For the oppressed workers in the film the American Dream lay not outside in other sources, but within their own hearts and minds. It is only when they realized and acted upon this that they were able to overcome the injustice done by the mining company and others in power. In this way it is possible for the American Dream to survive, and to be accessible to everyone. A considerable effort is however necessary to achieve this effect.

The reality in terms of material wealth is however that the gap between rich and poor is not only increasing, but also evident of how the American Dream in terms of prosperity is only accessible to some. According to Julianne Malveaux for example, there is a significant difference in income level between black and white people (in Rothenberg, 2004, p. 291). She cites the wealth index to show how wide the chasm is between the familial wealth of black and white families. Malveaux also points out that the median wealth of nonwhite families showed a tendency to fall during the late 1990's, while the white median family wealth rose, widening the difference. Because of this, many nonwhite families do not have access to home ownership, which is one of the most significant elements of wealth in the United States. According to these statistics then, the American Dream is much more accessible to white, middle-class citizens than to nonwhite Americans.

The social paradigm, according to Malveaux, further contributes to the inaccessibility of the American Dream to the poor and disadvantaged. During the 1990s, the economic boom created the impression that material wealth was available to everybody merely willing to take the opportunity. Thus the paradigm of helping persons who are less fortunate was replaced by an optimistic sense that poverty should not exist, and that its… READ MORE

How to Reference "American Dream Entails That Anyone Coming" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Women and Feminist Studies A-Level Coursework

women studies at a time when the interdisciplinary willpower and its concepts were getting institutional identification. Women's studies provided me with an exclusive place to take up the positions of… read more

A-Level Coursework 6 pages (2564 words) Sources: 7 Topic: Women / Feminism

---

Creative Powers it Is a Fact Term Paper

Creative Powers

It is a fact that the society in which we live will never be truly free in all areas of life. Indeed, it has been suggested by some… read more

Term Paper 9 pages (2842 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Sociology / Society

---

Innovation in History Impact and Change Youtube Creation of a New World Community Thesis

Innovation in History -- Impact and Change: YouTube - Creation of a New World Community

YouTube is to video browsing what a Wal-Mart Supercenter is to shopping: everything is there,… read more

Thesis 8 pages (2320 words) Sources: 10 Style: MLA Topic: Computers / IT / Internet

---

Richard Wright's Native Son and Spike Lee's Movie Do the Right Thing Term Paper

Buggin' Out tells Mookie to "Stay Black!" In Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing," he points to the film's central theme. Being Black in America entails struggle and occasionally the… read more

Term Paper 5 pages (1573 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Race / Ethnic Studies / Racism

---

Post-Conflict, Peace / Nation Building in Iraq and Afghanistan Term Paper

Post-Conflict, Peace/Nation Building in Iraq and Afghanistan

Somehow, within a forty year span of time, the United States has found itself ensnared in multiple wars in Asia at the same… read more

Term Paper 20 pages (7605 words) Sources: 20 Topic: Government / Politics

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>