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Why The American Dream is not Always Achievable

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Words: 843 |

Pages: 2|

5 min read

Published: Feb 8, 2022

Words: 843|Pages: 2|5 min read

Published: Feb 8, 2022

The American dream is living happily in America by working hard, becoming successful and achieving your goals. In All American Boys, The Great Gatsby and Continuing Inequalities Blur the American Dream are all about discrimination and how it prevents them from achieving their dreams. The American dream in one’s mind is not always achievable because of discrimination. It is harder for colored people, women, hispanics and others to achieve their American dreams because of this. The American dream is not possible.

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In All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, Rashad is being discriminated because he is an African American. A police officer attacked Rashad because he thought he was stealing something in a store. The officer did not let Rashad talk, he thought that by attacking him it would be the right thing. The officer automatically thought Rashad was a bad person because of his skin color. Also, when Rashad’s father, David, shot and paralyzed a boy that was being robbed. David thought that the boy was going to shoot him, but instead he was just grabbing for his inhaler. Even though David is an African American, he was discriminating the boy because he was black and thought he was going to do something bad. “Shut up!” The officer barked “No you don’t understand what’s happening, I have money right here!” Rashad stated “With my free hand, I reached into my pocket……My brain Exploded into a million thoughts and only one thought at the same time. Please. Dont. Kill me”. Rashad was in the store when the officer approached him and accused him of stealing. He did not even pay attention to what Rashad was saying, the officer was racist and attacked Rashad violently because of his color and because of how he was dressed. “One time, I got a call that there a few guys making a bunch…….But I paralyzed him from the waist down”. David was telling Rashad the story about when he paralyzed a boy while on duty. David thought the black boy was attacking the white boy, but it was opposite. This shows that not only white people are being discriminative towards African Americans, but now African Americans are starting to be discriminative towards themselves.

In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom was discriminating Gatsby because he had new money. New money and old money usually don’t go around each other. Tom also did not like Gatsby because he was having a secret affair with his wife Daisy. “I hadn’t been there two minutes when someone brought Tom Buchanan in for a drink……Tell him we couldn’t wait, will you?”. The “old money” group did not like or care for Gatsby since he was “new money.” Mrs. Sloane invited Gatsby to her dinner party, Mr sloane was not too happy about it and walked out of the house with her. Gatsby told Tom that he will follow them in his car since he did not have a horse, but the group had already left leaving him behind. Even though Gatsby has money, the “old money” group will never welcome him. “She’s not leaving me! Certainly not from a common swindler who’d have to steal the ring he put on her finger”. Tom confronted Gatsby about his secret affair with Daisy. Tom said that he would not let a “swindler” take his wife away from him. He insulted Gatsby by saying that he would have to steal a ring, instead of being able to buy one. Also, Daisy would not be able to be with Gatsby even if she wanted too, old money can not marry new money.

In the article Continuing Inequalities Blur the American Dream by Sam Fulwood III, it talks about how the poor, women, and people of color do not receive the same education or pay as white men. Discrimination holds back economic progress. “At every level of education, black Americans are paid…..The reasons for this are a complex web of racial rules”. White people are being paid more than black Americans. Even if a black American has a high education, they will still make less than a white person with the same level of education, because of discrimination. Middle income black Americans are still not equal with white Americans. “….economic inequality is the result of…..from the end of slavery to the civil rights era to current post-civil rights era”. There are racial rules in society that effect the lives of black Americans, and it keeps them from succeeding. These rules effect their education, income, and wealth. These rules have developed overtime.

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The American dream in one’s mind is not always achievable because of discrimination. Americans see that their opportunities are rejected because of their race. It is hard for people of color, or women to succeed because they are not able to get a higher education, they make little money, or places do not want to hire them. In All American Boys, The Great Gatsby and Continuing Inequalities Blur the American Dream show examples of discrimination, from color to not having enough money to impress people. 

Works Cited

  1. Reynolds, J., & Kiely, B. (2015). All American Boys. Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books.
  2. Fitzgerald, F. S. (2004). The Great Gatsby. Scribner.
  3. Fulwood III, S. (2005). Continuing Inequalities Blur the American Dream. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2005/07/29/1742/continuing-inequalities-blur-the-american-dream/
  4. Rothman, L. S. (2013). Racial inequality and the American Dream: The case of the black poor. Sociological Forum, 28(4), 709-731.
  5. Massey, D. S. (2007). Categorically Unequal: The American Stratification System. Russell Sage Foundation.
  6. Higginbotham, E. B., & Weber, L. (Eds.). (2009). From the American system to mass incarceration: The prison, the prisoner, and the American dream. Routledge.
  7. Pager, D. (2007). Marked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration. University of Chicago Press.
  8. Thomas, W. I., & Znaniecki, F. (2013). The Polish Peasant in Europe and America: A Classic Work in Immigration History. University of Illinois Press.
  9. Edelman, P. B., Holzer, H. J., & Offner, P. (2005). Reconnecting disadvantaged young men. The Urban Institute.
  10. Pager, D., Western, B., & Sugie, N. (2009). Sequencing disadvantage: Barriers to employment facing young black and white men with criminal records. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 623(1), 195-213.
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Why The American Dream Is Not Always Achievable. (2022, February 10). GradesFixer. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/why-the-american-dream-is-not-always-achievable/
“Why The American Dream Is Not Always Achievable.” GradesFixer, 10 Feb. 2022, gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/why-the-american-dream-is-not-always-achievable/
Why The American Dream Is Not Always Achievable. [online]. Available at: <https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/why-the-american-dream-is-not-always-achievable/> [Accessed 29 Mar. 2024].
Why The American Dream Is Not Always Achievable [Internet]. GradesFixer. 2022 Feb 10 [cited 2024 Mar 29]. Available from: https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/why-the-american-dream-is-not-always-achievable/
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