- Mar 11, 2015
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When has America ever been united?
In my life I've been told by some people how there were times when America was unified.
We were unified during WW1. No we weren't. We were unified during the depression. No we weren't. We were unified during WW2. No we weren't. We were unified after the attacks on the twin towers. No we weren't. We were unified until Obama became president. No we weren't. Some people had the nerve to tell me how racism had ended until Obama started making everything about race. Funny, because I don't recall Obama asking to show his own birth certificate to prove his citizenship. My point here is how long are we Americans going to live believing tall tales?
“The American Dream” is dead, and barely existed to begin with
Kaleigh White,
March 25, 2021[
When someone references “the American Dream,” one is often reminded of something we were taught about in elementary school. When learning about immigration in the third grade, we were taught that people were immigrating to the United States to chase “the American Dream.” The image put in our head was a husband and wife, living in a small, simple house in the suburbs, with two to three children, and perhaps a dog. These houses came with green, lush, well-manicured lawns and white picket fences. The image included the idea of the mother being a housewife, as the father — the “breadwinner,” per se — worked a job that paid well enough to allow him to be the only one that needed to work.
The first issue I have with “the American Dream” still being used as a viable term is that it is not the same for Black, Indigenous and People of Color as it is for white people, both historically and in today’s world. The modern-day definition of “the American Dream” was born in the mid-1950s, during the rise of post-war consumerism. As women returned to being housewives from their wartime factory jobs, advertisements for household appliances quickly changed their targets to the idealized post-war American family. In this image, we have the hardworking man who earns all the money the house needs, the housewife who has all of the best appliances that she needs to be the perfect spouse, and children that play sports and need to eat picture-perfect meals every day of their lives.
What this image does not have, and did not ever have, was a BIPOC family in the same scenario. This is because “the American Dream” sets an inherently racist expectation, one that focuses on the “perfect,” white American family that BIPOC folk should assimilate to. It effectively disregards the existence — and therefore, importance — of families of color.
One could argue that the reason this was never depicted was because BIPOC families did not live that way, and they would be correct. Families of color did not live idyllic lives due to the systemic racial inequality they have faced throughout history. “The American Dream” has never been a privilege extended to persons of color, and that is certainly seen in both post-war consumerism as well as modern-day America.
(Now before I get the crying about how everything is about race with me from the people who really see race in everything):
The main reason “the American Dream” is dead for all Americans, regardless of race, is due to wealth inequality in the United States today.
alleghenycampus.com
Since 1980, American businesses have needlessly sent jobs out of this country. Everybody’s hero, Reagan, implemented a government business philosophy of laissez-faire economics that has cost the workers of this nation millions of jobs. Meanwhile, those in power told working-class whites that Affirmative action was taking jobs from the white working class. The truth is that CEOS and corporate owners sent those jobs away. Their pockets got fat while race-baiting white working-class citizens into a victim mentality. We still see that mentality today.
In my life I've been told by some people how there were times when America was unified.
We were unified during WW1. No we weren't. We were unified during the depression. No we weren't. We were unified during WW2. No we weren't. We were unified after the attacks on the twin towers. No we weren't. We were unified until Obama became president. No we weren't. Some people had the nerve to tell me how racism had ended until Obama started making everything about race. Funny, because I don't recall Obama asking to show his own birth certificate to prove his citizenship. My point here is how long are we Americans going to live believing tall tales?
“The American Dream” is dead, and barely existed to begin with
Kaleigh White,
March 25, 2021[
When someone references “the American Dream,” one is often reminded of something we were taught about in elementary school. When learning about immigration in the third grade, we were taught that people were immigrating to the United States to chase “the American Dream.” The image put in our head was a husband and wife, living in a small, simple house in the suburbs, with two to three children, and perhaps a dog. These houses came with green, lush, well-manicured lawns and white picket fences. The image included the idea of the mother being a housewife, as the father — the “breadwinner,” per se — worked a job that paid well enough to allow him to be the only one that needed to work.
The first issue I have with “the American Dream” still being used as a viable term is that it is not the same for Black, Indigenous and People of Color as it is for white people, both historically and in today’s world. The modern-day definition of “the American Dream” was born in the mid-1950s, during the rise of post-war consumerism. As women returned to being housewives from their wartime factory jobs, advertisements for household appliances quickly changed their targets to the idealized post-war American family. In this image, we have the hardworking man who earns all the money the house needs, the housewife who has all of the best appliances that she needs to be the perfect spouse, and children that play sports and need to eat picture-perfect meals every day of their lives.
What this image does not have, and did not ever have, was a BIPOC family in the same scenario. This is because “the American Dream” sets an inherently racist expectation, one that focuses on the “perfect,” white American family that BIPOC folk should assimilate to. It effectively disregards the existence — and therefore, importance — of families of color.
One could argue that the reason this was never depicted was because BIPOC families did not live that way, and they would be correct. Families of color did not live idyllic lives due to the systemic racial inequality they have faced throughout history. “The American Dream” has never been a privilege extended to persons of color, and that is certainly seen in both post-war consumerism as well as modern-day America.
(Now before I get the crying about how everything is about race with me from the people who really see race in everything):
The main reason “the American Dream” is dead for all Americans, regardless of race, is due to wealth inequality in the United States today.
“The American Dream” is dead, and barely existed to begin with
When someone references “the American Dream,” one is often reminded of something we were taught about in elementary school. When learning about immigration in the third grade, we were taught that people were immigrating to the United States to chase “the American Dream.” The image put in our...
alleghenycampus.com
Since 1980, American businesses have needlessly sent jobs out of this country. Everybody’s hero, Reagan, implemented a government business philosophy of laissez-faire economics that has cost the workers of this nation millions of jobs. Meanwhile, those in power told working-class whites that Affirmative action was taking jobs from the white working class. The truth is that CEOS and corporate owners sent those jobs away. Their pockets got fat while race-baiting white working-class citizens into a victim mentality. We still see that mentality today.
