I have never understood the fascination behind the American dream and that may be because I was born here in America and have never felt the need to leave my country in hopes of a better life. Growing up I always held a certain resentment for my country because of how my people have been treated and it continues to this day. Growing up as an African American female I’ve experienced so much racism and discrimination in a country that is supposed to be on the greatest and most powerful places on the planet. I will never be able to have the “American Dream” of being able to overcome anything and make a future for not just myself but for my family as well. At least not in the same sense as white people because of the color of my skin and the circumstances that were born into. I will have to claw my way up in life to at least be halfway to what most people would believe the “American Dream” to be. For me, I can’t believe in something when there are so very little examples of my people being able to achieve such a thing. The myth of having this perfect life in America is nothing more than a dream. It never happens and if it does then there are only a few rare people in this country that get to experience it especially those who happen to be African American.
Throughout this semester we have discussed many different influential figures within the Black literature community and many of them have given their own opinion on not only what it means to be an African American but what the American dream really means. Authors such as Sojourner Truth, Frances E.W. Harper, Marcus Garvey, and W.E.B Dubois have all in their works expressed how this dream very much just that a dream that will never be attainable for African Americans. This dream of a new and better life is what most want and it’s not something that is impossible but the idea behind the American dream is for many African Americans. Due to the systematic oppression of our race, even to this day, a ripple effect of poverty, addiction, and abuse has been created on a loop making it almost impossible for African Americans to advance in life. The American dream was never meant for African Americans and in the works of these four authors they prove that the American dream can’t be real based on the sexism that black women face, the racism African Americans face in America, and the historical relevance slavery plays into the inequality between blacks and whites all of which make achieving this dream impossible.
Beginning with Sojourner Truth and her work “Ain’t I A Woman.” Now this work highlights both racism and sexism in one. In her work, Sojourner Truth speaks in the in injustice done to not only just African Americans but African American women in particular. In the beginning, she says, “the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon” (Truth). Here she is addressing white women finally starting to fight for their rights and this is important because in American history women haven’t always and still don’t have equal rights as men. This being said how can the American dream be real when half of the population can’t even begin to try and achieve this dream. If white women cannot even get a fair enough treatment in order to attain this goal then how can blacks ever hope to have this “perfect” life. Truth goes on to say, “That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman?” This quote is pointing to the inequality between black and white women and again racism. The fact that black and white women are exactly the same biologically, except for the color of their skin, yet society favors white women only because of their lighter skin proves how this dream was created by white people for white people.
Continuing on with the theme of racism W.E.B Dubois also wrote about the idea in his work “Criteria of Negro Art.” Dubois was a firm believer in African Americans being able to advance in life through education but he also believed that we had to fight for our rights. He makes this statement in his work, “We want to be Americans, full-fledged Americans, with all the rights of other American citizens. We who are dark can see America in a way that white Americans cannot” (Dubois). He points to the fact that as black Americans see things differently than white Americans and that our goals are so much different because of this difference. Black Americans strive for different things because of our history and so the American dream can’t really apply to us. White Americans have the advantage of not being enslaved for hundreds of years and being able to develop a culture that Blacks are just now being able to create for themselves so therefore this idea of this American dream does fit with the realities that have and will face Black America.
Moving we also studied Marcus Garvey who was a proud advocate of blacks in America reconnecting to their African Roots. Garvey gave a speech in DC at the Care of Secretary Conference and he said that stuck out, “Give the Negro equality in education, politics, in industry, because he is entitled to human rights.” This again brings up the topics of racism and slavery and those two things impacted the African American community in such way that irreversible. Slavery set blacks by hundreds or years because we were not able to read, write, think for ourselves and function in the world as human beings. We were restricted to this life of servitude and that combined with modern day racism makes the American dream, just that a dream. It’s can’t come true for black people because of all the history and where t has lead black people to today. The ability to own land, work a great job, provide every and thing that your children may need, and to just be able to live comfortably is not something many blacks can because of lack of education, resources, and opportunity.
The final author that will be touched on is Frances E.W. Harper. She was an abolitionist, poet, and writer born here in Baltimore. In her work “Bury Me in A Free Land”, she is speaking from the point of view of a slave and the things they were forced to go through in their everyday lives. Her work points out the glaring fact that if African Americans cannot be free to live comfortably in their own country then there is no American dream. The American dream is made from the American people and if there are any Americans out there who don’t feel free here and can live out their dreams then no one can truly live an American dream.
In conclusion, the American dream relies on the American people and based on history and modern day times the American people are more torn and divided than ever. African Americans are still to this day being mistreated and oppressed. We cannot live out our dreams because of the hate of others. We are restricted to goals and aspirations because of how society is structured and this idea that everyone can live out the American dream is ridiculous. Time and time again it has been proved that African Americans are abused and have never been able to grow and flourish as a community. Therefore, the American dream is nothing more than a myth built for white America and cannot possibly represent America as a whole and all of the people that live here. There is no American dream because of different drams and hopes for ourselves, our families, and our communities, and that is the true American dream.