The American Dream And African Americans Essay, Research Paper
What is the American Dream?
To many people across the globe, the United States of America appears to be a place where one
can be proud of. America the land where dreams come true and there is always a chance for any
person to succeed. People who are not from the United States have been painted a beautiful
picture of what life in our country is like. Not only do they think that there is a special place in
America for them and the perfect career for each individual, but unfortunately this is not always
true. The American dream is not necessarily to get rich quick, it is more along the lines of a hard
worker having an opportunity to be financially stable and to live a pleasant life. The dream is that
their sons and daughters will not have to suffer the same things that they did. Their children will
be better off in the long run because of their hard work.
Why hasn’t the African American community been able to reach the American dream
In America everyone is guaranteed the opportunity to succeed and reach the American dream. In
many instances, American citizens have been deprived of such a dream because other fellow
citizens are prejudice. This bigotry suppresses the African-American people in the crime filled
ghetto in which few blacks make it to old age much less with a decent home and a retirement
fund.
Many things impede the African Americans’ quest for their dream, such as the media and music.
“The history of the Black American is largely the story of their struggle for freedom and
equality” . Since the dawn of time the color black has always signified something Dirty, soiled,
evil, wicked, disgraceful and without hope. Unfortunately for the African American community
this definition does not work for their advantage. The black man has long been associated with
ignorance and crime, and the lethargic attitude of many African Americans does not help . Many
people have been taught to be careful around a black man because of many reasons: Millions
have been taught that a black man is liable to steal, attack, or murder a person based on their skin
color. Of course this is not stated as directly as it once was, but nevertheless parents are still
subconsciously preaching this to their children. These myths have been passed from one
generation to the next and is negatively affecting blacks. As a consequence, millions accept and
act out stereotypical images .
There are three stereotypes offered today and taught to many: the angry black stereotype: Always
pointing his finger at the rest of the world and had appeared so often that it was all that people
knew. The noble Negro, who was always victimized by whites and could only be saved by the
good will of other whites. And the urban outlaw stereotype, which is the violent or criminal
outlaw that is most popular today. What is left out is the middle class, the people supporting a
family, volunteering at school, attending church, and seeking the American dream .
The black male has often been depicted as a thug, hoodlum, a gangster, and as a man with an
itchy trigger finger. This is obviously why many young people have grown to be subtly racist
their toward fellow Americans, while others have grown such hatred that they form radical
organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, Neo Nazis, and skinheads. Hate crimes are still evident
and not as uncommon as many people believe. Great masses of African Americans are victims of
a brutal and inhumane system of enslavement . Although these are stereotypical, and often false,
representations of African Americans many people believe them because of what they are fed
through what is a very important weapon against blacks: the mass media. “For blacks in
America, the weight of media stereotypes is an enormous burden to carry every day” . At many
times when a black man is portrayed on the television he is usually wearing baggy pants, waving
his hands in the air making gang signs, talking about the ghetto lifestyle, and making anti-police
remarks. What they do not realize is that the only thing they are doing is making life harder for
other blacks, the middle class seeking the American dream. This happens because other people
see this and will make a judgement on black people only by what they have seen, not what they
have experienced. The media will always be a problem for African Americans. It is not until the
whole world changes that blacks can finally have a piece of the American dream. It would be
much easier if the black man would change, but the media also gives the message that nobody
likes change. People want to live their lives believing that all black people are evil, and that they
are dangerous. People need a scapegoat, someone to point their finger at so they can say to
themselves “look how good I am, and look how bad they are.” Some people have never even
experienced the company of a black man, some people only know about African Americans what
they have seen on the television and heard on the radio, which is usually not positive. “The
historical and cultural legacies of Africans and Americans of African descent have been distorted
by massive propaganda campaigns based on mythical stories and notions, commonly held to be
true but without factual basis” . A good example of this is rap music. Rap music will forever be
connected to the streets, drugs, and the ghetto. In the late eighties the popularity of rap began rise
to the top of the music charts. Rap began to reach its true form with the “gangster rap”. This type
of rap speaks mainly about the ghetto situation- “Compton is the city I’m from, can’t never leave
the crib without a murder weapon ” The pioneers of rap include Dr. Dre, whose group N.W.A.
(Niggaz With Attitude) was the first rap group to bring the sound of the street to the american
mainstream with songs whose lyrics include. Their music videos premiered on MTV and were
soon banned due to the violence and gang situations in which these black men were associated
with. With popular songs such as “f*ck the police” it is not surprising that many white americans
thought that this would be a very bad influence on their children. When people listen to this kind
of music they do not receive the same message that blacks get when they listen to it and these
people are quick to judge on what they have heard from a commercialized song.
As long as people keep looking down on blacks as dangerous, poor, worthless, dirty, useless,
shameful, socially irresponsible, and acknowledging their skin color a different tone and
regarding its difference as something of importance the black community will never be able to
prosper nor reach the American dream. Many will never be able to get the nice little house with
the white picket fence, a good job, or an honest living. Much of this is caused and even
encouraged by the pop-culture of this era. On the one side there is the negrophobia motivated by
the white culture and encouraged by many people in schools, at home, and on the streets. This is
very detrimental for the African Americans’ chance at the American dream because of the racial
hatred that is built up by this negrophobia. On the other side there is the negrophiliac MTV
culture that promotes the stereotypical urban criminal nigger attitude instead of the middle class
black American. This is the class that is often deprived of they deserve, what all Americans are
entitled to, and is even guaranteed to the people, the pursuit of happiness.
Even though there have been many stumbling stones in the path of the African Americans’ quest
for the American dream, there is no one to blame but the blacks themselves. There is no surprise
that it can only be blamed, not on the supremacist white man that holds the African Americans
down in the ghettos, but on the so called “niggers”, the stereotypical urban gangster, ignorant,
and the one many blacks try to follow or imitate. It cannot come as a shock to anyone that there
is everlasting black-on-black crime since Africans had been trading their own people since the
1600s with the Europeans for things such as rum, cloth, and guns .
Since the beginning of time, humans have been playing the blame-game with each other. Many
African Americans blame their economical, social, and racial problems and the white Americans.
Who is really to blame? The majority of the population of prisons is African Americans . Blacks
are the largest minority nevertheless many live in poverty and despair .
A crucial element for the achievement of African Americans is education. Well-educated African
Americans had a much better number of economic options . By 1984 only a little over half of the
African Americans 25 years of age or older had graduated from high school and only around
eight percent had finished college. In the University of Arizona the total percent of African
American enrolling is 2.51 percent. The total minority percentage is 22.62. After seven years
only 37 percent of African Americans had graduated. In UC Berkeley the percent of freshmen of
African descent graduating within six years of entry in 1980 was 37.7. To get out of a
predicament as one of the size that the African Americans have to deal with, education could be
a very helpful and a critical element to accomplish what they want and need. Blacks are the
largest minority, but they have the least percentages in universities. With role models like the
rappers, young black Americans see on television one could never expect to see a black person
get out of the ghetto. Not only is the richest one fifth of blacks earn 50 percent of the total
income of the black community, but one third of African Americans are worse off economically
today than since Martin Luther King died in 1968 . There is still a very large inequality among
blacks. With an education, discipline, and motivation, blacks could overcome anything:
prejudice, segregation, poverty, and racial inequality. To succeed, they must give up their
attitude of “this can only be solved with violence” stereotype and the typical “I don’t care.”
Barbara Ransby of the University of Illinois at Chicago states that “the connection between
racism and class discrimination in this country has always been deep and intricate, after all,
slavery is where it all began.” As long as this keeps happening, America will continue to treat
blacks by their color, not character .
What the Black Americans can do to make their situation for the better
It is appaling to realize the number of pathetic people who are hampered and made miserable by
the malady popularly called the inferior complex . This is what the African american community
is suffering from, so it may seem like the best thing for them to do is go to a phycologist.
Unfortunately it seems a lot easier than truly is, and the pride of the community will prevent it
from happening. And we all know that the economic status of many black americans will keep
this from happening. So what can the African Americans do to change their social status? Work.
This is the only thing that anyone can do, but this is exceptionally difficult because there is an
entire group of millions of people that must work. This work is not the typical kind of work, it is
a struggle for social equality. The situation isn’t the same as it had at one time been and people
are not as prejudice as the had once been.
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