“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 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.
In the theater department, we read plays of many different genres, of many different styles, and from many different countries. From Ancient Greece, to medieval France, all the way up to recent productions on- and off-Broadway, I have read many plays thus far in my college career.
My junior seminar focused on American drama and American playwrights. These included people such as Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee Williams and Lorraine Hansberry. Most all of these American dramas deal with the idea of “the American Dream.” Given this, and my own experience living in the United States for 21 years, I can confidently say that the American Dream is a dead, outdated concept that barely existed in the first place and was created to keep Americans happy about working for money-hungry corporations.
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.
The main reason “the American Dream” is dead for all Americans, regardless of race, is due to wealth inequality in the United States today. As the world has become more evolved, more jobs require education further than high school. Much to the working class’s disadvantage, the cost of higher education has disproportionately risen in comparison to the income of average Americans. This makes a college education much harder to achieve for people from lower-income families.
One must also consider what it currently means to be a “middle-class” family in America. With the general range of the “middle-class” status being between $45,000 and $130,000, and the median American income being approximately $30,000, it is clear to see that most families who manage to fall into the middle or lower-middle class are closer to the poverty line than they are to achieving upper-middle class status (at approximately $140,000 to $150,000).
Furthermore, the generational gap between then and now is exceptionally wide. While it was perfectly viable for a person just out of high school to pay for their college education by flipping burgers for $4 per hour, that is not the case today. Inflation has increased at an alarming rate, while the national minimum wage has not. In Pennsylvania, the minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. In Crawford County, this is the standard most any job will start you at, although some will bump you up to $7.75-$8 per hour if you have previous experience. But for a young person who has never worked before, the prospects are grim for the amount of money they will be able to make in a single summer.
I am thankful to have one of the few well-paying hourly summer jobs in Crawford County. I started at $8.50, given my experience working for minimum wage the previous summer at a farm market and now make $10 per hour. Each paycheck, I made around $450-$500. After working for approximately 12 weeks (June through August), I’d made around $3000 for the summer. My monthly bills come to approximately $75. Already, one-third of my total summer income is going to be spent on bills. The remaining $2000 is less than one-tenth the cost of tuition alone in a single semester at Allegheny College, and for comparison, approximately over one-tenth of the average yearly cost of attending Edinboro University. Unfortunately, my summer employment situation seems to be unique compared to the majority of students on campus. It is absolutely no longer possible to pay for a college education with a summer job alone, and “the American Dream” only perpetuates the idea that it is.
The same idea applies to the millennial housing crisis; the cost of owning a home is almost 40% higher than it was in the 1980s, which is around the time the later boomers were finishing college. We can no longer afford the lives our parents led, or the lives their parents led during the birth of “the American Dream.”
On the same level, “the American Dream” is something commonly used by today’s older folk to berate and belittle millennials for their financial instability. The idea that a person who works a full-time job 40 hours a week, with benefits, can be totally financially stable is a fallacy we need to stop perpetuating. It is by no means possible for every American because of racial inequality, gender inequality and a lot of other things that cause people to be stripped of any chance at “the American Dream.”
In countless plays I have read since coming to college, families are torn apart by “the American Dream.” Some struggle to find housing, some struggle to find identity, others struggle to find employment. The worst part is that these plays primarily take place in the mid- to late-twentieth century, between 1950 and 1999. “The American Dream” has never been real for most Americans, and instead, has served as an unachievable standard for generations, for people of all backgrounds. It is a concept that I despise, and that I am tired of hearing used by older generations as a reflection of their relative success in attaining this unrealistic ideal, as if proof of their superiority. Its goal was the promotion of consumerism and capitalism as a societal norm, and sadly, has reached past this goal and still seeps into our lives half a century later.
Kaleigh White is a senior from Linesville, PA. She is a double major in Theatre and Integrative Informatics with a focus on Marketing and Enterprise, with...
Jamie • Jan 21, 2023 at 8:09 pm
Past generations had land as opportunity.
The United States acquired the area of California from Mexico in 1848, with generally the same boundary as the present state.
On December 29, 1845, Texas became the 28th state in the United States.
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896.
The initial wave of whites from UK, Ireland, Germany, etc took the east coast land. Subsequent waves took land further west.
America was great for those generations because there was land to take and land was tied to financial success, pre automobiles, planes, cell phones, internet, tractors.
And the first batch had their slaves in addition to land taken.
After a couple of generations, land was passed down, but perhaps most of the time, it’s passed to the oldest male only. American Dream is alive for maybe 10%, those males born into the top 10% who stand to inherit all the wealth that’s already concentrated among top x%.
IOW, opportunity diminished over time, yet, prior gens want to believe America is the land of opportunity for new young ppl born into the bottom 90%.
The grift that keeps on giving.
Taylor • Jan 20, 2022 at 3:13 pm
The main reason “the American Dream” is dead for all Americans, regardless of race, is due to wealth inequality in the United States today. As the world has become more evolved, more jobs require education further than high school. Much to the working class’s disadvantage, the cost of higher education has disproportionately risen in comparison to the income of average Americans. This makes a college education much harder to achieve for people from lower-income families.
man • Feb 28, 2022 at 10:04 am
where did i read that
Karla • Mar 4, 2022 at 12:22 pm
Right, “The American Dream” is more like “America’s Dead”. it was pledged that all people were to stand all together in America with the same justice for all. People are still fighting for their rights till this day. As each day passes, the thought still haunts me.
jasper • May 9, 2021 at 3:50 am
Rick Grimes is a prime example of survivorship bias. “It worked for me therefore it worked for you”.
“I have suffered and achieved, therefore it’s possible others can suffer and achieve”. But it’s hard to compare lives because of the infinite amount of variables. What we do know about sociology studies is that being brown is a disadvantage, being a minority in anything is a disadvantage. Obviously it makes sense. Nature, human tribalism in our ancestry, even other mammal species, being a minority of anything is often times BAD. We get off on conforming, unity, tribalism. Historically, people of different races trying to coexist and work and live and marry is very unusual to our species. Being different provokes a natural repulsion from others. It’s only in the more modern world that being different/minority is embraced. It’s okay to be black and wear your hair in an afro. It’s okay to be a woman and unmarried, pursuing a career. It’s okay to be gay, get married to the same sex and adopt a child. All relatively modern social advancements. Even still, there’s resistance and struggles. We still have progress to make that will take several generations of work. Being a country’s minority still sucks.
Having strong connections and ties to wealth and success that are handed down generations will, on average, provide benefit to most descendants. So when you compare the average white male with the average black woman, it’s laughable. Whether it’s knowledge, network, inheritance, etc. It doesn’t matter. Blacks were brought as slaves, enslaved for 250+ years. Someone in a white family had 250+ years to accumulate advantage for their descendants. And even land given in reparations to blacks waaay later on were often taken hostage by KKK, aka they threatened the black families until they sold it dirt cheap. But maybe there’s no money, no land in your white family’s name. Maybe your great great granddaddy was a drunk who squandered any land or wealth he might have owned. Maybe you never got an inheritance or connection from anyone. But you’re just one case. On average, a white is more likely to have some generational advantage than a black. You can cherry pick exceptions all day but the point remains the same. One race had a 250+ year head start in a new land full of rich resources and ripe for colonization. The other race had no rights, no ownership, no legacy, and were the property of the white race. Makes sense when it’s put that way, yeah?
Where do financial resources go when someone dies? Typically family members. It’s not that hard to figure out. Am I saying every white person has an inheritance in line? No. But I’m saying that enough do. And blacks don’t. For obvious reasons.
Now let’s combine that with the psychological effects of being seen as a second class citizen for so long. My grandma was alive in a time where her “n*gger” self would be severely punished if she drank from the white folks water fountain. It is not that far removed from today. She’s alive and well.
So how does my grandma raise her children? As equal to whites or to be cautious? To just be thankful to be able to vote and have a roof over your head? What do you think? Meanwhile someone in a white family in the neighborhood over is prepping their child for college, teaching them how to assert oneself and be successful. Teaching them that they can aim high and reach for the stars, and be able to name successful members of the family who have done so before them.
I have a dark, black male cousin. People sometimes call him a n*gger. To his face. People sometimes feel uncomfortable around him. He’s treated much differently than me, someone who is mixed and just 1/3 black. I can’t know his experience, I can only observe.
That takes a toll on a person’s self esteem. He’s a hard working man, harder working than me. But his self esteem is garbage. The whole poor, black side of my family has low self esteem and it shows in their lifestyles and ambitions.
Even if you’re successful, even if you’re highly educated, some people will always see you as a n*gger. Or in the case of women, some men will always talk down to them and see them as intellectually inferior , no matter how successful they are. And that’s a lifelong battle. A battle white males never have to deal with or consider. You can’t discount that. The effects of 250+ years of slavery followed by decades of oppression doesn’t just disappear after a few speeches and a few laws passed.
This type of thing is tiring. It’s hard on a black child, learning of the world that he needs to be careful because some people might want to hurt him because he’s black, and he should be extra careful to not look like a thug since some people will assume he’s a thief or criminal because he’s black, and to always have his ass covered when he’s driving because some bully cops see blacks as easy targets. Or some are just racist. This is all taught, directly and indirectly before that child even reaches adulthood. You grow up in that, with that, and you see yourself as less. It carries on into adult life.
It’s a bitter feeling when my cousin proudly (and frequently) brings up that he’s mixed race, as if it elevates him a little. Technically he is mixed a little bit, sure. But all the world sees is a dark black man. In the black community, darker blacks are seen as less desirable. Being lighter skinned, having less kinky hair, is desirable. Because blacks have been taught to be ashamed of some of their natural features. To get as far away from the African slave as they can. Instead of taking pride in beautiful midnight skin, it’s seen as undesirable. Imagine the skin you wear everyday being seen as undesirable. What value do you give yourself and how high do you set your sights?
You should educate yourself with more history and social science before sharing an anecdote and ignorantly declaring “I was successful as a white male even though I didn’t come from wealth, therefore others should be able to be successful, stop whining. Also females and minorities get so many advantages from certain AA programs that I’M the one who’s disadvantaged nowadays! So there! I just disproved white privilege.” No you did not. Sit down. Who gives a **** that you didn’t get some job? Is that your great story of oppression? You should be embarrassed if you have any decency in you.
Find me a black success story that didn’t involve a white person taking them under their wing or “giving them a shot”. It’s always connected to a white at some point. Because it has to be. White is the origin of wealth in this country.
That’s what privilege is and what people are trying to share and say is wrong. I’m sure you struggled, we all struggle in this life and god forsaken world.
But YOU don’t get to make the final judgmental for folks coming from backgrounds you’ll never even know firsthand. You won’t even get close. You’re too ignorant. Accept your ignorance and keep your judgements to yourself. I don’t judge women on their experiences as a man. I nod my head, believe them and give them my respect. I’ll never know what it’s like to be them. It’s better to give people the benefit of the doubt instead of assuming the worst. Stop thinking half the world is full of excuse makers and lazy people. That’s a false narrative, The shortcomings of human beings are typically more complex than “just being lazy” or “full of excuses”, you ignorant fool.
Jahames • Jan 13, 2022 at 1:56 pm
I don’t think you covered all of it.
Albert. J • Jul 26, 2022 at 5:07 pm
..as minority myself, I see through yer spectacle’s. But can’t fully relate, because our lives are still different. We have and will run into thousands of conundrums, under different situations, that will continue to put us on peripheral of things.. But I commend your comment, and validate it’s depth sincerety.
Rick Grimes • Mar 29, 2021 at 10:07 pm
The older generations don’t claim to have all the answers.
As one who naively thought our racially diverse, inner-city high school class, graduating a decade after Dr. Kings assassination, would be the one to set the example. Reality sucks.
However, I choose to respectfully disagree with your assessment.
Fear and negativity destroy dreams.
If a kid from a broken home, who attended trade school on full scholarship can achieve it, so may you.
The same kid who grew up in a row house, now owns many houses and has a net worth of $1,000,000.
As for my white privilege, racial diversity, female and veteran hiring denied me my chances of two municipal positions. The clerk who took my applications forewarned me. I took the tests anyway. In the end, she was correct, despite my high scores and placement.
Reparation for past injustices.
Setbacks can make one more determined to succeed.
It paid for my child’s double major undergraduate degree at Alllegheny. The kid who attended a performing arts high school. The school her father has been a board member of for nearly a decade.
Not to shabby for a trade school graduate.
Don’t let anyone set your goals for you.
Everything else is excuses.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8nrk8gZyfog