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  • Essay / Equal Opportunity and the American Dream: A Critical Assessment

    One topic of this essay, the American Dream, is the idea that anyone who comes to the United States can succeed. Succeeding in America means having a loving family, owning a home, and getting paid – achieving a “better, richer, happier life” is the essence of the dream. This dream is made possible by what is clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence; “All men are created equal.” This is what makes anyone who comes to America successful, because we are all equal and equality of opportunity is guaranteed in America. However, this essay will show that not everyone believes this to be true. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an original essayIn the 1980 interview featuring a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, when asked “what does the American dream mean to you ? ”, Arnold describes the way forward. the American dream shaped his life. From a young age, he dreamed of making it in America, and now that he has, he's always hungry for more. America is the land of freedom and opportunity, it's the place you go to achieve your dreams. He believes that anyone can achieve the American dream if they really put their mind to it, anyone can become a “winner” among the sea of ​​losers. However, not everyone shares this vision of America. Rapper and singer Donald “Childish Gambino” Glover describes the problems he believes America is suffering from in his wildly popular hit single, the provocatively titled “This is America.” The music video as well as the lyrics paint an ugly picture of America, one in which gun violence, racism and poverty reign supreme. The song particularly deals with the struggle that African Americans have faced over the past centuries and still, to some extent, face in America. Examples include an African American gospel's depiction of a mass shooting, most likely referencing the 2015 Charleston church shooting, in which a 21-year-old white supremacist murdered nine African Americans . The constant mention of “Take your money, black man” also adds to this idea of ​​the black struggle in America. The music video and lyrics work together in the sense that all the fancy dancing in the video serves to distract from what is really happening in the background, the massive number of shootings, which is reflected in America today, where this quest for money is omnipresent. distracting people from what is happening, namely the suffering of black people and the systematic inequalities that still exist in America. At the same time, the song functions as a sort of meta-commentary on this issue, in terms of the realization that some of this black suffering is also a tool used to make money, since Childish Gambino wins essentially money on this subject, in this specific context. video. The question that arises today about the American Dream is: How can anyone believe that America is the place to go for equal opportunity when systematic oppression persists? How can we expect America to take care of us, if it can't even take care of its own current citizens? This contrasts with how Arnold describes the American Dream, as stated earlier in the essay, and Childish Gambino basically shows that wanting something hard enough won't help when there are systems in place just to hold you back. This mentality of always being hungry sometimes definitely harms the community.