American Dream Deferred

AMERICAN DREAM DEFERRED

THESIS: The American Dream of equal opportunity is deferred through racial discrimination, gender inequality, and prejudice policy making.

First Obstacle: Racial discrimination is an ongoing battle for the citizens of the United States that blurs the line between the American Dream and the American Nightmare.

USE ONLY ONE EVIDENCE (NOT ALL 3)

· The American Dream is an ideology created by James Truslow Adams that promises a “richer, better, fuller life for everyone” (Armstrong, 2015)

· These empty promises are showcased in the U.S. median earning rate with African Americans earning 20% less than White Americans. (Armstrong, 2019)

· African Americans have shorter life expectancies and greater reports of negative life satisfaction than White Americans. (Armstrong, 2019)

Second Obstacle: Gender Inequality has been a headlining issue in the United States that is labeled in the fine print of the American Dream.

USE ONLY ONE EVIDENCE (NOT ALL 3)

· Years of work experience contributes to 14 percent of gender wage inequality and is responsible for roughly $112.7 billion in wage differences between men and women. (Equitable Growth, 2019)

· “The differences in gender segregation among industries and occupations accounts for 50.5 percent, or $403.6 billion, of gender wage inequality.” (Equitable Growth, 2019)

Third Obstacle: Prejudice policy making targets every minority group the so-called American Dream is supposed to support.

USE ONLY ONE EVIDENCE (NOT ALL 3)

· “Specifically, we bring forward the counterintuitive idea that covert discrimination can be even more likely to occur when successfully installed equal opportunities policies are made salient. In this way, a decrease in overt forms of discrimination could stimulate more covert forms of discrimination.” (Lenartz, 2019)

· The Civil Rights Movement in America and Europe resulted in legislation that renders hiring discrimination of racial minorities illegal (Lenartz, 2019)

· Some policies primarily focus on overlooking these demographics in hiring decisions, others explicitly focus on giving preferential treatment to individuals from the disadvantaged group. There is much controversy with respect to the latter types of AAPs. Not only is strong preferential treatment only legal under certain conditions (Lenartz, 2019)

“Harlem”

By Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?