The American Dream in the 21st Century Research Paper

Introduction

The United States of America have always been considered the land of the free. What drew many migrants to abandon their homes and seek fortune thousands of miles away was the promise of a place where race, nationality, and religious views did not matter. The US was the place where anyone could make their own future. This idyllic picture was described by numerous (predominantly white) poets and writers, such as Walt Whitman. His poem, titled “I Hear America Singing” celebrates democracy, the sense of community, and individuality of every person in the country. However, the simple ideal of living a self-sufficient and independent life was always built at someone else’s expense. After the first decade of the 21st century, the situation is different. As a small minority is accumulating power and riches, even fewer people are allowed access to the vaunted ideal of an age gone by. The United States of America never did provide a chance to access the American Dream, as throughout its history, that dream was being achieved through suffering of the oppressed and enslaved.

“I Too” and the Dark Side of American History

If we investigate Walt Whitman’s poem, we could see many people being occupied and doing their jobs to sustain themselves: the carpenter, as he “measures his plank or beam,” the mason, as he “makes ready for work,” the boatman as he praises “what belongs to him and his boat,” the woodcutter, the mother, the young girl. All seem to be present in this idyllic picture (Whitman). However, there are no farmers, and for a very good reason. The song was written and published in 1860, one year before the outbreak of the American civil war. During that time period, cotton farming was the main driving force behind the US economy. It brought money into the economy and kept it going. Whitman’s praise to the individualistic and self-sufficient culture of white people in America excludes the black slaves, whose labor enabled all these carpenters, masons, boatmen, and others to pursue their vocations and earn their “American Dream.” This feeling was emphasized in a poem by Langston Hughes, titled “I, Too.” It can be read as a follow-up and an accusation towards Whitman’s piece, as it adds to why there are no black people in the picture: “I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes” (Hughes)

The poem highlights the plight of the black people in an unjust society, where the fruits of their labor are claimed by the owners in order to fuel the economy and provide other white people, even those who do not own slaves, with employment and upkeep. The 1860 US census states that out of 31.5 million Americans, over 4 million were black slaves, and that the total amount of people occupied in the farming sector was over 10% (Lindert and Williamson 278). It is the labor of these people that allowed the country to afford to build its industry and set up a base for fulfilling the American Dream. To reach that dream, however, you had to be trained in a craft, you had to be educated, and you had to be white.

The American Dream in the 21st Century

One could argue that things have changed much in the 21st century. America just had its first black president, and there are numerous projects and initiatives in place to help out black people get better education, opportunities, and chances of living the American Dream. This is not the case, however, as the dynamics of the economy shifted. The blacks are still an underprivileged minority, as 50 years of relative political compassion could not undo the effects of 300 years of oppression (Lindert and Williamson 283). This time, however, a good portion of the working white population is suffering too. Unable to exploit the population domestically, many companies have turned overseas, forcing the employment rates and wages to plummet. According to Henderson, over a half of American teens say that the American Dream, for them, represents the ability to provide for themselves and their family as well as owning a house and a car (Henderson). The majority of young Americans do not own these items, instead being stuck in a perpetual debt starting from college. At the same time, companies and corporations utilize the labor of migrants or allocate overseas, to report staggering rates of growth. As always, the American dream has to come at someone’s expense.

The King is Dead… Long Live the King

Seeing that only 1 in 8 Americans is currently capable of attaining the American Dream, contemporary pundits tried to question the legitimacy of demands made by people who were denied it (Jenkins). The article published by the Daily Beast states that a good portion of young Americans are living alone, are child-free, or do not pursue successful career paths in search of a deeper meaning (Goff). Therefore, they should not be entitled to the “American Dream” of having a house, a car, a family, and two children.

However, this logic is based on the fact that the modern generation does not have the desire to fit into a traditional narrative. In modern America, having a car is often necessary just to get to work, and having a family with children while renting an apartment is difficult and expensive (Morello et al.). In other words, young Americans avoid starting families because they cannot support them, and not because they do not want to support them (Pinkster). “The American Dream” is not a desire for pointless consumerism but rather a need for the very basics for creating and sustaining a family. There is nothing “excessive” in wanting a job that pays well, a car to drive to that job, and to own a roof under one’s head.

Conclusions

The American Dream was never meant to be for everyone. The idyllic picture of the past is forever smeared by injustices that were dealt to the black population of the US left a terrible mark that will be felt for many generations to come in the form of crime, violence, lower living standards, unemployment, and shorter lifespans. Many years have passed since Langston Hughes wrote his poem about being an American, too. There has been progress, but the police, the country, and the state are still treating the majority of black individuals as second-class citizens. Modern generations, on the other hand, are suffering from issues that were not directly their fault, and are being blamed by older generations for not standing up to the task. Nowadays, the economy is based on offshore companies using Chinese and Indian workers, underpaid migrant labor, and the military complex. The truth of the world remains the same: for the majority to prosper, someone else has to pay for it.

Works Cited

Goff, Keli. “The American Dream is Dead, and Good Riddance.” The Daily Beast, 2014, Web.

Henderson, Samantha. “American Dreaming.” Scholastic Math, vol. 26, no. 1, 2005, p. 6.

Hughes, Langston. “I, Too.”Poets.org, Web.

Jenkins, Chris L. “Clinging to Dreams of a Better Life.”Washington Post, 2008, Web.

Lindert, Peter H., and Jeffrey G. Williamson. “Unequal gains: American growth and inequality since 1700.” Juncture, vol. 22, no. 4, 2016, pp. 276-283.

Morello, Carol, et al. “Achieving American Dream Fades as Certainty for Many.”The Washington Post, 2013, Web.

Pinkster, Joe. “Teenagers are Losing Confidence in the American Dream.”The Atlantic, 2015, Web.

Whitman, Walt. “I Hear America Singing.”Poets.org, Web.

Annotation Page

Gathering Research

Thesis Statement

The United States of America never did provide a chance to access the American Dream, as throughout its history, that dream was being achieved through suffering of the oppressed and enslaved.

Planning Page

1. 1. Opening Paragraph

Thesis: The United States of America never did provide a chance to access the American Dream, as throughout its history, that dream was being achieved through suffering of the oppressed and enslaved.

2. 2. “I Too” and the Dark Side of American History

• Whitman describes an idyllic picture of America.
• The picture involves only whites.
• Hughes adds the portion not shown in Whitman’s song to America.
• Black people did work without payment or recognition.

3. 3. The American Dream in the 21st Century

• Black people still have trouble achieving the American Dream.
• 300 years of oppression cannot be undone by a few decades of support.
• White working class is suffering too.
• Teens lose hope in the American Dream.

4. 4. The King is Dead … Long Live the King.

• Only 1 out of 8 Americans can achieve the American Dream
• Contemporary pundits blame generational laziness rather than generational poverty.
• The American Dream contains the necessities needed for a healthy family structure.
• Teens adapt their expectations to realities, rather than have the realities adapt to their expectations.

5. 5. Conclusions

• America never provided the American Dream for everyone.
• Exploitation moved overseas.
• Good life always is paid for by someone else.