The American Dream The Exnotation Of The American Dream

The American dream, an idea that is inextricably linked with liberal democratic principles, is based on the notion that on American soil, every person has equal access to opportunity and fair treatment under the law. America has been, and continues to be a primary destination for millions of immigrants from around the globe because it promises hope, freedom, and most important, a fair chance; migration to America has been predicated on the belief that with hard work and determination, success will eventually come. However, today, whenever the American dream is uttered, a negative connotation too often appears to be attached to it. There’s a certain attitude of pessimism as those who speak of it attempt to argue that the dream is dead,†¦show more content†¦In his book, he notes â€Å"that white supremacy was so foundational to this country that it would not be defeated in my lifetime, my child’s lifetime, or perhaps ever† (Coates, We Were Eight Years in P ower 159). Mr Coates argues that the United Staes is a country in which white supremacy is an unconquerable force that will continue to exists, and black Americans will have to perpetually deal with it. His account paints a very dark and bleak imagery of the U.S.; he describes an American in which minorities have limited access to the American dream because of the color of their skin. In a very famous line, he writes â€Å"I had thought that I must mirror the outside world, create a carbon copy of white claims to civilization. It was beginning to occur to me to question the logic of the claim itself † (Coates, Between the World and Me 50). As young man, Coates believes he naively believed in the American dream, a product he as now come to view as â€Å"white claims to civilization† and only until he matured did he understand how the dream was unobtainable in full, by blacks. There are several mistakes in Ta-Nehisi Coates analysis of American life. His view is based o n the idea that black America’s problems today are a result of America’s sinful past, and white supremacy. This notion is absurd, because although slavery was devastating and racism is still very much present today, it