The American Dream Of James Baldwin

According to Merriam-Webster, the American Dream, coined by James Truslow Adams, is defined as “a happy way of living that is thought of by many Americans as something that can be achieved by anyone in the U.S. especially by working hard and becoming successful.” Although it states that this dream can be achieved by anyone through hard work, determination, and initiative, James Baldwin thought otherwise. In 1965, Baldwin gave a speech on the American Dream that challenged the accessibility of this dream we fantasize to reach.

There is no point in U.S. history where Black Americans were able to achieve the American Dream. To them, it is literally just a dream.

In his speech, Baldwin exposed the building foundation of this dream. He reminded his audience that he “he picked the cotton, he carried it to the market, he built the railroads under someone else’s whip for nothing”. With the passing of Thirteenth Amendment just a century before his speech, Baldwin emphasizes the history and the role of the black community within the American history.

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They worked hard under crackling whips all for nothing. Their major contribution allowed America to boom and prosper; with America being associated with freedom and opportunity, the American Dream was and recognized and sought out worldwide. Despite being the root of the dream, the Black Americans could never achieve it.

I believed in the American Dream. I believed in how anyone can do anything here if they worked hard for it. However, as I learn and understand the situation from experiences, I realized that certain communities are being forced out of the dream.

As a biracial queer woman, I personally never thought of experiencing the white-systematic suppression. This idea stemmed from where I lived, which was Latino-dominated. My high school is one of the worst in the county, lacking programs and quality other schools offered. My neighborhood is not the best either. Low quality communities are paired up with low quality schools. The quality of the white-dominated schools across county in the high-income housing communities is much of higher quality, receiving academic and athletic recognitions and has higher rates of students pursuing higher education. Baldwin allowed me to challenge the accessibility of this American Dream. My high school experience is a countless repeat of what many experiences. In the American educational system, the black community is locked out from the dream, forcing this toxic cycle of suppression. Black students who come from lower class communities tend to attend low quality schools. The economical and social pressure as a growing Black American put stress on these students; combined with their schools, breaking this cycle and achieving the American Dream through academic success is challenging. With many failing to break the cycle, it is, then, repeated onto the next generation.

With limited access to the white-defined American Dream, others started defining their own American Dream. To Baldwin, one of his dreams is for people to accept the Black Americans’ history and until that moments comes “there is scarcely any hope for the American Dream” (Baldwin). They were treated inhumanely, built up America, and excluded from the participation of achieving the dream.