The Obstacles When Facing The American Dream  

To many people the American Dream is the opportunity to achieve their dreams. For decades, society raise the concept of American Dream and people pass this idea down to the next generations with the effort to accomplish and live the American Dream. The American Dream has slowly drifted away into a dream than a reality and many people can affirm that the American dream is real, but is it still real today? The media has displayed the American Dream for what it means and the perception of society which given answers to questions that people did not expect to believe. The obstacles people face while trying to achieve the American Dream are gender, ethnicity, and lack of education. The American Dream has been cherished by everyone who comes to American, but not everyone achieves it due to the obstacles they face.

Gender plays a significant role in the American dream, especially for women which has been implemented into societies, traditions, and cultures that their jobs are meant to stay at home if not they get stereotyped on what they doing that seem odd that the society viewed as. Over the years, women are able to take on any jobs and careers but they still face an obstacle because there are gender inequality everywhere which makes it hard for them to attain the American dream. The gender inequality includes: difference in the pay gap between men and women, being stereotyped, and bias towards women of color.Women face pay difference because they have responsibilities they have to do at home and may have not achieved higher education to afford a high paying job which is why there are more men working than women. In society many people think that women are not able to take on a leadership role because they lack dominance which creates less opportunities for women. Women of color are often biased when they work because they are different which is why they get judged for or due to double standards and may get less support which causes them to not be able to get a high paying job. There are issues such as sexual harassment and abuse which has cause a stir in society today and on socical media. Society is accustomed to having women being at home instead of working and having men taking on leadership than women.

Therefore, the status quo has laid the foundation of the American Dream which leaves the women to not take part in it. In “I, Too”, Langston Hughes writes, “I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes” (Hughes 2-4) that shows how there is segregation going on between people of color and the white people which creates how people of color are not treated equally. Women are struggling to keep up with there different jobs and some of them could be single mothers that could be getting paid less than a boy who is in college working. Gender is one of many reasons why people cannot attain their American Dream furthermore, ethnicity can prevent people from achieving the American Dream.

People who have immigrated to the United States to achieve the American Dream has a low chance of achieving it because they are different from the majority or the higher class even though the United States was formed by immigrants and people who wanted change. It is known that the white people have a higher chance of achieving the American Dream while the minorities have a lower chance due to how their family started off. These minorities include: African American, Hispanics, and Asians face these obstacles of achieving the American Dream. The minorities could possible be born into a family that already has low income from the hardships they went through in the past which is why they have started out poorly and possibly stay there due to the inequality they face from society especially for African Americans who were once slaves in the past. The past history of slavery, African Americans are still facing discrimiation today and the issues of maltreatment is constantly growing against African Americans. A lot of these minorities are facing gentrification in their neighborhood and police brutality just because of their race and views on these ethnicity which explains why the American Dream is out of reach for them. The struggles the minorities face in their job could be overwhelming to able to face the discrimination and bias while trying to keep their jobs to achieve the American Dream. In “Outlaw: My Life in America as an Undocumented Immigrant”, Jose Vargas writes, “Lolo always imagined I would work the kind of low-paying jobs that undocumented people often take (Vargas 328) that shows how immigrants face when they are expose to the adult world that favors the majority. These obstacles make it hard on minorities to grasp the American Dream to be set into reality. Having different ethnicities can cause many inequalities from achieving the American Dream in addition, lack of education can affect people from trying to achieve the American Dream.

Students have to go through many sacrifices to achieve the American Dream, they need to get a degree while trying to pay off tuition and get a job that may pay less than the minimum wage. Students who are born into families that are not rich have less opportunities to build themselves while society favors those who has many skills so there is favoritism towards people who are rich. Education is the core of the American Dream and education is getting traumatizing to students who can not afford it which cause stress which leads students to drop out. In the past, the reality of the American Dream was easier to achieve and people had the dream of becoming a millionaire or going to a prestigious college which is part of the American Dream but is no longer the same anymore.