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Is the American Dream Attainable?

COVER MEMO

Black lives matter movements purpose is to represent the urgent need for civil rights

reform in the United States. The kind of issues addressed by this movement is translated into the

work of many academics such the African American Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates. The primary aim

of this essay is to express and assess how Ta-Nehisi Coates uses rhetorical strategy to achieve his

purpose of persuading the reader of his opinion regarding the issues of ignorance and racism

addressed in Between the World and Me. I will relate this text to my understanding of why and

how the American Dream is not equally achievable or perhaps not attainable for some

individuals, notably black Americans presented on the African American freedom trail. The

rhetorical analysis tool that has most appealed to me and I find most relatable to the two works is

symbols. This is present even in the title of the book which cleverly suggests a distance between

a black man and the world. Therefore, the analysis of Between the World and me, Color

blind or color brave by Mellody Hobson, and Baldwins Letter To My Nephew, will contain

key elements to highlight that the United States has a deep racial division in society. This essay

will illustrate that although the American dream exists, it is not always as opulent as the

marketed version and that the American dream is seemingly fictitious with elements of

tangibility. The essay will then conclude with an assessment of how the American Dream is
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often depicted as better than reality. In many ways, the advertised American dream is built on a

false foundation and is unattainable for some. In Coates description, the American dream is a

cost and benefits system. There is a privileged group that gets to enjoy, and it comes at the cost

to the minority group.

Introduction

America is a place where everything is possible, and something good may come of

leaving behind a past life. It is my personal view that the American dream is a provocation to do

better and be better for oneself and ones family. It is a taunting force that goads us forward

while simultaneously putting us down. Coates describes the American dream in a mythical light,

but some aspects made the dream more real. In this portrayal of the American dream, the dream

is gilded. The exterior (the marketed version) is beautiful and within reach. However, the interior

is cheaply manufactured and built by the hands of those that are suffering. And by this definition,

the seemingly ordinary for some is ostentatious for others.

Although Malcolm X does not play an active role in Coatess narrative, he is the most

important historical figure in the book and in Coatess life, from an early age onward. The

entirety of Coatess consciousness through the years of his life as he tries to answer these

questions and define the Dream, depicted and brought to life in his narrative, is profoundly

influenced by Malcolm X and his writings. Coates tries to answer queries in a letter addressed to

his son about what it means to inhabit a black body. Coates tries to understand how he is to

identify himself in a society in which tries to destroy the black body (Coates 103), denying

him and his race the right to secure and govern (Coates 8) their own bodies; the same society

that capitalizes on a dream, the American Dream. As Coates tried to make sense of blatant racial

injustice, and come to grips with a world that does not guarantee the freedoms that others may
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have and take for granted, he worked to accept himself and his body as his own the way

Malcolm X had. Coates identified with him (Coates 36) as he exemplified the notion of an

individual made afresh through his greater commitment to a full black community.

Coates uses the Dream to point out and describe the achievable and unachievable statures

for himself and his race. When Coates was a boy, the Dream began as the one highest, successful

point of anyones life, especially his own. It appeared to be the pinnacle and my end, the height

of American ambition (Coates 116). He believed the Dream was for the privileged, those away

from the streets. He could not see what more there was beyond this point, beyond this Dream.

However, he soon realized that the Dream was harder to achieve for those of color.

During this time, despite the violence and the struggle, America could be described by a

metaphor- America as a champion: America considers itself the greatest, excellent, and noblest

nation (Coates 8). The Dream became the enemy of those not of the privileged (Coates 50). The

black race would not only lose their face but also their bodies to America; their bodies were no

longer their own to claim. They were stripped away of a dream, the Dream, that Coates had once

believed was achievable for all. Fear became the motivating force for Coates, and more so when

he established an irony in the death of Prince Jones, a young, black man that grew up in a

privileged manner, away from the streets. Coates then began to fear that this same irony might

take hold of his son, Samori, as he will have to go through the struggle of coming to terms with

his place in the world and the effects of history: The Struggle is in your name, Samori (Coates

68).

Through violence and fear, Coatess vision of suburban bliss was obscured and became

images of domestic tranquility used to indeterminate racist brutalities that sustained America.
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The Dream became generalized to becoming achievable depending on constructs, such as

whiteness and blackness. Which is ironic as white people, the powerful with enormous prestige

in America, are not actually white or were not originally considered white (i.e., Irish, Greek,

Catholic, Jewish, etc.). Instead of a dream, it became what Malcolm X called an American

nightmare in his speech (Malcolm X speaks). Ta-Nehisi Coates himself stated in his interview

with Democracy and argued that Malcolm X influences his book (Extended Interview).

Malcolm X was one of Coatess first sources of skepticism (Extended Interview). Coates

uses his experiences and the words and ideas of Malcolm X to establish an understanding

relevant to his relationship with his son.

A large part of the persuasion is through Dr, Joness logic. Coates follows her life and

expresses her logic of why things happened the way they did besides her efforts while also

stating his reasoning for the outcome of events (Coates 144). In this passage, Coates refers to

Mable Joness reasoning of how they integrated into a white community, only because she had

achieved something in her life, thus conditional respect. This serves the purpose of persuading

the reader that Prince Joness mother was to a certain extent a dreamer herself, someone that

thought they could diminish the distance, fill the gap in American society by being better and

trying harder. Coates then describes her way of expressing of this thought, the choice of words

showcases that after the recent happenings she is no longer is a dreamer. The use of a metaphor

suggests a clear understanding from both figures that conditional respect can be earned but

cannot protect you from the ills of the deeply embedded racial division. This also logically aligns

with privileged but different status of his son and with the so many more other privileged but

black children.
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Mable Jones had stopped being a dreamer when she had seen the essence of being a

dreamer that is forgetting. Forgetting of the slavery, forgetting of the unequal exchange,

forgetting of the lives lost, forgetting of her son (Coates 137-154). Coates discusses why being a

dreamer is ultimately the wrong way of dealing with racism. The dreamer is a black man or a

woman that tries to succeed in life, desegregating himself or herself blinded by the dream,

forgetting black heritage and forgetting past treatment, ultimately not using logic to predict an

outcome. The dreamers rather live white than live free (Coates 146). This powerful expression

serves the purpose to reveal to the dreamer the logical instance that blacks cannot be whites and

blacks acting like whites are still blacks but they are not free folks but blinded folks. The

underlying message here is that the dreamers notion implies hope, but it is the wrong tool to

freedom.

Mellody Hobson speaks about racism in a very inspiring manner in this video. She uses

her experiences as a child as well as her experiences swimming to make excellent points. As a

child, her mother taught her that people would not always treat her fairly because she is an

African America. This may make some uncomfortable, especially when they are the minority in

the room. To counter this, she talks about a situation where she was swimming and had to hold

her breath while swimming across a pool, which was an uncomfortable, exhausting experience.

However, she learned a lesson about being comfortable in uncomfortable situations. If we can all

become comfortable in uncomfortable situations, our lives would be better. Hobson relates this to

being "color brave" instead of "color blind". While being color blind is essentially ignoring one's

race or diversity (because this is the more comfortable approach) being color brave is to face

diversity and embrace it. If leaders learn how to be comfortable in discussing race, an

uncomfortable topic for most, we can face it head on and improve diversity in organizations and
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other parts of America.

In Baldwins Letter To My Nephew, he can see the injustices caused by racism

conclude that the bias of white America stemmed from ignorance, fear, and a strong desire to

keep close their identity. Black Americans have to struggle very hard to realize success and have

a place in the American society. His letter expressed public awareness and personal elements

that only his nephew was intended to understand. For example, You can only be ruined by

believing that you really are what the white society calls a nigger (Baldwin 243). This statement

demonstrates his internal pain. The name nigger lowers a persons self-worth and lowers their

ostracism and goals thinking that they will never be accepted.

Conclusion

Based on my definition, Martins definition, and Nehisis definition, it is evident that the

American dream is often depicted as better than reality. In many ways the advertised American

dream is built on a false foundation. In Nehisis description, the American dream is a cost and

benefits system. There is a privileged group that gets to enjoy the cookouts, tree houses, and the

smell of peppermint, and it comes at the cost to the minority group. In this case, hard work is not

a factor to the privileged, and it is the only factor for the minority group. In short, the American

dream is an entity that appears easy enough to achieve so long as all the conditions are in your

favor. However, in most cases, the conditions are not favorable because the dream you are

striving after is not your own, or you are a member of the minority group.
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Works Cited

Baldwin, James, "My Dungeon Shook: A Letter to Baldwins Nephew on the 100th Anniversary

of the Emancipation Proclamation" (2016). Retrieved from:

http://progressive.org/magazine/letter-nephew/

Coates, Ta-Nehisi. Between the World and Me. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2015. Print

Malcolm X. Oxford Union Debate, Dec. 3 1964

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=auWA7hMh5hc

Mellody Hobson: Color blind or color brave? TED Talk. May 5, 2014. Retrieved from:

https://www.ted.com/talks/mellody_hobson_color_blind_or_color_brave/up-next

Ta-Nehisi Coates: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Comedy Central. Retrieved from:

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/yy2dzc/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-ta-nehisi-coates