Promises and Contradictions
What promises do you associate with the United States? Where have you seen these promises fulfilled? Where have you see these promises unfulfilled? Draw from your experiences, your family’s experiences, or from what you’ve witnessed in the world.
Dreams of the North
By Anonymous
Like a caged bird, my father could only dream of the North while referencing the riches he heard of. Naturally, any hunger-stricken child would crave the sweet fruit of the North, and at the fragile age of fourteen, he was freed from his cage.
In This Enclosed Circle
By Anonymous
The idea of finding a job that allowed my parents to work from 9am to 5pm like what they had imagined seemed impossible. When we got here, we realized that we are not the only ones that have big dreams. America, the melting pot, everyone here is trying to get something out of it, my family is included in that hustle as soon as we get here, minimum wage or even below that line by sometimes going under the table would not matter as long as it gives us the money
Trepidation
By Brooklyn Moore
There are many aspects to living I had trepidation about—the most prominent being the simple task of picking the right door. I remember just staring at the two doors in front of me, both marked by blue placards indicating the right or wrong door. I was getting confused stares in the women's and feared my taller, more masculine frame was causing more eyebrow raises than I desired. While I had not yet started my progression with hormones, I thought I appeared, by the grace of genetics, to look more gender ambiguous. I was nervous, this seemed more of a massive step than I was expecting—almost like riding a bike for the first time. After pacing for what seemed like a generation I mustered whatever confidence I had and opened the door.
Fortunate in Many Ways
By Anonymous
For the most part, my parents came here so that my sister and I would have an opportunity to work towards a better life for ourselves through schooling. The economy in Vietnam isn’t as developed as America; as a result, it is very difficult to attend college and even if one were to have the luxury too, the market doesn’t have many openings for jobs that pay well. Even though nothing is guaranteed anywhere, America provides a much higher chance of being successful relative to how hard you can work. Despite the promises being fulfilled for my family and me, I wouldn’t say that everyone has the same experience. I believe that my family was fortunate in many ways.
Finding Refuge and Persecution
By Anonymous
Many of my cousins that used to go to schools, universities or outside were picked out due to wearing hijab and were called out names such as terrorists and were asked to go back to their country, although they were born in the United States. Some of them were even attacked and their hijabs were pulled out in public.
Inequality Within a Few Miles
By Antonio Aguirre
My uncle owns his own construction company which places his family within the upper middle class. His children attend well equipped schools that offered many academic and extracurricular activities to push students towards success. On the other hand, my aunt is a single mother who works as a housekeeper and can’t afford to live in an area with a good school district. Because of this, her children are not exposed to programs such as AP courses, college preparation counselors, and other extracurriculars.
No Choice but to Cry Himself to Sleep
By Yutaro Shirako
The city and Japanese companies connived the discrimination for economic profits. African Americans, as a minority, discriminated Asian people as a minority and lashed out violently at them. My father had no choice but to cry himself to sleep. It reminds me of today's hate crime for Asian Americans.
Expectations Shattered
By Anonymous
My parents are immigrants from China and they are uneducated as they have never completed high school. Coming to America, my parents gave up everything they’ve ever known in China because they believed in these promises and the American Dream. Little did they know that there was much for them to learn about in America with an entirely different system.
America Through my Eyes
By Anonymous
Life in America is stressful. People always have to compete with each other to win the game. The game of pursuing happiness here. We compete so hard and ignore ours and others feelings because we still think achieving our goals is giving us happiness. However, this only turns us into robots. When I moved here, I never thought America would treat me like a slave! I never thought life would be this much stressful here. I do not remember the last time I laughed from my heart. I do not remember the last time I slept without having a terrible dream or woke up without having a tension headache.
I Couldn’t Yet Comprehend
By Jesse Martinez
As I provided a little tour to him and his family of our town my friend’s mother pointed out a police car and said “let’s stay away from him”. At that moment I remember feeling genuine confusion why she would want to stay away from the police. I always had felt safer when I saw police nearby, I even told her “our police are nice, they don’t have a reputation for doing anything bad”. This naiveté I had couldn’t comprehend her own experiences with police.
Bigger and Better, but Not for All
By Vivian Bui
The United States may have big promises, but they are not any better if they are unfulfilled. Though the U.S. promised opportunities and social mobility, some people born into poverty were never able to climb out of it. They do not get all the opportunities for a good education as their home life influenced their schooling. They may go to school hungry and cannot focus in class.
Some Americans Are More Equal Than Others
By Anonymous
The constitution of the United States explicitly states that “all men are created equal” but it has become increasingly apparent that, despite our vehement opposition to communism, we have reached a rather significant milestone in American Society were all men may be created equally, but in the words of Orwell “Some animals are more equal than others.”
The Honeymoon is Over
By Anonymous
I found I was not the only one who had crashed with the living in the U.S. so hardly that could not see the reality clearly. Besides, I noticed even some U.S. citizens can barely make a living who grew up in this country and knew the rules of the game better than me. Working as a store clerk helped me to listen to those who lived longer here and I observed the living in the U.S. through their eyes. Some of them were saying it loudly and some I had to read it on their faces.
Falling Through Cracks Unseen
By Anonymous
Violence drove me to run away as a minor. I had a job next to my high school and I slept in my car. I remember feeling very sorry for myself. I had grown up with CPS in and out if my life, and schools trying to intervene. It turns out, it is legal to harm your children. The protective laws on children are left for interpretation. Prisoners have more protective rights than children.
Chasing the Horizon
By Bovie Lavong
What many Americans don’t tell immigrants who come from different countries to live in our country about the American Dream, is the debt necessary to try and chase it. I can say that I live a comfortable life compared to many Americans, however my family’s way of life is still structured in a paycheck to paycheck lifestyle. My little brother and I always got what we needed and more than half the times things we wanted, but this might have attributed to holding our family back from truly living the American Dream. As I grew older, I saw more clearly how my family as a collective group always spent more money than what was coming in.
Her Story Opened My Eyes
By Calvin Harris
She opened my eyes and helped me look at the world in a new light. Where she is from, there is war and poverty, dangers that we don’t have to worry about as much here in the safety of the United States. That alone is part of the American Dream that everyone should realize. People are not coming here to take our jobs away, or to live off government aid. They have come here to have the opportunity of a better life, yet when they get here, they are met with opposition from closed minded people.
Another Side of Freedom
By Anonymous
It was almost 7 years ago when I exited airplane and felt the US soil under my feet. It was a magical feeling, everything seemed new, exciting. I felt the fresh air in my lungs. I came from Iran, a third world country, to the first world country as I was told. When I was in Iran, used to watch Hollywood movies and shows, extremely excited about immigrating to the US. Finally, after 21 years waiting, I was able to achieve one of my biggest dream.
The More Difficult Route
By Aysha Alani
I still remember my cousins and I climbing to the top story of our house in Iraq to collect the bullet shells from the night before, pretending that whoever collects the most shells wins. One day, our living room windows shattered from being hit so hard by a bomb that went off near-by.
The Myth of Meritocracy
By Anonymous
I was an excellent target employee, I worked holidays and weekends, covered shifts when needed, and met every challenge put in front of me. I earned prizes and awards for customer service and signing people up for Target’s credit and debit cards. However, during my first review and raise period, I was only offered an additional seven cents per hour. All my effort and flexibility amounted to seven cents above the state minimum hourly rate of $8.25.
Some Escape, Others Are Trapped
By Anonymous
My grandfather was able to work through the inequalities he faced in his life as young child being born into poverty and overcame discrimination as a first generation Mexican American. However, some of his siblings were not too fortunate, as some were not able to find work, and some got involved in petty crimes and a life behind bars. What was the difference between some of his siblings that made it out of poverty and others that did not.
The Right to Life
By Sasha McAria
I feel my face on the hard and cold cement while my whole body hurts a lot due to severe torture. I like to cry but it is useless and I only feel hatred in my throat, not because of the pain of torture but because of why I cannot have my daily life as a free person. It is now 2009 and I am locked in a detention room. In the past, when I think I see what I have lost because of my beliefs, I remember very well how hard I tried to pass the university entrance exam and I had an excellent grade point average during my studies. The day I went to university to graduate, I was met with a bad response and a strange answer. "You cannot have your degree because you have changed your religion against government law and you are considered an apostate.”