American Dream

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorHigh School, 11th grade October 2001

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The American Dream and the American Negro Baldwin states in "The American Dream and the American Negro" that many African Americans "don't believe anything the white world says and don't entirely believe anything that I or Martin says" (Paragraph 19). America has overcome this statement of racial issues and has proven that it is no longer applicable in America today. Today African Americans have as many equal rights as white Americans. America is now a diverse nation where racism and prejudice are unjustifiable.

Many things have changed throughout these years when Baldwin wrote his essay. When this essay was published in 1965, many African Americans were not given equal rights and liberties. They were not able to go to the same school, drink out of the same water fountain, and ride in the front of the bus with white Americans. However, the civil rights movements changed everything for African Americans. The civil rights movements proved to the white world that Africans Americans are also humans and deserve the same equal opportunities. Many of the activist such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X all revolutionized America. Today, in 2001 African Americans are given the same rights as white Americans. They are no longer overlooked or declined any opportunities. Many of the tope leading people in today's world are African Americans. Many names such as Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan and Colin Powell have shown this land of opportunity to be true for the African Americans. They all show different areas of interest in which they have dominated in.

Baldwin was not exaggerating in his essay. In 1965, the world was different and all his statements were relevant in that time. However, if he were writing this essay in 2001 he would be exaggerating. In 1965,