One topic of this essay, the American Dream, is the idea that anyone who comes to America can become great. Making it big in America means having a loving family, owning a house, and getting paid—achieving a “better, richer, happier life” is the essence of the dream. This dream is made possible by the fact that it was stated so clearly in the Declaration of Independence; “all men are created equal.” This is what allows anyone who comes to America to become great, because we are all equal and equal opportunities are guaranteed in America. However, this essay will show that not everyone believes this to be true. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In his 1980 interview with a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, when asked “what does the American dream mean to you?”, Arnold outlines how the American dream shaped his life. Since he was little he dreamed of making it big in America, and now that he has succeeded, he wants even more. America is the land of freedom and opportunity, it's the place you go to make your dreams come true. He believes that anyone can achieve the American dream if they are truly committed to it, anyone can become a “winner” in a sea of losers. However, not everyone shares this vision of America. Rapper/singer Donald “Childish Gambino” Glover outlines the problems he believes America suffers from in his wildly popular hit single, defiantly called “This is America.” Both the music video and the lyrics paint an ugly image of America, where gun violence, racism, and poverty are rampant. The song specifically deals with the struggle that African Americans have faced in centuries past and to some extent continue to face in America. Examples including an African-American gospel's depiction of a mass shooting, most likely referencing the 2015 Charleston church shooting, in which a 21-year-old white supremacist killed nine African Americans. The constant mention of “Take your money, black man” also adds to this idea of the struggle of blacks in America. The music video and the lyrics work together in the sense that all the fancy dancing in the video serves to distract from what is really happening in the background, the huge amount of shootings, which is reflected in modern America, where this pursuit of money is widespread . distract people from what is happening, namely from the suffering of black people and the systematic inequality that still exists in America. At the same time, the song functions as a sort of metacommentary on this theme, in regards to the realization that some of this black suffering is also a tool used to make money, as Childish Gambino is essentially making money off this topic, right in this video. The question of the American Dream today is: How can anyone believe that America is the place to go for equal opportunity when systematic oppression still persists? How can America be expected to take care of one of their own if it can't even take care of its current citizens? This is in contrast to how Arnold describes the American Dream, as shown earlier in the essay, and Childish Gambino essentially shows that simply wanting something strong enough doesn't help when there are systems in place just to keep you down. This mentality of always being hungry definitely hurts the African American community sometimes, because the hunger for money is what distracts them from some of the real problems they are facing. How can you say that there is equal opportunity in America, when much of the.
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