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The Importance Of The American Dream

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As long as America has existed, there has been a constant belief that everyone will be rewarded for their hard work through the American Dream, but for one American, Lilly Ledbetter, success has not always come that easily. While working for GoodYear, Ledbetter learned that she was earning less money than her male counterparts. In addition, she was being sexually harassed by her coworkers and punished with poor reviews when she did not comply with their suggestions. As a result, even though Ledbetter worked just as much, if not more, than her male co workers, she was not rewarded as the Dream promises. There have been many factors over the course of history that have threatened the American Dream. Stereotypes and racism have long existed …show more content…

Less respect is given to such jobs by the majority of Americans, so although there is nothing wrong with choosing to work in this job if it is enjoyable, those who do chose to are looked down upon for their choice and classified as the lower class. This limits the opportunities of these citizens because although they may be just as skilled as any other citizen, their abilities are dismissed because they work in an assumedly racially typical job. Another common judgment that limits the opportunities of Americans is that black youth are inherently troublemakers, and do not possess the drive to be successful. A large population of Americans view black youth in such a way after seeing a poor representation of the race, such as through gangs or criminal activity. However, these gangs only represent a small population of African-American youth. Since these children are automatically dismissed as citizens who are not driven to succeed, they do not receive the support and encouragement vital to success. Furthermore, police brutality and white supremacist rallies also pose a challenge to the American Dream for people of color because they threaten the safety of American lives and create opposition towards ordinary Americans solely because of the color of their skin. Although numerous white American citizens argue that police brutality is not a growing problem and white supremacy rallies should just be ignored, both threaten the

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