A Myth about Equal Opportunities in Contemporary American Society
America has always been a country of equal opportunities. People from the middle and upper social classes believe that ‘opportunities are everywhere, but few people have eyes to see them’. However, nowadays, there are few examples of successful Americans, who ascended from the bottom to the top. The reason lies in the social inequality in the American society. Today, there is a clear trend in the concentration of income and wealth at the top, the erosion of the middle class and the growth of poverty in the lower strata. Thus, an average person's chances in life depend on the income and education. It means that in the contemporary America ‘equal opportunities’ are not available to all people. The essay is going to provide an explanation of the concept of the ‘American dream’ and investigate different points of view on the subject of social inequality in America, African Americans’ poverty, and immigrants as one of the most vulnerable strata.
Over the past 200 years America became an example of successful entrepreneurship and technological progress. This country was created and developed thanks to rising generations of immigrants and their descendants. It is no wonder that the American public is one of the most diverse in the world. The concept of the uniqueness of the American nation lies in a diversity of cultural traditions, ethnic sympathies, national characteristics, racial differences and religious beliefs. All colonists brought in America their cultures, mentalities, ideologies. They formed a contemporary United States of America and even today America continues to be a land of opportunities. However, America can no longer be called a country of equal opportunities. Many people from the lower strata, and even the middle class cannot realize their full potential, because the rich push forward the government services necessary for them, use their political influence to cut taxes and reduce government spending on unshielded social groups. This leads to a lack of investment in infrastructure, education and technology, which determines the growth of social inequality in the US.
Talking about immigration, it’s impossible to avoid the theme of numerous immigrants who built their American Dream from the start. However, according to The Model Minority Myth by Yin Ling Leung, the success of immigrant was exaggerated. On the example of Asian Americans’ experience, the author provides evidence that media created a successful image on purpose (Yin Ling Leung 391). Yin Ling Leung states that all immigrants had a different background. Some of them came from well-educated, wealth families from Vietnam with the first waves of immigration, others from poor families. The American dream was based first of all on the ideas of unification and prosperity of American society, the guarantee of freedom of speech, religion, the press and meetings, the idea of the country, which will set an example to the world. Later, these principles transformed into the idea of the American exceptionalism. Nevertheless, for the lower social groups, the American dream turned to be a standard …
