By Linda CheriyanJust like many other immigrants, my family came to America in search of the “American Dream.” As a little girl growing up in India I was thrilled when I heard I would be able to come to The United States. The name “America” rang excitement to my ears. My father held his own business in India and tutored students; my mom helped my father out with his business. I realized in America my options would not be so limited; I could now have endless opportunities, dreams, and freedom. I would be in a utopia at last. I came to America on November 13th, 2003. I thought to myself, “I really can be anything in this land.” We came to America in hopes of something better, my father ended up getting a job that paid minimum wage, to give my brother and I a better life. My mom sat home and took care of things around the house because she wasn’t qualified for a job. In elementary school, I was always the odd one out because I bragged about my culture and the kids were not interested. I was considered weird because I didn’t match their personality. Kids made fun of me, and I thought things were supposed to be better. They made terrible remarks “go back to your country,” or “you better be careful of her because she probably has access to bombs.” I thought maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to go back. I had a place where I was actually allowed to call home, and soil to my name. I had friends who understood me. I had parents who were not trying to find a balance between the two cultures, and somewhere along the way forgot to parent. “How can this possibly be better?” my little mind questioned. But how did the American dream become a fantasy for so many immigrants? My last trip to India, my uncle and I debated about the “American Dream” of course living here I had a better experience of this so-called “dream.” I was told I should be grateful and from what he has been told it is something everyone dreams of. The only thing that hung around in my head in that moment was “Why?” So he explained, “When I was growing up, America was and is still known as the land where you can be anything no matter who you are and what your status is.” I understood his standpoint and where he was coming from, the grass will always seems greener on the other side for anyone looking in. The options to us seem bigger and lavishly given out because of the false portrayal through media of what America really is. I myself was once in his place where I dreamt of this American Dream, where I would be able to live a life where I was given equal opportunities, but when exactly did my dream start to fade? In high school it hit me: this “American Dream” I was chasing after, is non- existent. It’s all just a myth to keep hopes in the people’s mind and to keep us continuously working for the capitalist society for the wealthy. The “American Dream” was just that, an AMERICAN dream. For a person of color like myself, it was a fantasy that we did not fit into, yet we desired to obtain. According to Google the definition of the “American Dream” is “the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” The “American Dream” is something where the so-called “equal opportunities” are only created for the white man who is privileged, and has the opportunities. Race has always played a key role in the division of our country, pushing minorities farther away from attaining this dream; blinding their vision of the dream they had in mind. Placing minorities in impoverished neighborhoods and not granting the same opportunities as the rich. Our education system itself is something that makes it harder on the students to attain the dream by making them fall into unimaginable debts they will never be able to pay off. If we make a dollar more in our family income we suddenly stop receiving financial aid. We must pay out of our pockets with the job that pays less than minimum wage. On top of all of this, we have our parents constantly bickering in our ears to keep our grades up, and yelling at us that we’re not trying hard enough. They do not understand the education system, the workload, and stress we are under in college. Then when we finally get out of college we go on a scavenger hunt to find jobs. Preferably a job that fits the degree we paid thousand of dollars for, but all of the jobs ask for “minimum of 10 years of experience.” Being a woman doesn’t make it any better either, we undergo the gender wage gap, meaning we get paid less than the men sitting next to us who is doing the same job who have the same qualifications. Now we live in a time where the bachelor’s degree holds the value of a high school degree, so we have to rush to find a graduate school in hopes to find a job that will pay off all the unnecessary loans. Suddenly the dreams we had turned into nightmares that propel us into poverty, and deny us from being able to fulfill the goals we once had. The vision begins to fade. So how can one say in spite of all this the American Dream exists?
1 Comment
Aoussi
5/18/2017 08:21:17 pm
You did a great job. I did experience some of that too and I am experiencing them till now. Thanks for raising up our voice.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
November 2017
|