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Model Final Exam answers 2018 Web Highlights Index to Sample Web Highlights |
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Brad Cannon
Reexamining the American Dream
For a long time, I have understood that appearing white
has done me many favors. I have been included in many instances where, if they
have known I was Jewish and was far darker, I may not have been as smoothly
accepted. I can easily see in my reading of model assignments and midterm
essays, from many years, that others understand color kept a whole race of
people down, in a codified manner in a society for far too long. The “color
code” is something we must break out of and these other model assignments
authors feel similarly.
I will start with a 2007 Midterm from V.O. on “The
American Dream and the Dream” because they did a good job of examining the
“color code” in the black community. He shows that because of this unwritten
code on their color, that for many minorities, America is not a dream, it has
become a nightmare. The author writes that “The
American Dream is attainable for immigrants and individuals of the dominant
culture,” which is something we have come to learn through our readings. The
original American Dream was meant for only the whites and never included
minorities or other cultures. Immigrants founded America because they did not
want to be oppressed by rigid European ideas, and so they left, only to enslave
and oppress a whole other group of people. His essay traces the dream to and
through Frederick Douglass, Toni Morrison, and Martin Luther King to show that
the dream has evolved and is changing, even if slowly.
The next midterm essay I looked at: Tom Higginbotham’s
“Colors, Colors, Everywhere But Not a Drop of Ink” where he looks at Countee
Cullen’s From the Dark Tower to
better understand the meaning of color, especially as symbolic or as a racial
identifier. Tom shows the importance of color and, like me, sees the world “from
an exclusively White, American background, a fact I like to believe that Cullen
was anticipating and relying on, not only to surprise the expectations of his
White audience, but to build up the hearts of his Black audience.” An insightful
thought that I believe true. Cullen was a child prodigy, or in other words, a
genius, and he plays with the social dynamics of color all the time in his
writings. He shows that the Western culture has come to hold black and white as
having very different meanings. Whereas white is pure, innocent and clean, black
is dirty, tainted, and negative in general. As Tom conveys, Cullen defies or
tries to break with the conventional black thinking. Of note, Higginbotham tells
us in his essay, that he accidently structured his paper as white first and then
black. He realizes that he even segregated the two ideas instead of marrying
them together in a single cohesive essay. I think this self realization is
comical but also extremely self aware – something we could all use a little bit
more of if we are to break with the old societal conventions. Lastly, he states
that he purposefully left “color code” out of his essay because he does not want
to propagate the codified nature of color. His wish for a universal harmony
between colors and races is something I think all of us hope for, even if it is
idealistic.
The last essay that I looked at was a 2007 Midterm by
R.F. that is titled “The Double Minority”. In this essay, the author believes
that women have become a double minority, and thus have it even worse than an
African American man. I agree with this assertion even though we cannot put any
figure for the amount of suffering and loss someone has incurred. The assertion
is that women were forced to do many extra tasks, all for the benefit of the
slave owner, that made their life even worse than that of the African American
men. Don’t get me wrong, everyone in bondage has it awful. But, women who are
forced to be with men not of their choosing and to have kids they know will be
taken from them, sold off, and become slaves too, is a worse feeling. I do feel
the plight of women in this time was doubly bad and through Harriet Jacobs and
Maya Angelou’s writings, she successfully conveys and expands on these
hardships.
All of these authors make me believe in the possibility
that we will have an equal world one day. It may take a lot of work, a lot of
time, and a lot of change in thought, but it is possible. The American dream,
that was a nightmare for minorities, has been slowly changing for the better.
These midterms show that there was a significant ideological similarity between
people from many different classes from different years. I like seeing a
progression of thought from people over time, but is equally nice to see that
all your students I read through see the world as progressing, at least in our
own thoughts on the subject. If we reexamine the American dream, and think of it
as encompassing everyone (minority and dominant culture alike) in America rather
than for our own personal gain, we can garner a new perspective that will allow
us to make changes and decisions that benefit all, rather than being a divider
between races and classes.
