America is a country full of a mix of different races and ethnicities. We are a country of immigrants, which is how we got our nickname “The Melting Pot.” Once people began to settle in North America, people from all over the world moved to America in hopes of making a home in “The New World.” Once America was established as its own country, even more immigrants came over in hopes of living a life of freedom and in pursuit of the “American Dream.”
Since then, there have been waves of different people coming into The United States from other countries as those countries’ governments became corrupt and the people longed to escape to somewhere where they were guaranteed their rights and freedom. In the 1850s, it was the Chinese fleeing the Taiping Civil War in China. In the early 1900s, it was Italians trying to escape the extreme poverty in Southern Italy. And in the 1980s, it was Iranians running from the revolution in Iran, trying to find somewhere they could pursue their dreams and careers, and be allowed to get an education.
My parents were part of this wave of Iranians coming to America. Both of them immigrated here in the 1980s, looking for a college education and an equal opportunity to succeed as their colleagues. What they got was almost that, but not quite.
As citizens in this country, we boast about the American Dream, and we are viewed by others around the world as a place they can come to and have the opportunity to rise up and make a life for themselves. The American Dream is the chance for anyone, regardless of race, color, sexuality or anything else, to be able to succeed. It seems, however, that this idea has been thrown out the window, yet as a country, we still boast the title.
We’ve watched countless African Americans abused and sometimes even killed by police officers. We’ve had Muslims that are American citizens be discriminated against because of their religion. People coming here from other countries are physically and socially harmed and discriminated against just because they do not have white skin, and weren’t born here.
For a country that claims to be a place for all to thrive, we do not hold up that ideal in practice nowadays. There is discrimination around every street corner, and aside even from shootings and physical discrimination, there is still discrimination in everyday life. As I grew up, I began to notice more and more that some of my friend's parents or people I encountered would look at me differently once I said I was Iranian-American. Even if they didn’t directly say anything, I could feel that the level of respect they had for my background or my parents wasn’t the same as they had for other people's families, especially once they found out my parents immigrated here for college.
Whether it's intentional or subtle, most people in this country whose family has been here for generations look down on immigrants or anyone who looks like they’re from another country for being “ethnic.” It’s almost like they have less respect for anyone who wasn’t born here, even though we’re all citizens. I, personally, was born here and consider myself an Iranian-American, yet I still feel this subtle lack of acceptance.
The most unreasonable part is that technically, we are all immigrants. America is called “The Melting Pot” for a reason: we all came from somewhere else originally. Other than the few people that descended from the Native Americans that were originally on this land, all of our families immigrated here at one time or another. But apparently just because some people's families have been here for a few more generations, that means they are somehow more “American” than I am. I am a first generation American, but I am still just as much American as anyone else.
So yes, maybe America does offer part of what we consider the American Dream. More than most other countries, people can succeed here without being discriminated against in the workplace. However, that’s only the surface of it. Below all that is a culture that looks down on people who don’t look like them, people who are different. I am proud of my heritage, both the American side and the Iranian side. However, I’ll be even more proud to say I’m an American when our country’s people will stand together and fully accept each other, regardless of skin color, ethnicity, or anything else that stands to divide us. Because in the end, we are all American, no matter when we came here, and that’s all that should matter.
