As the child of immigrant parents, I grew up knowing education was important. Ever since I could remember, my parents told me I was going to college. My mom was able to finish her high-school education, but my dad barely made it to the third grade. Their lack of higher education made them adamant of emphasizing to me and my siblings the importance of attending school.
I’m living my parents “American Dream”. They wanted to be able to provide their children the education that they wished they had, one that taught their children about things they could only dream of.
When people talk about the American Dream they share stories about people who “started at the bottom and made it to the top”, people who had no money and later made a fortune by using their street smarts or inventions. The stories of my family, of my friends, of countless other immigrants and refugees regard the American Dream as a dream of being safe from being killed on the street, kidnapped and held for ransom, bombed by terrorists or the government. The dream for today is being free from mass terror and being able to have simple human rights: water, a home, education, faith, and simply being able to walk down the street without thinking if the person next to you is carrying a gun that can kill you in seconds.
I'm not saying the old American Dream is gone. Americans and people who come to this country still want to rise in the social and economic ranks, they want to have their hard work rewarded. But I believe it's time to reinvent what the American Dream is about.
The old American Dream is impossible to many. Not everyone can get a good education, a job that doesn't require standing behind a register, not be judged by the color of their skin, religion, gender, etc., and own a house and not be in debt. The idea of that American dream is virtually squashed. But the underlying belief is that America provides an opportunity for things to be better than the previous country.
This belief comes partially from the them vs. us argument, that was created during colonial times when the Native Americans were considered inferior and barbaric to the "educated" and "cultured" colonizers. This them vs. us argument created by colonists and the empires that brought them to the Americas made them feel superior, and now continues in regards to the United States vs. other countries.
Although it is clear that the US is definitely not better than other countries when it comes to education, economy, and politics, what can be seen is that America is a safe haven for people in other countries who are afraid to walk out of their homes and send their children to school. But that doesn't meant that there aren't people in the US who aren't afraid of leaving their home and sending their children to school, and we can see this from more accounts of Americans that are minorities and are being targeted for their religion, race, and gender.
Today's American Dream encompasses an escape from threat of institutionalized and global terror, that can also be seen and experienced in America. However, the reinvented American Dream strives to allow change in institutions and government. It isn't just for people who are from different countries, it is for the people that are citizens of the US and still face some of the same struggles as them.
Today's American Dream gives immigrants and refugees a chance to have a better life but it also allows them and US citizens the opportunity to fight for change if they feel it is necessary.
