Premium Essay

How We Have Killed the Dream

In:

Submitted By Xjones94
Words 1839
Pages 8
Xavier Jones
Professor Brenda Stephens
Eng 101
25 November 2015
Social Inequality and Racism:
How We Have Killed the Dream.
On August 28, 1963 The March on Washington called for more jobs and all around freedom. It remains one of the most popular mobilizations ever created. It was planned and birthed by a union of civil rights activist and people of feminist support, in which most were African Americans. The protest drew nearly a quarter of a million people to our nation’s Capital. One of, if not the most memorable moment of The March on Washington is Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech (“The Forgotten Radical History of the March on Washington”). The entire speech was an ascending oratory that still speaks volumes today just as it did fifty plus years ago. The speech commanded social and racial neutrality, and looked to a desegregated society. The main idea behind Dr. King’s famous speech was very simple; equality for all mankind was necessary for the future.
It was 1963 but yet Dr. King was so far down the line in terms of the next generation and what was needed for the nation and all people of different backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities. He had the formula; the very last portion of the speech summed it all up when he said:
“This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. And this will be the day. This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Brandon King The American Dream

...The idea of the American Dream has been with us as long as we have been a nation. In Brandon Kings “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, Or On Hold?” he presents us with his version of the American dream. According to King the American dream is defined as “The potential to work for an honest, secure way of life and save for the future” (611). The American dream may differ between every individual and how they perceive it. To some, the American dream is to have a decent job and to be financially successful. However, to others, having a job is defined as just living each passing month. The American dream basically means opportunity. That opportunity is seen as the ability to make an impact in life through hard work and dedication. To me, the American...

Words: 806 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Essay On The American Dream In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

...“With us in ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.” (Steinbeck 14). In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck two men have a dream. George and Lennie believe they have a future. They believe that they are special, they are different from the other men on the ranch. George describes a dream farm, which I believe is his and Lennie’s American dream. The dream farm symbolizes the quote “The best laid schemes Of Mice and Men often go wrong and leave us nought but grief and pain for promised joy.” As you can see the dream farm plays a major role in the story. In the story Of Mice and Men the dream farm is a huge symbol of the American dream during the great depression. Off of prior knowledge I know that the American dream during the great depression was to own land. George and Lennie’s American dream is to own their own ranch. The dream farm shows their American dream compared to others on the ranch. “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and the first thing you know they’re poundin their tail on some other ranch. They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to.” (13) George...

Words: 995 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

The Bait of Satan Book Report

...their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” This scripture makes it clear that when we bit the bait, there is only one outcome, and that is that we are doing the will of Satan. Offense takes many different forms, so here are some common offense causing situations: Someone says or does something against our sense of justice, then We feel we are owed something as a result. Something good happens to someone else, and we feel the need to justify ourselves, perhaps finding something good that we’ve done or experienced as well, completely missing the opportunity to rejoice with our friend. Someone overlooks something you did, and you feel you deserve recognition. It is important to recognize that offense can be either real or perceived, but either way it is just as powerful in its hold upon our hearts. In The Bait Of Satan John Bevere makes its clear that we must recognize is that offense is always a choice. In the same way that two people can be in the same situation, and one feels humiliated and the other doesn’t notice. Offense is also an inward reaction to outward events. It is a decision of the heart. That means that it is never beyond our control. The first principle I chose was gold being refined. Many people today do not see their true heart condition. They are cloaked in pride. Pride is how the enemy keeps people from seeing their condition. Most...

Words: 2181 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Of Mice and Men

...How can the poems in the ‘Moon on the Tides’ anthology be seen to provide a meaningful insight into George and Lennie’s relationship? During the Great Depression of the 1930s when America was plunged into financial crisis, following the Wall Street Crash of October 1929, levels of unemployment and poverty were at a record high. Through this period, life was a struggle and the mentality of society became survival of the fittest, every man for himself. Migrant workers toured the country in search of labour to provide money for food. These men led lonely and emotionless lives, which are reflected through Steinbeck’s portrayal of his characters in his famous, yet bleak, 1930s parable ‘Of Mice and Men.’  In the novel, George and Lennie’s relationship diversifies them from the other ranch workers for the reason that they rely on each other for support and companionship ‘I got you and you got me.’ In particular, the dream they share of owning their own land, reflects the American Dream of being the ringleader of your own life with a level of self- sufficiency. The dream is a significant aspect in their relationship and is portrayed in the poem ‘The Moment’. Apart from each other, the only other thing that George and Lennie have to keep them motivated is the dream. The poem opens with the line “The moment when, after many years of hard work and a long voyage”. This is a metaphor for the life that George and Lennie live as itinerant workers and how they move from ranch to ranch together...

Words: 2024 - Pages: 9

Free Essay

Things They Carried

...out that he has made entire stories up, after the fact. He defends his decisions by proposing that what he has done is, in fact, not lie, but rather tell a story-truth. He argues that his reason for doing this is to bring the story to life more than it could live through the happening-truth. 'I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth' (O'Brien, 183). O'Brien believes that, when accompanied by vivid details which essentially make the reader view the scene as a dream, story-truths can carry greater emotional truths than ever possible to be achieved through actual, happening-truths. With this, he shows, contrary to belief, how story-truths are often truer than happening-truths, and demonstrates this through the addition of often graphic details. Happening-truth encompasses actual events that take place. However true these stories may be, they are often times viewed as unreal simply because they have no details to back them up. The entire shit field scene that was put into this book, for example, was turned from a happening-truth into a story-truth because the original version was not believable. The reader can see this through O'Brien describing the letters that he received from Norman Bowker. Norman writes to Tim, telling him that he should write about the event. 'What you should do, Tim, is write a story... You were there --- you can tell it' (O'Brien, 151). Norman does this because he can't come to terms with writing...

Words: 2289 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Nt1310 Unit 2 Film Review

...A repeated theme we see in this film that we can see in other cyberpunk films is the idea of man-made technology such as computer systems or artificial intelligence, betraying its own creator for wanting to take over the real world and people’s lives. Clu represents a creation made to do well that ends up doing the opposite. Connecting it back to Videodrome, Brian O’Blivion had originally created Videodrome as a creation for his visions of the future, to which he had no intention to use in malevolent and brainwashing purposes. He tries to stop this and ends up getting killed, leaving his work he left behind in the hands of his daughter that takes over and turns Videodrome into what Max is now dealing with. In Tron: Legacy, though Flynn is not technically killed, he is trapped inside a virtual world he has no control of – a virtual world made up of thousands of pixels that has become Flynn’s own reality....

Words: 625 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Of Mice and Men Top Quotes

...still like stones, emphasizes the quiet setting, Personification. · "Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place. . . . With us it ain't like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don't have to sit in no bar room blowin' in our jack jus' because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us." - Steinbeck idealizes male friendships, suggesting that they are the most dignified and satisfying way to overcome the loneliness that overtakes the world. Shows the closeness of Lennie & George. · "...and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws." – metaphor, bear like, animal imagery – Metaphor, makes Lennie’s bear-like qualities clear (strong), only described this way because of his looks his personality is the opposite. · “Slowly, like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball back to its master” – Lennie is described as a dog that is small but seen to be vicious. The dog is not in charge and should obey his master and that is what Lennie is treated like. · “Live off the fatta the lan!”- George and Lennie’s dream is to have a small farm to live off. Makes us...

Words: 1461 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Of Mice And Men American Dream Theme Essay

...American Dream is difficult to achieve. There are several examples of this theme, including George and Lennie, Curley's wife, Candy, and Crooks. One of the first examples of this theme can be seen in the chapter that is focused on Crooks the stable buck. In this chapter Crooks was at first shooting down Lennie’s idea that he and George were going to own land. “You're nuts. I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their backs...an’ every damn one of ‘em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of’ em gets it,” (72 ). Crooks starts off in denial, but after Lennie continues to talk about it and after Candy tells about how they already have the money he is convinced and even asks if he can join in on the plan. But Crooks' hope about finally being able to do something and not be ruled by anyone is short lived due to being belittled by Curley's wife. After he stands up to her she gets angry and reminds him that because he is black he doesn't have the power to do anything and she could easily get him hanged if she wanted to. Her words discourage Crooks and make him feel dumb for thinking he was actually going to be able to live on his own land and be free to do what he wants. Crooks re-realizes how...

Words: 695 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Dreams

...Caleb Crawford Psychology Period 6 Dream Essay A dream is a period of spontaneous brain activity usually lasting from about 5-40 minutes that occurs during sleep several times a night usually about 90 minute intervals dreams allow a person to take a closer look into his their mind and themselves sometimes dreams act as a way to discover yourself, dreams can be used to solve all different types of problems. There are also certain types of dreams. There are fantasy, daydream and waking dreams. There are also lucid dreams, nightmares and night terrors. There are also certain stages in the dream cycle. In the first stage, your body temperature drops, your eyes close and your brain waves begin regular alpha rhythms, indicating a relaxed state. In many of my dreams, what happen in my dreams would happen the next day or within the following days. I think the reason for this is because when I would wake up and remember my dreams threw out that day I would be thinking about those dreams I had, had so the more I thought about it the more I would want to make those dreams come true. Like for example Tuesday night I had dreamed about a project I had due the next day in English and my dream was me presenting my PowerPoint and in my dream I had done very good on my essay. We were suppose to present for 5 minutes and I did like 6 minutes and I answered all the questions that my classmates had and I did very good on the whole project in my dream. So when it came time to present my project...

Words: 983 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Ariana

...Ariana Bovenkamp Dream Log 10/17/11 Thoughts: Today when I woke up I could not remember my dream. When I woke up, my thoughts were that I should’ve slept longer and that I should’ve done my homework earlier because it kept me up until the early hours of the morning. Thoughts: I could not remember my dream this morning when I woke up. When I woke up, I was thinking about all of the things I need to do during the day and that I have so much to do. I was also feeling very tired because I did not sleep long enough. Dream: During my dream, my friend Gabe and I were going to the supermarket to buy bagels but when we pulled into the parking lot we realized it was a super strange supermarket, it was all green. But we decided to go in and buy bagels. As we continued to walk down the isle where the bagels were, one green slime monster jumped out and started talking to me and he was distracting me while some others killed Gabe. Once I realized what happened, the others tried to attack me and as I was running away, I saw my friend Christopher so I ran up to him and tried to have him help me escape and as I started talking, he turned into a slime monster and shot a gun and right before the bullet hit me, I woke up. Dream: During my dream I was walking through a grocery store in South Africa and my dad dropped from the ceiling and I was scared because I didn’t know who it was. That’s the only part of my dream I could remember. Dream: My dream was very random last night...

Words: 2321 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Killers of the Dream

...Killers of the Dream, written in 1949 by Lillian Smith, is a book that states the historical, personal, psychological, political and economic reasons which led to the segregation of the South. The book starts off with the author remembering a childhood incident with her parents that made her wonder about the hypocrisy she has been raised by in the Southern way of life. The incident is that of her mother’s friends finding a white girl at the black part of town. They believed that the girl was kidnapped and ends up living at the Smith’s house for a few weeks. The author quickly becomes friends with this girl-Janie, until her mother tells Lillian that Janie is in fact a black girl and cannot live in their home anymore. Moreover, her mother informs Lillian that she is too young to understand why, and she should not ever ask about this subject again. Hence Lillian now had to explain to Janie that colored children should not live with white children. Both children are left wondering and confused. After recollecting memories from her own Southern childhood, Lillian Smith looks closely into the region’s image of childhood. She talks about the parents’ mentality towards their children and how they are raised. Those parents enforce their children into believing that sexual desires, and all the parts of their bodies that cause these sexual desires, are shameful and should be feared; including their fear for black people. Moreover, to stimulate these fears, the parents introduce the...

Words: 2011 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Martin Luther King Thesis Statement

...Have you ever had a dream? Either a dream to change the world, your community, or maybe even yourself? Well that’s what Martin Luther King had, he had a dream, to stop racial segregation so for once and for all, all children of god can be together, eat together, and sing together because in his eyes all people are the same, no matter what color your skin is that shouldn't define you and it shouldn’t affect the way you’re treated because in the inside we are all the same and no matter the race we should all get the same rights and privileges. That was his dream and he fought for his dream. Martin Luther King’s dream became a reality in 1964, the year when all segregation of whites and blacks was no longer allowed anywhere in the United States....

Words: 875 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Of Mice and Men

...Reading File – Class 5   1.   Summary Retell the story in your own words or attach a good summary from the internet (mentioning your source)..... The book Of Mice and Men is about two poor guys, George and Lennie, who travel together to find work. Lennie is a big, clumsy  man, who doesn’t know his own strength and he is also childlike, simple and easily forgetful. Lennie goes through  life with his fellow George, a smart guy and hard worker who takes care of Lennie. The book starts with  them walking down a road, they ran away from their job in Weed because the stupid, innocent Lennie touched a ladie’s dress (because Lennie likes soft things). Lennie and George have a shared dream: having their own farm, where they can keep all kinds of animals, and can live from their harvest when they have saved enough money. When they on their way to a ranch, hoping to find work, they sleep in the clearing (a place near a river) for one night. The next day they come to the bunkhouse and they get a job. Soon they meet the other workers on the ranch, including Curley, the son of the boss. Curley is mean, aggressive and a lightweight-boxer. Because he is so small he doesn’t like big guys, he feels threatened by them. So an aggressive look and a rude attitude is his first reaction when he sees big Lennie. The next day when Curley comes into the room, Lennie is attacked by Curley. But strong Lennie defends himself and crushes  (accidentally) the hand of Curley, because he tried to stop...

Words: 2159 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

English Great Gatsby

...it. While the less fortunate have to fight for these same things. This quotation shows how Scott Fitzgerald really felt about the American Dream. He was able to show how the American Dream was a failure in this whole book. There are three examples showing how the American Dream is a failure through the George Wilson, The Buchannas, and Jay Gatsby. Scott Fitzgerald uses George Wilson to show that the American Dream is a failure and not true. He is the one character in the book you can see this through because he is a hardworking man, responsible and as well truthful yet he is poor. We know from reading this book that George Wilson has been working all his life in the Valley of Ashes, but has still continued to be nothing more than determined to reach the success of the wealthy. All of his acts of hard work should be leading him to the richness and success of the wealthy instead of it all going to the wrong characters in the book. George Wilson shows that he is responsible and mature through the entire book especially when he finds out his wife, Myrtle Wilson has been cheating on him. He knows that the city has done this to her and he also blames the city for this reason and wants to leave. “I’ve been here too long. I want to get away. My wife and I want to go west.” This quote shows George Wilsons mature way of mind and that he has all the qualities to be a successful and rich man but is instead poor which goes to show again that the American Dream is a failure. Towards the ending...

Words: 1061 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

The Great Gatsby

...Pursuing the American Dream The Great Gatsby, written by Scott F. Fitzgerald in 1925, follows the life of the various characters that lived in West Egg, a fictional town on Long Island. It is narrated by Nicholas “Nick” Caraway, a Yale graduate and one of the main characters. By the way the book is written, one can deduce that Nick lived through all the events, or wrote what others told him about the events he was not present in, and wrote the book by end of it all. Its main theme is the pursuit of the American Dream, and what characters have to do to reach it, and how it can all crumble down. Basically, in this essay I will show the different ‘American dreams’ that are strongly projected in this novel. The first dream, the one with the strongest portrayal, was the desire of escalating in the social status ladder. There were characters with a high social status for their family’s name, like Tom Buchanan who inherited his family fortune. He was described as the kind of person that thinks money allows him to treat people as the lowest scum; even though his mannerism and tastes were exquisite, his attitude towards those who were not on the same status as him was detestable. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” (Page 188, The Great Gastby) Tom counts as an example...

Words: 1661 - Pages: 7