Analysis: Please Don T Take My Air Jordans

How does one define the American Dream? The American Dream & its ability to be achieved depends on the dreamer & his or her perspective. “Don’t Take My Air Jordans,” “Let America Be America Again,” and “Outside” all show different perspectives of the American Dream. The idea of the American Dream all depends on perspective.

In the poem “Please Don't Take My Air Jordans,” the author views the American Dream as not achievable This is shown when the author states, “My leather adidas baseball cap matches my fake Gucci backpack.” This is evidence proving that the boy is showing the illusion that all of his things are name brand and expensive. Another piece of evidence is when he states, “Gots ta get some new gear, there's no other way” and “I killed to get them but hey...I dont care.” He's stating that he’s willing to do anything even if it's illegal for just a taste of the American Dream. In other words, the boy in “Please Don't Take My Air Jordans” did whatever he thought was necessary in order to taste the American Dream.

The poem “Let America be America Again” by Langston Hughes portrays the American Dream as not achievable.

This is because the poor or hard working American is trapped believing in and working towards a dream that benefits only the rich. One main piece of evidence is “I am the man who never got ahead, the poorest worker bartered through the years.” This means that he works hard, but still fails at achieving the Dream. The author also states that, “There’s never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this ‘homeland of the free.’” This is showing the author breaking down the American Dream and how it doesn’t apply to “everyone.” Langston Hughes showed that the American Dream only applies to rich people and that it needs to

change.
The song “Outside” by Childish Gambino states that the American Dream is achievable through struggles, sacrifice, and hard work. This is proven when he states, “it's weird, you think that they’d be proud of ‘em. But when you leave the hood they think you look down on ‘em.” This shows that no matter where he goes, the struggle is universal. The author explains another struggle when he says, “Working two jobs so I can get into that white school.” The author shows that his family worked hard in order to give him a life better than the rest of his family. The author went on to state that he went through so many struggles and achieved his version of the American Dream, escaping poverty.
These three pieces of writing all showed the different ways of how the American Dream can be discerned. “Don’t Take My Air Jordans,” “Let America Be America Again,” and “Outside” all showed different perspectives of the American Dream. The American Dream allowed people to wrongly view this country as a land of oppurtunity and freedom, when in reality people here go through multiple struggles everyday just to recieve a glimpse of the so-called “American Dream.” The American Dream is an idea that all depends on a person’s point of view of whether or not it is achievable.