The American Dream In Warren St. John's Outcasts United

The American dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of birthplace, social class, or economic class, can attain success in the American society. Sadly, countless people will never achieve success in this society because they are foreign born. In Warren St. John’s book Outcasts United, St. John sheds light onto the numerous hardships that the tiny American town of Clarkston faces when thousands of refugees attempt to create a brand-new life there. At first Clarkston stood completely divided by original residents and refugees, but it wasn’t until the refugees and old residents saw past their physical differences of language, culture, and past life experiences that Clarkston began to thrive. Although the majority of projects started out helping

only one individual; the entire community ended up benefiting from the changes.
One of the problems that face communities that have a duper-diverse population like Clarkston is getting the refugees and the original residents to begin communicating. In Clarkston, St. John noticed that “refugees and locals went through their days in full view of each other… but the two groups rarely interacted. Instead, they lived among the border of two inaccessible but transparent worlds, separated by some invisible border, like birds from fish” (144). Even though the refugees and locals were in the same area, they still lived in two completely different worlds. Each group had their own struggles with this new community; “What [the locals] missed was precisely the simplicity and clarity that had once characterized a place where everyone looked the same, spoke the same language, and went to the same church” (186). Once the refugees started to spill in to Clarkston the locals no longer felt welcome because they couldn’t recognize the town outside their front porch. Meanwhile, the refugees are struggling to fit into American customs. Growing up in a completely different culture made the move to America very difficult. One example from Outcasts United is that African families have to learn to discipline their children in different ways. One mother said, “In Africa, when you tell your kid something and he doesn’t want to listen, you will beat him… but here, nothing, you cannot do that” (124). This discipline issue is a huge problem because while the children are in need of discipline, they are finding ways around their parents. Eventually the children believe they rule the house and begin to act out in very dangerous way; for instance they join the American gangs on the street. The way to fix both of these situations is for both groups to step across the invisible barrier. Once the locals begin to reach out to their new neighbors they will begin to recognize their hometown again, the locals can then help the refugees fit into the American lifestyle. This is what begins to happen when the Fugees soccer team ventures out into the American tradition of getting candy on Halloween. Once both groups are out in the streets together there are chances of friendships blossoming. Children are excellent examples of intermingling with each other regardless of skin color and gender; for example the Fugees ran into a group of girls while getting candy and exchanged some small talk. The exchange ended with “both the Fugees and the girls laughed, though no one seemed quite sure why, and went their separate ways” (261). These small conversations can bridge the gap between conflicting groups; not just locals and refugees, but between races, social status, and economic status. In that short conversation the Fugees and the girls connected and felt safe with one another. Once people begin to connect and feel safe with one another, they can start to work together through some other difficult problems they are facing.