What The American Dream Means To Me Essay

The ‘American Dream’ means different things to each individual. What the ‘American Dream’ means to me is that I’m an American citizen who is free to do as I please under certain circumstances of course. I understand that many people have troubles trying to achieve this ‘American Dream’ though. If you look at the illegal immigrant problem, they have problems achieving this American Dream. I know that to get into the United States of America, you have to take a test, along with years of being in the system until you’re picked. You also cannot be a criminal and either you come here to work or you come here to stay; it costs quite a bit as well to achieve this dream. In my opinion it makes me mad when people come here illegally and claim that they

deserve the ‘American Dream’. If you come here illegally, you are not technically an American. What gives them the right to have the ‘American Dream’ when they are not even Americans?
I think the group that struggles with this in the past was African Americans.

They wanted citizenship and it took them so long to achieve this. They went through a war, even after the war they had troubles, they went through countless horrible stories about what they had to go through to achieve their dreams. It’s like in the book, The Adventures of HuckleBerry Finn, Huck knows that dealing with African Americans can be a bad situation for him, but he goes down the river with Jim, the runaway slave. He learns to really appreciate Jim and that Jim really cares about Huck, so Huck’s determined to help Jim on his journey. It’s taken African Americans so long to obtain the ‘American Dream’. Due to the time the Whites believed they were a superior race over the African Americans, like Hitler believed the Aryan race was superior over the Jews and impure Germans. Due to this, African Americans were used to the White benefit. It was horrible of the Whites to do in the fact that African Americans were forced to be here, they didn’t come here by choice. The Whites shipped them onto boats and moved them here without a choice, all for the Whites benefit. It’s been a huge long struggle to find their rightful place here, but even now they are struggling with their rights as American

citizens.
I think obtaining the American Dream is no easy task for anyone. Our ancestors had to come to America and prove themselves here, just like everyone else. I think it takes patience, time, and hard work to achieve things you want the most. If you come here illegally, then work to become legal in the country before you want the ‘American Dream’. If you were forced to be here, fight for your rights, because you deserve them in the home of the free.