A False Promise

“I” looked forward to returning to America after moving to Egypt when she was a young child.

“Life would be easier,” “I” said. “There’s less sexual harassment. You can wear shorts, and no one would say anything.”

But when “I” moved back to the United States to attend a university in New York, a different reality became apparent to her. The American Dream is portrayed both as a promise and a goal for so many people around the world. If you are willing to work hard, you can be successful and live a prosperous life in America. For “I”, a Middle Eastern woman with dual citizenship in her home country and in the United States, the American Dream represents something different to her.

“The American Dream is a false perception of what America actually is,” “I” said. “America needs to stop selling the American Dream. The American Dream was designed for white people. It was not designed for anybody else of any other background. There aren’t any opportunities for [minorities] because there are so many obstacles in their way that other white people have at such a small scale.”

Whether it was a comment made by the parent of a person she dated or different acts of racism and sexism directed at her or other employees in her professional life, “I” has both witnessed and experienced the broken promise of the American Dream firsthand. 

“It would be harder to see the blurriness of the American Dream if you’re not faced with a lot of the discrimination that minorities are experiencing,” “I” said.

“I” described herself as “white passing” which means although she is a minority, people could mistake her as being a white person and treat her differently from how minorities are typically treated.

“I am privileged enough to be white passing,” “I” said. “I do get passes sometimes but it allowed me to have a broader awareness of the experiences of a lot of people.”

Rather than sell a false promise, “I” believes that the rhetoric surrounding the American Dream needs to change. People cannot solve a problem if they are not aware there is one in the first place.

“At a young age, these things need to be taught in school,” “I” said. “These changes also need to be actively implemented and make it feasible for everyone to have access to equal opportunities.”

“I” is…

• 25 Years-Old
• Female, Cisgender
• Middle Eastern
• Arab
• Middle Class
• Heterosexual