When thinking of the “American Dream,” we often think of upward mobility and the ability to come from nothing but still have endless opportunity stemming from hard work and perseverance.
Another aspect that is commonly portrayed is that of immigrants coming to America with hopes of a better life. In all areas of the media, especially in television and movies, immigrants are more often than not depicted as helpless people fleeing their home countries and doing just about anything to be able to come to America. The glamorous land of opportunity. The place where anything is possible. In an interview with Northeast medical specialist Dr. D, he reveals another perspective.
By the way, I didn’t come to America for the American Dream, I was shipped out!
D grew up in the Middle East, but at age 16 the country gone through a revolution. At this time, D family made the tough decision to leave their native country and move to the United States. Speaking hardly any English, he struggled through high school at a boarding school in the Northeast while his family struggled to make ends meet. Then attending college, then later going on to medical school and opening a private practice of his own, D looks as though he would embody this immigrant American Dream.
After a closer look, I realized this is not really the case. When I first asked D to be my interview subject, he said, “By the way, I didn’t come to America for the American Dream, I was shipped out!” We laughed then, but during our interview I began to understand what he truly meant. He spoke longingly of his young life in the Middle East with only positive memories, until his world quite literally got flipped upside down.
In the end, D obtained a fantastic education and achieved great success for himself and his family. But his family did not come to the United States by choice or to chase this American Dream ideal. Rather, they were forced to leave their beloved home country, come to a strange, unfamiliar place and completely start over.
The American Dream is an internationally held belief. However, as Americans, we especially glorify our own idea of it. My interview with D helped me to see that while there is great opportunity in America and the possibility of upward mobility, that does not mean everyone on this earth is chasing it.
D is…
- 59 Years-Old
- Male, Cisgender
- Middle Eastern
- Muslim
- Middle Class
- Heterosexual
