Typically, America reminds me of negative things. The first few things I think of are the Trail of Tears, hostility towards my culture and people, and how even today my family is still trapped on a reservation while our sacred lands are being taken away from us and sold to the mining companies for ore. How there are so few of us left in my tribe that I do not even know my own language, culture or heritage. When I hear the phrase “the American Dream,” I think of what might have been had North America been passed over by the colonists and explorers. My family’s American Dream would have been to live in peace with the earth, sky, and animals around us. There would be many more species of life still alive, a larger population of Native Americans and the development of society would be radically changed. Instead, Native Americans are pushed onto smaller and smaller patches of land and having each
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While most of the time it is easy to believe that everyone in America is equal, there is a class system here that is based off of a few things including: income, age, race, religion, sex, gender and romantic/sexual identity. Often, a white male in his 40’s will have an easier time going into a store late at night and walking back to his car alone than a 40 year old white female, who might be at risk of being attacked. An African American male in his 20’s might have a harder time going through airport security than a 20 year old white female, and so on. A person’s class can be a negative thing in America, be it a richer white female passes through a sleazy part of town and gets robbed or a homeless latino man gets turned away for a job at an office because they deemed him “unsuitable” for the job upon his appearance, despite an education or prior experience. A Native American who also happens to be an alcoholic will have a harder time finding a steady job than another person who does not
While most of the time it is easy to believe that everyone in America is equal, there is a class system here that is based off of a few things including: income, age, race, religion, sex, gender and romantic/sexual identity. Often, a white male in his 40’s will have an easier time going into a store late at night and walking back to his car alone than a 40 year old white female, who might be at risk of being attacked. An African American male in his 20’s might have a harder time going through airport security than a 20 year old white female, and so on. A person’s class can be a negative thing in America, be it a richer white female passes through a sleazy part of town and gets robbed or a homeless latino man gets turned away for a job at an office because they deemed him “unsuitable” for the job upon his appearance, despite an education or prior experience. A Native American who also happens to be an alcoholic will have a harder time finding a steady job than another person who does not