The American Dream

What is the American Dream? Constitutionally, Americans are granted the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but is that what the mysterious “they” correlate the American Dream with? It can be argued that with our economy sinking further down the metaphorical gutter, the red, white and blue American Dream has been overshadowed by its realistic nightmare—record unemployment, corporate greed and foreclosures, to name a few. However, in our time of darkness and despair, a glimmer of hope swept through the country and lifted our spirits, creating history along the way.

Martin Luther King III recently wrote an op-ed piece for the Washington Times where he discusses, then President-elect Barack Obama’s, role in his father’s dream narrative. He writes, “The president-elect is not the only writer of this narrative any more than he is the story's only character. Today, the African-American narrative will be written from the inkwells of all African Americans—our civil society, our business community, our political ‘electeds’ and every citizen.”

Marin Luther King Jr dreamt of every American sharing “the untrammeled opportunity to fulfill his or her total individual capacity without regard to race, creed, color.” Dr. King peacefully sought liberty and pursued happiness, but it cost him his life. The sad reality was that when the bullet entered the right side of his neck, the hateful dreams of some hateful Americans were realized. Nearly 41 years later, however, only one dream prevailed—Dr. King’s.

On January 20, 2009, the 44th American to take the Presidential Oath of Office shattered the glass ceiling that loomed over so many of the major minorities sharing a common dream, the American Dream. On that day, America felt rejuvenated, and if it’s true that united we stand, divided we fall, America stood tall, towered over hatred and triumphed over multiple lifetimes of adversity. Collectively, the true American Dream was realized.

Cheers,
Victor