This is America.

Charlie Siebert

The United States of America prides itself on being a land of freedom, equality, and opportunity for all. But with an intense history of racism, and a flawed social hierarchy, America is not exactly what it seems. The United States has always prided itself on the idea of the “American Dream” in which anybody can come to America and better themselves socially and economically. However, this idea is weighted toward the success of white America, and it is primarily used to cover up America's past, and the slavery that composes its foundation. Minorities in America have far less opportunities than those who are white, and many suffer the climb the rigid social ladder that makes up America. America is a land of inequality and racism.

Inequality is America, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby explores many examples of inequality in America during the 1920s that are still very relevant today. In Chapter 4, when Nick is riding in Gatsby’s car to the city, Nick mocks a car with a white chauffeur and black passengers that is next to them. “As we crossed Blackwell’s Island a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish negroes, two bucks and a girl. I laughed aloud as the yolks of their eyeballs rolled toward us in haughty rivalry” (Fitzgerald, 69). In this situation, Nick finds humor and irony in the white chauffeur driving black passengers because he doesn’t see black people as able to be in positions of wealth. This shows that the idea of inequality is prevalent in America because Nick does not think that the African-American people in the car can be wealthy solely because of their skin color. In another instance, at the end of the novel, Nick talks about how Tom and Daisy could get away with Daisy’s involvement in Myrtle’s death due to their wealth and status. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy … they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (Fitzgerald, 179). This demonstrates inequality because Tom and Daisy are able to use their wealth to get themselves out of difficult situations, and leave those who are less wealthy or less fortunate to deal with them. This is prevalent in America because if one has wealth, they are treated with much more fairness under the law. This point is also supported by a Time Article that I used in my blog post titled “American Ignorance Created by the American Dream”. "Research shows that in reality, American social mobility is among the lowest in the developed world. Far from being the Land of Opportunity, a child born poor in America is more likely to remain poor than in any other comparable country." This supports that inequality is widely present in America because if you are not already wealthy, it is extremely difficult to become wealthy and increase social status.

Many examples of racism in the United States are present in Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me. In his novel, Coates talks about living in America as a black man, and the challenges that have faced him and his family. "Black life is cheap, but in America black bodies are a natural resource of incomparable value" (Coates, 132). This quote refers to much of the police brutality that is prevalent in America, and shows that just because of their skin color, black people and other minorities are much more at risk than white people. An event that I referenced in one of my blog posts, in 2014, Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke brutally shot unarmed black 17-year-old Laquan McDonald sixteen times while McDonald had his back to Van Dyke. This supports Coates’ quote, as well as the issue of racism in America because the Laquan McDonald shooting is just one of many by white police officers against black teenagers. This has increasingly become a problem as of late, as numerous acts of police brutality have led to the murder of African-Americans across the nation.