What is the definition of the American Dream? The clash of liberalism and conservatism met at its finest debate at Cambridge University in 1965. That’s when James Baldwin and William F. Buckley argued over whether or not the American Dream had been achieved at the expense of the American Negro.
Liberal vs Conservative
Baldwin discussed that it was Black labor through slavery that had helped to make the United States what it was. However, his argument went further in how he described the crux of the American dream. “Until the moment comes when we, the Americans, we the American people, are able to accept the fact that I have to accept, for example, that my ancestors are both white and Black, that on that continent we are trying to forge a new identity for which we need each other and that I am not a ward of America. I’m not an object of missionary charity. I am one of the people who built the country. Until this moment, there is scarcely any hope for the American dream because the people who are denied participation in it, by their very presence, will wreck it.” At the core, Baldwin is making a very human argument: until every American citizen is able to be recognized as an American, this experiment that is America – this dream – shatters.
On the other hand, Buckley claims that the opportunity of forward mobility that Black Americans have in the US is afforded to very few others in other countries, and thus the American Dream has not been achieved at the expense of Black Americans. Buckley best accentuates his argument in this quote: “The most mobile society in the world is the United States of America, and it is precisely that mobility which will give opportunities to the negroes which they must be encouraged to take.” Buckley is claiming that, in the rejection of the victimhood mentality and the encouragement of taking the opportunities that lay in front of Black Americans and any American, the American dream is achievable.
Defining The Dream
I bring this debate back not to rehash old arguments but to penetrate the core of the discussion: what does the American dream actually mean? Baldwin came from a sociological perspective, whereas Buckley had an economic perspective. I am not going to deny that upward mobility and the ethic of working hard are a significant part of the American Dream. However, if the opportunity of upward mobility is the only piece of our definition of the American Dream – of what it means to be American – we end up missing something fundamentally human. When the underlying story, goal, and values of America are money, then we have a society that places more importance on the material than the spiritual, intellectual, and moral aspects of society.
Baldwin’s point of belonging was also made by Ronald Reagan when he discussed a unique attribute of America: “You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.” Along with upward mobility, an essential piece of the American Dream is that anyone can come to America, contribute, work hard, be a productive member of society, and become an American.
The foremost question of whether or not the American Dream is alive then needs to be understood from both an economic and a sociological perspective to truly grasp where the experiment we live in is currently headed. As Americans, it is our duty to determine whether the dream is alive or dead and what needs to be done to preserve the fundamental American story.
Shattered Dream
At this moment, our task is to think about the current gap between the American reality and the American Dream. When over 170 US citizens have been detained by ICE. When long-time citizens and legal residents who love America, that are some of the most patriotic people, live in fear because of what speaking in their native language may lead to. Or being in the wrong restaurant at the wrong time. Or having a little similarity in appearance to a crime suspect. All may lead to wrongful detainment or deportation.
What we are witnessing is the shattering of a vital element of the American Dream. While I admit this has never been a reality, that does not mean we should not aspire to build a country where all productive members of society are accepted. As Americans we must cultivate, protect and, most importantly, never forget the humanity of belonging within the American Dream and the American story.
Featured image/photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash.
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