By Alexandra Pepper
An Unfulfilled Black American Dream
I conducted an interview with R, a 21-year-old Black, cis-male, California native. My 4-panel graphic comic displays 4 individual stories that reveal a larger phenomenon that disrupts our understanding of the American Dream by exposing the ways R’s demographics, specifically his race, have affected the way his, as well as his family’s American Dreams, have been shaped and somewhat prohibited. The underlying principle of the American Dream that a family can work hard to achieve a better life for their posterity is somewhat fulfilled in R’s story, however, the blatant racism that has continued through centuries, demonstrates that the quintessential American Dream we speak of in media is actually just a social construct. This American Dream stands on the basis of equality, but everyone in America does not in fact have an equal playing field. Yes, R’s mother was able to receive an education despite a lack of resources growing up and a lack of understanding by her parents due to their class, resources, and knowledge, which in many cases has perpetuated struggle in poverty (Quadrant 2). Yes, R became the Division 1 football player he dreamed to be (Quadrant 3). Yet, over a century after R’s family escaped the south during the Civil War (Quadrant 1), R is still mistreated on the basis of race, which is demonstrated by the racial profiling R endured in the Northeast this Summer (Quadrant 4). Therefore, the glorification of whiteness and demonization of Blackness prohibits his Black American Dream from truly being fulfilled.
R is…
- 21 Years-Old
- Male, Cisgender
- Black
- Christian
- Upper Middle Class
- Straight