Meritocracy, which transcends to upward mobility, can help achieve the Black American Dream only when money and support are present. Walter Younger is an example of meritocracy, a middle-aged man living with his mother and family and works hard as a chauffeur. He wants upward mobility, which is why he enters into the liquor store business with two of his business partners. After receiving his father’s insurance money from his mother, he invested everything towards the business. However, the downfall occurs when one of his partners, Bobo, showed up to his house without Willy Harris, his other partner, present. “When I got to the train station…Willy didn’t never showed up...When a cat take off with your money he don’t leave you no road maps” …show more content…
Lutie is another example of meritocracy, the mother of eight-year-old Bub living in an apartment in Harlem who works hard as a singer. She wants upward mobility, which is why she accepts Boot’s job offer when asked to join his band. The night after singing at Junto’s bar, the downfall occurs when Lutie realizes that she is not being paid for her singing service, as promised by Boots. “‘When will my salary start? And how much will it be?’ She couldn’t wait any longer for him…She looked at him anxiously, conscious of a growing sense of dismay…This was worse than being back where she started because she hadn’t been able to prevent the growth of a bright optimism that had pictured a shining future” (Petry 303-305). Money and support symbolize upward mobility. Lutie is grieved about the news of not getting paid yet because she sees the singing career as a way to transcend herself out of poverty. This is the turning point of the story where she acknowledges that being the only hardworking member in her family will not translate into upward mobility. She gets no support from anyone, compared to Walter, who is getting support from his …show more content…
Lutie is the only working adult in the family but makes the decision to leave her family behind, including her own son Bub. She decides to leave because she is tired of both the visible and the invisible walls set up against her each time she gets rejected. “She leaned further against the wall, seemed almost to sink into it, and started to cry…When she left the building, it was snowing hard. The wind blow the snow against her face…She thought confusedly of the best place for her to go. She decided that Chicago was not too far away and it was big” (Petry 390, 434). Lutie has given up on herself because she is not getting any money nor support from anyone. The visible wall in her apartment is the same analogy as the invisible wall set in front of her in public. Each time she seeks a singing opportunity with a promising salary, there is an invisible wall present because she is either not getting paid or must sleep with men in order to get paid. Wall is in contrast with a veil, a term used by W.E.B. Du Bois, in which anyone can see through the woven cloth. If a veil is a metaphor used throughout the story, instead of a wall, Lutie might have seen the danger she is getting herself into with men, who are only interested in sleeping with her and offering her sugar-coated singing deals, and escape as soon as possible. Towards the end of the story, as Lutie
1. Walter - His dreams of owning a licquor store conflict religiously with Mama's value system. The conflict between Mama and Walter is amplified by the fact that it is Mama's apartment in which the family lives and Walter is unable/unwilling to make decisions because Mama is so domineering. Ironically, it is the one decision that she eventually lets Walter make which nearly destroys the family.
The perception of the “American Dream” drives many to attain it. For many coming from other countries it was a more favorable probability of a better standard of living than what was offered at home. However, for many non-white races the dream was practically nonexistent because the many laws and regulation was made to exemplify the whites over the nonwhites. James Baldwin expresses his discontent of the oppression that continues to subjugate nonwhite communities, specifically in the African American community, and the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders who states “Our Nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal.”
The book disputes that regardless of race, social economic class will determine how successful children will be in the future. Lareau, went as far to explore how middle class families with children, up to ten years old went through their daily routines and aggressively sought to enhance their children’s talents and schools through a series of organized activities, intense language training, and by overseeing their children’s experiences in these institutions. However, the working-class and poor families, both black and white, had no options but to use resources that was accessible to them in order to take care of their children, even if its at the
Many black men have to deal with a systematic racism that effects their role in society. The frustrations that a black man has to deal with can affect the family a great deal. For example, if Walter gets upset at work or has a bad day, he can't get irate with his boss and risk loosing his job; instead he takes it out on his wife Ruth. Also, the job that he holds can only provide so much to the family. He's not even capable of providing his son Travis with some pocket change without becoming broke himself. What type of "breadwinner" can a black man be in America? Walter Younger is thirty-five years old and all he is, is a limousine driver. He is unhappy with his job and he desperately seeks for an opportunity to improve his family standing. He tells his mother how he feels about his job when she wouldn't give him the ten thousand dollars; I open and close car doors all day long. I drive a man around in his limousine and I say,"Yes sir;no sir,very good sir; shall I take the drive, sir?" Mama, that ain't no kind of job... that ain't nothing at all.
Walter wanted to invest thirty thousand dollars into a liquor store, which Ruth, his wife, highly disagreed with. Mama put some money down for a house in a white neighborhood. However, Mama gave the rest of the money to Walter, telling him to do with it what he wants. He was now a loving, kind, and altogether enjoyable person to be around. Nonetheless, everyone was right and one of the men Walter made the investment with took all of his money and ran off. To make things worse, a white man from their future neighborhood came by their apartment and told them that their black family was not welcomed and they would pay them to stay in their original apartment, which Walter originally agreed to. When the man showed up with papers for the Youngers to sign, Walter couldn’t face showing defeat in front of his son and proved himself, refusing the money. Walter surprised everyone, especially his mother when “He finally came into his manhood. Kind of like a rainbow after the rain.” (Lorraine 152). Walter Lee is a perfect example of how poverty, defeat and being a minority can change how a person functions, but through self-determination, he can overcome these
In the end though, she becomes captive to the very thing she wishes to escape. Petry presents black motherhood, marriage and the black family as things that are marginalized according to the society in which they take place. The main image that Petry gives of the black mother is Lutie, though there are other images that are crucial in explaining this image. Lutie is a single black mother living on “the street.” Her world revolves around providing for her son, and trying to make sure that they are both able to survive in this corner of the world that they have been placed in.... ...
Deeply rooted in the American dream is the impression that anyone who works hard can move up economically regardless of his or her social circumstances. Author Toni Bambara uses her story The Lesson, to demonstrate these social inequities among a group of African American children who live in New York. She underlines the problems of economic inequality and social injustice, while empowering a group of young children, who are “all poor and live in the slums” (Bambara 457), to realize their full potential. Miss Moore, a college educated black woman, attempts to teach the children basic life lessons about equal opportunity, but does not teach them using conventional methods; instead, she uses real world experiences to show the children another
Lareau’s main argument in the text is that when children grow up in certain environments, parents are more likely to use specific methods of child rearing that may be different from other families in different social classes. In the text, Lareau describes how she went into the home of the McAllisters and the Williams, two black families leading completely different lives. Ms. McAllister lives in a low income apartment complex where she takes care of her two children as well as other nieces and nephews. Ms. McAllister never married the father of her two children and she relies on public assistance for income. She considers herself to be a woman highly capable of caring for all the children yet she still struggles to deal with the stress of everyday financial issues. The Williams on the other hand live in a wealthier neighborhood and only have one child. Mr. W...
This generation of American teenagers and young adults have the greatest advantage in the history of humankind when to comes to advances in technology, science, and every other field of study. Yet, today’s youth of America is facing obstacles that past generations did not have to deal with. According to Josh Mitchell, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, student loan debt has surpassed one trillion dollars with two-thirds of college students graduating with over thirty-five thousand dollars of debt each. Competition for jobs has made it progressively harder to find a stable job and make a living. According to Hardin’s metaphor of the world being a lifeboat, it is increasingly difficult for people who are not on the lifeboat to find away
The United States was founded upon the idea of an American Dream, or the idea that everyone should have the chance to reach success and happiness through hard work, determination, and initiative. However, many factors, such as race, age, intelligence, and gender play a role on how well one achieves their dream. Two well known stories based on the American Dream are Fences, a fictional story of an African American family in the 1950s, and The Pursuit of Happyness, a nonfiction story of an African American father struggling to make ends meet in the 1980s. Both have many similarities, but the most obvious is the hardships that the characters’ have to face because of their races. It is no secret that people of color have always had the lower hand in society, therefore creating a more difficult atmosphere for them to obtain their dreams. Overall, the obstacle
Since the very beginning of the great country of America, there has been a dream. What is this dream? By the overall definition, the American dream is, “the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American” (Dictionary.com). This dream has been a general concept for over two hundred years. Yet, some find the concept very complex and some even claim that the dream is dead. This essay will include the history of the American Dream, the past interpretations of the subject, current interpretation, and the opinion of the writer.
For example, later on in the play, Walter uses Berneatha’s school money for his liquor store. Walter was so determined to make money and achieve success that he lost himself and lost all of the money. Walter thought that if he could make fast money with liquor, he could pay for his sister’s schooling. In fact, Walter believes that the only key to success is money. “Mama: “Son, how come you talk so much ‘bout money?” Walter: “Because, it is life, Mama!” Mama: “Oh—so now it’s life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom use to be life—now its money. I guess the world really do change…” Walter: “No—it was always money, Mama. We just didn’t know about it.” p. 74 This connects back to the primary point, if you want to achieve the slightest bit of success as a minority, you’d have to go out of the way to achieve
The widespread belief of the American Dream reinforces the idea that everyone has an equal opportunity, and success or failure depends solely on the individual. However, we know from experience that due to inequalities, this is not always the case. Therefore, the American Dream is used as a way to justify and further legitimize the social stratification that exists within our society.
The Black American blue-collar workers also believe that they are being held down by the white-collar workers who are the white business men. The Youngers, specifically Walter, believe "no matter how hard black folks work they can't get ahead in this world." He also believes it is so much harder for black people to get anywhere that he would lose all of the money Mama had given him, trying to spread it around getting the businesses going.