the American Dream has Changed over Time

People still have a strong desire to make it happen and it be the reality. Both authors had similar ideas of the American dream and how it consisted of freedoms for the oppressed , yet they had many differences in who they supported the most.

Martin Luther King Jr. ideas of the American dream praised the promise that Lincoln’s momentous Proclamation would allow blacks to be equal to whites and have the same rights. King dreamed for all people to be treated equally. “In a sense, we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check”, since the promise he wrote about ahs not been accomplished or fulfilled, he stated that the check was marked with “insufficient funds” (King). He confronted the nation with its failure to honor its promise of equal liberty for everyone. He even implored his fellow protestors and all of his fellow citizens to understand that their destinies as Americans were bound together. Envisioning an America whose children could all sing with new and true meaning the proud claim “sweet land of liberty” in its namesake, he brought his speech to its unforgettable phrase. The famous phrase, “I have a dream”,a dream not apart from or against, but rather of, from, and for America—“a dream deeply rooted in the American dream” (King). He want a black to free in the future; a desire that has been for many years. In Let America be America the poem outlines the reasons why this ideal America has gone, or never was, but could still be.

The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME— (Hughes 62-65). Hughes question the same as king of society was doing anything about striving for some equality. His poem explores the darker parts of life. The history of exploitation and the unique struggles of the people who make up America, both black and white. For the poor, the oppressed, and the downtrodden, the reality of day to day existence makes the dream of one day being a person in society, a cruel illusion. Whilst pessimistic, the poem does have an optimistic ending and lights the way forward with hope.

Hughes talks about how people will renew and refresh and rebuild something wholesome and sustainable. That there remains hope that the cherished ideal of America can be made good again.

The American Dream soon became something to strive for, of soon became a role model for the rest of the world. The American dream still may never be achieved but King and Hughes has dream and their dreams did change Soviet and the ways people live. Their ideas similar and different, yet still wanting to achieve the dream of being free.

Works Cited

1. Hughes, Langston, “Let America Be America Again”, New York: George Braziller, 2004. Print. tinyurl.com/americandream181, retrieved: October 11
2. King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968. I Have a Dream; the Quotations of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York :Grosset, 1968. Print. Retrieved: October 11
3. Wright, Luke S. H. “The Death of the American Dream.” Virginia Quarterly Review, vol. 85, no. 4, Fall 2009, pp. 196–199. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=47427381&site=ehost-live. Retrieved: October 16 

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