In school, students learn about the American Dream. The concept is that any random person in America, no matter their status, can achieve tremendous success in their life. This concept is something many Americans believe. But in all honesty, this only works for people who are either white or people who already have some basis of wealth.

  People work day and night and cannot achieve that American Dream because they aren’t any of those things. They waste their entire lives away trying to attain that success, and society makes them feel inferior. Americans as a whole have made themselves sit on a pedestal far removed from the rest of the world and have blinded themselves from the injustice that occurs within their own country. 

  Moving to America as a child, there were so many promises. “The land of the Free” where everything would be better. There would be tremendous opportunities and more resources for us. Yet the realization hit within our first week here: America was the same as any third-world country- yet it is covered in gold wrapping paper. Every time you opened another layer, something terrible came out. 

  The only thing that separates America from other “less privileged” countries is that Americans have convinced themselves they are better. They are adamant. Being an immigrant from Pakistan, I’ve noticed the almost cult-like mindset enforced by the American Media, how America is the greatest, how superior it is then other countries. 

  Instead of learning about the fantastic things America has done in history, why doesn’t the media also focus on the critiques of it. Schools teach students one-sided truths about the history of America. 

  We should learn about how America influenced Afganistan’s destruction. We should know about the true horrors of Hiroshima and how America is responsible for the deaths of innocent people to this day. Even though the legalization of gay marriage and the ability to transition, America still restricts LGBTQ+ health care and how young LGBTQ+ youths, especially those of color, have died and America watched. 

  Many immigrants like myself have had this fundamental realization at a young age, and it destroyed a person’s mindset. To see people you love and care for, now struggling because they fell into the trap of the American Dream is heart-wrenching. 

  America can be a great nation; it can improve upon itself and fix its systemic issues to one day become a fantastic place. Yet, that will take time. People are too divided and too stubborn to see other sides of the arguments. 

  There is one thing in common with everyone, we all want things to get better, yet they will only be better if we try to make them better. Not just for the white and privileged but for every person in this country, no matter race, religion, gender identity, or sexuality. This is what the basis of America should be. It is what should be promised and kept.