Clarissa's Blog

I don’t know why people keep saying that the American dream is dead. I have a friend who came here from Togo with nothing. Last year he bought his own pharmacy and has a second kid on the way.

Another friend is from Benin. She is now a nurse and has 4 kids.

Another friend is from Mexico. Also came from dire poverty. She also has 4 kids, her Mexican husband works at a bank, and she recently bought a restaurant.

These stories aren’t from 20 years ago. The friends are all younger than me and the stories are very recent. I chose very non-white examples so that nobody can tell me it’s only easy for whites. (For instance, I know a 30-year-old white woman who was born right here, grew up on food stamps, and now has a really fancy job, lives in a very fancy place, and expects her first child but this kind of story doesn’t have the same effect as the other ones.)

If this isn’t the American dream, then I don’t know what is. None of these people had it easy. It all took a lot of work, saving, and sacrifices but look at the results. Where else is all this possible? OK, in Canada. But that’s kind of it.