Good Life I: Inequality In America

Inequality for African Americans first surfaced during the antebellum period in American History. Government officials recognized then as three fifths human while majority of white Americans viewed them as property. Following the end of the civil war, President Lincoln and government officials attempted to correct the omission of African American citizenship (Rubin). Officials began with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, renounced the ownership rights of slave owners. Subsequently, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were adopted to grant African Americans with second-class citizenship (Rubin). However, those amendments did not equate Blacks to their White counterparts. In 1876, African Americans were faced with discrimination
upon the implementation of Jim Crows laws that further segregated blacks from whites (Bryan). In Maggie’s American Dream: The Life and Times of a Black Family. Maggie Comer depicts her family’s journey to the American Dream. Throughout her books she depicts compiled version of the American Dream that author Jim Cullen detailed in depth in his book The American Dream: A Short Idea that Shaped a Nation. Similar to many African American families, the Comer family battled tremendous obstacles that made it laborious to obtain a happy life. Nevertheless, through a series of success and failures, they were able achieve versions of the American Dream described in Jim Cullen’s book.
Maggie Comer was the daughter of nomadic sharecroppers who constantly travelled in search of land to call their own.
As a little girl, Maggie strived for goals that would help her achieve her American Dream. But Maggie’s American Dream was far from singular instead it was a compilation of several fragments paralleled in Cullen’s book. The first fragment of Maggie’s dream was what Cullen thought of as Good Life I. In Cullen’s book her defined Good Life I as the freedom within the community. Similar to Cullen, Maggie’s journey to the American Dream contained characteristics of giving generosity within her community. The value of generosity arose from her childhood experiences as girl in Tennessee. In her youth, neighbors like Miss Sarah and her sister would give Maggie’s family money and food when they experienced misfortune (pg. 28) Because of those events when she was older she gave back to her community providing individuals and families with lodging when they needed it. Additionally, Maggie and her husband Hugh’s son James Comer instituted the Comer School Development Program that creating freedom within their community via reformation of the school system (pg.
219).
The Second fragment of Maggie’s dream was what Cullen defined as Good Life II. Cullen believed that the foundation of the Good Life II version of the American Dream was the determination for upward mobility and individualism outside of the community. Throughout Maggie’s oral history, she mentioned in great depth the importance of her children attaining an education. Maggie herself was a very intelligent woman who lacked a formal education. Although she attempted on several occasions, she was unable to focus solely on getting her elementary education. As a result, she placed high emphasis on her kids being ambitious in their education. She believed that education was the portal to upward mobility and individualism Even though she was unable to gain upward mobility; she ensured that her children were successful in becoming educated by managing their peer relationship as well as guaranteed that she remained really active in their school activities. In the end, all off the Comer children graduated from prestige universities where they received multiple degrees in various subjects (pg. 184) The final fragment of Maggie’s dream was what Cullen termed as equality. Cullen defined equality as a need to gain opportunity for freedom outside of one’s designated community. In the book, Maggie does describe her drive for equality in depth, it was implied through that she dreamt of one day having equal opportunities. Maggie and Hugh knew their family would endue difficult circumstances because they were black. But they craved equal opportunities; therefore they willingly tackled the challenges. They believed that “ […] black people could get the better way of live just like everybody” but due to the socio-historical foundation of slavery, they realized they would have to overcome the hindrance (pg. 48,228). Became Maggie and Hugh instilled in their children determination despite their race, they were able to achieve equality.
Successfully achieving their American Dream did not come easy for Maggie and her family.
They had to overcome institutional structures like economics education and social before they could attain reach their dreams. As mentioned previously, education was played a major role in the African American community; without education, African Americans would never have a chance at success. Because education opportunities were available predominately for White American, it wasn’t uncommon for African American got live their lives uneducated. Seldom, African Americans who worked exceedingly hard were able to access higher education (Bryan). Since a large number of African Americans lacked a formal education, they were limited to service position such as maid services or factory worker. Because they were limited to certain position, many were unable to surpass a particular socioeconomic class. However, there were rare occasions where African Americans had careers as professionals (Bryan). Aside from education and economic structures, African American dealt with socials structures that created obstacles within their daily lives. It goes without saying that discrimination shaped the experiences of African Americans. Because of the socio-historical foundation of slavery, African Americans were always viewed as inferior to White Americans. Although African Americans dreamed of living the American Dream, they were unable of achieve success because of the establishment of inferiority by
white American.
In retrospect, the Comers were the exception to society’s rule. Unlike most African American families, Maggie and her family discovered ways to utilize fixed institutional structures to their advantage. Even though Maggie and Hugh were limited to service positions, they able to become middle class family. While working as day worker, Maggie would “[…] work with [her] eyes and ears open” watching listening the way they lived (69). Essential Maggie mimicked her life based on the things she observed working in the homes. For example, she applied the shopping habits and dress codes the families used to her family, which allowed her family have extra money. As for Hugh, he worked as a factory worker when they were very in demand. Because they paid the workers decent wages, Hugh was able to provide for the family therefore any income Maggie made allowed them provided the necessities as well as wants for their children.
Maggie and her family are an excellent example of Cullen’s American Dream. Because they learned methods that aided them in transforming disadvantages into benefits, they were able to achieve to achieve Maggie American Dream.