What Does Winfrey Achieve The American Dream

The American Dream, although different for every American, is built on the foundation that hard work and determination can lead to happiness, security, and success. It can be argued that Oprah Winfrey achieved the American Dream because she was born into a racist society as an African-American girl. Nevertheless, Winfrey defied the discrimination and became one of the most well-known talk show hosts in America, if not the world, and the first and only African-American billionaire, not to mention that she is a self-made billionaire (Robehmed). Despite growing up impoverished in a society in which she was discriminated against, Oprah Winfrey has achieved the American Dream by becoming a successful talk show host and owning her own production company. Winfrey has used this platform to transform mediums of broadcasting, to encourage Americans to celebrate their differences, and for philanthropic efforts, such as The Oprah Winfrey Foundation.
Winfrey grew up in an era characterized by segregation, racism,
and discrimination as a child living during the Civil Rights Movement. The American Academy of Achievement discusses how Oprah Winfrey was “born to an unwed teenage mother [and] spent her first years on her grandmother’s farm in Kosciusko, Mississippi, while her mother looked for work in the North” (“Oprah Winfrey Biography”). After living with her grandmother, Winfrey moved in with her mother in Milwaukee Wisconsin. As a black female who had to work the lower-paying jobs, Winfrey’s mother often had to leave her home alone, as a young girl, and while Oprah Winfrey was left alone, she was repeatedly molested by male relatives (“Oprah Winfrey Biography” 2015). As a fourteen-year-old devastated from repeated emotional and sexual abuse, Winfrey was no longer living under her mother’s care, and she was “on her own” (“Oprah Winfrey Biography” 2015). Then, Winfrey went to live with her father, Vernon, in Nashville, Tennessee; Vernon “was a strict disciplinarian, but he gave his daughter the secure home life she needed” (“Oprah Winfrey Biography” 2015). It was under Vernon’s care that Oprah grew to be a young, successful woman as she became an honor student and won prizes for oratory and dramatic recitation (“Oprah Winfrey Biography” 2015).
The American Dream has greatly changed since the 1960s. When Ms. Winfrey grew up, a college degree was the key to achieving the American Dream (Llopis). Furthermore, African Americans living in the 1950s and 1960s faced prejudice, discrimination, and segregation and did not have equal opportunities with white Americans, even in terms of primary education, especially in the southern United States (Luhby). As Glenn Llopis states, “government and big business could serve as both providers and enablers for opportunity” in the 1950s and 1960s. In 2016, the application of the knowledge one has acquired is critical to achieve the American Dream (Llopis). Today, the American Dream is much more expensive to achieve, as education costs have risen and more training and education is required to attain a successful job. Despite these changes, the simple thought that hard work and perseverance will bring prosperity remains in the core of the American Dream. However, the American Dream is different for everybody, as each respective Dream correlates with race, socioeconomic status, and level of education.
Once she moved in with her father in Nashville, Winfrey’s life began to change drastically. As a successful student and beautiful young woman, she attended Tennessee State University and was offered a broadcasting job at WVOL, a Nashville radio station for African Americans (“Oprah Winfrey Biography” 2015; “Oprah Winfrey Biography” 2016). Although Winfrey was focused on her education, “her broadcasting career was already taking off. She left school [consequently] and signed on with a local television station as a reporter and anchor” (“Oprah Winfrey Biography” 2015). Winfrey co-hosted her first talk show, People Are Talking, in 1976 and moved to Chicago in 1984 to host AM Chicago, which ultimately became The Oprah Winfrey Show (“Oprah Winfrey Biography” 2015). In 1986, The Oprah Winfrey Show “was broadcast nationally, and quickly became the number one talk show in national syndication” (“Oprah Winfrey Biography” 2015). One year later, Winfrey’s show was awarded three Emmys for Outstanding Host, Outstanding Talk/Service Program, and Outstanding Direction, and “Oprah herself received the International Radio and Television Society’s ‘Broadcaster of the Year’ Award” (“Oprah Winfrey Biography” 2015). Clearly, Winfrey’s professional career was taking off, and she was well on her way to becoming the first African-American, female, and self-made billionaire.
Through her national media platform, Oprah Winfrey has had a profound influence on American culture and society. Winfrey has transformed the “way people around the world read, eat, exercise, feel and think about themselves and the world around them” (“Oprah Winfrey Biography” 2015). Robehmed continues to discuss how Winfrey “infiltrated American life from all angles” through “her multi-platform business plan and her relentless messages of positivity and self-improvement.” Oprah empowers women to be the best versions of themselves by serving as a “personal trainer” for her viewers who want to lose weight or diet (Clifford). As a talk show host, D. A. Carson said “Oprah shapes more of the nation’s grasp of right and wrong than most of the pulpits in the land.” Through her book club, a recommendation from Winfrey could acclaim an author and make his or her book reach “the top of bestseller lists” (Pettinger). Furthermore, Winfrey received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 for her immense philanthropic efforts, enabled because of her professional success and wealth, around the world, including the Oprah Winfrey Foundation that provides secondary education for South African girls who otherwise would not have been able to attend school (“Oprah Winfrey Biography” 2015; Cirelli).
In general, the American Dream can be defined as the transition from having little wealth and success to achieving great wealth and success, and Ms.
Winfrey is a great example of this shift. She grew up, for the most part, in an impoverished home in which she was sexually abused and in a society in which she was discriminated against. Despite this, her life began to change for the better as she worked hard in school, won oratory contests, received a scholarship to college, and began working for a broadcasting company after moving in with her father, Vernon. Since then, her talk shows have provided her with great success, making her the first African-American billionaire. Oprah Winfrey has achieved the highly unlikely, considering the discrimination and troubled past she persevered through, in her lifetime and chased after her dreams. As Ms. Winfrey once said, “The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams” (“Matching Quotes by Oprah
Winfrey”).