Hao Huang: “Whose ‘American Dream’? Hope, fear, and loathing in the USA”

Hao Huang, Bessie and Cecil Frankel Chair in Music at Scripps College, presents “Whose ‘American Dream’? Hope, fear, and loathing in the USA.”

“The American Dream means different things to different people in this country, and it both unites and divides us,” he says. “As a child of immigrants, I am but one of many, including our present President, who would not be here if our parents had not been inspired by hope for freedom and opportunity for their children. However, current public expressions of virulent anti-immigration bias that enjoy popular support demonstrate that for some, the American Dream is an exclusive principle. Furthermore, it is inflected by racist practices that are part of the social structure of the USA. This talk seeks to explore the historical and cultural contexts of ‘the Dream’ for people of color.”

I am the American Dream. I am the epitome of what the American Dream basically said. It said you could come from anywhere and be anything you want in this country. That’s exactly what I’ve done. – Whoopi Goldberg

I feel that I am a citizen of the American dream and that the revolutionary struggle of which I am a part is a struggle against the American nightmare. – Eldridge Cleaver

 

 

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