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
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.
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