The ôAmerican Dreamö is often cited by immigrants in the U.S. as a primary motive in their coming to America. The ôAmerican Dreamö conveys a certain values and principles like freedom, justice, and economic opportunities, along with a promise of a certain measure of lifestyle that is appealing. The accounts of Al-Marayati and Semeen and Mabry, of the reality of life in America for foreigners, stands in contrast to the images of the ôAmerican Dreamö that acts as a primary motive in pulling many immigrants to American shores. Despite this motive, these authorsÆ storiesÆ show that, for many foreigners, the actual American reality is a far cry from the values and principles conveyed in the ôAmerican Dream.ö
The account of the perspective of many Americans toward Muslim women, particularly their fashion as a symbol of repression, in ôAn Identity Reduced to a Burka,ö shows that many foreigners are faced with prejudice and stereotyping in American society. This kind of biased-thinking is so pervasive that even those who are trying to promote a greater understanding of other cultures are often prone to it. As Al-Marayati and Semeen (p. 1) explain about a Muslim WomenÆs League member who assumes they would have a ôburkaö readily available for something akin to ôshow-and-tell,ö ôShe didnÆt seem to understand that her assumption was the equivalent of assuming that every Latino has a Mexican sombrero in their closet.ö
We also see that prejudice and stereotype undermine the American Dream because these biases are often perpetuated by social institutions from schools to the media. While Al-Marayati and Semeen maintain that Muslim womenÆs concerns are much more survival-oriented, like feeding and clothing their children, they also assert that biased views of foreigners in the U.S. often stem from the black-and-white and broad-stroke images of them portrayed in the media. As the aut
...