Discrimination Prevents Accomplishing the American Dream

As both Harlon Dalton and Stephen Cruz recognize, Alger ignores the complication of race when achieving the American Dream. Alger assumes that “each of us is judged solely on her or his own merits, and we each have a fair opportunity to develop those merits (279).” However, as discussed by Cruz, minorities and people of race are often subjected to stereotypes and discrimination when working in any kind of job. Cruz, a man of Mexican descent, struggled to gain the respect of his peers while working in engineering firms. While unsteadily mounting the ladder of corporate America, Cruz felt as if his coworkers were thinking, “[Mexicans are] good to have as part of the management team, as long as [they aren’t] allowed to make decisions (355).” For a while, “I was convinced if you worked hard, you could make it. I never considered myself different. That was the trouble. We had been discriminated against a lot, but I never associated it with society. I considered it an individual matter. Bad people, my used to say (354).”Cruz now understands that he was hired because of his Mexican heritage. When he attempted to find a job before the passing of the Civil Rights Acts in 1964, he received few offers. After the passing of the Acts, he was given a multitude of job offers. He thinks this is because he is Mexican; it’s more acceptable to hire a Mexican than a Black, explains Cruz.
Over his time in these firms, Cruz came to realize that discrimination was “deep [and] ingrained (355).” Cruz noticed during his stint at one post that no blacks worked at the office. He was able to hire a black secretary, only to find this secretary inexcusably fired after he returned from a vacation. Cruz, after dabbling in such firms for years, quit his high-paying management post. He had been told throughout his career and life, “if you worked hard, you could make it (354),” and if you “just learn more, you’ll make it (355).” He found this all to be untrue. When interviewed about his experience later, Cruz exclaimed, “The American Dream, I see now, is governed not by education, opportunity, and hard work, but by power and fear. The higher up in the organization you go, the more you have to lose. The dream is not losing. This is the notion pervading America today: don’t lose (356).” Not to succeed, per se, but to not lose. To succeed in some way, to hold some gain over others.
In Alger’s stories, men easily rise above life’s challenges and succeed. Cruz and Dalton dismiss these stories as myths because discrimination, whether against race or any other such factor, has held back men for centuries. Although Alger and Cruz seem quite different, happenstance unites them. In “Ragged Dick,” Dick is given his lucky break because of a chance encounter with a wealthy man. In Cruz’s story, the passing of the Civil Rights Acts allows him to break into the realm of corporation. This tie is loose though; Alger and Cruz hold very different outlooks on the American Dream.