Analyse af Anand Giridharadas' tale 'A tale of two Americas'

“A tale of two Americas. And the mini-mart where they collided” - Anand Giridharadas

Everybody wants to be successful, but not everybody has equal opportunity to achieve success. This goes especially for people from countries that are filled with war, bad economics, and just poor life quality in general. So, when they get the chance, they take it, and work their way up, so they can live their best life. Some people are the opposite, they live in good countries, but do not take advantage of the opportunities they have, which ends up being bad for them. They do not work hard, and live up to The American Dream, while other people would do anything for that opportunity. Anand Giridharadas criticizes in his speech “A tale of two Americas. And the mini-mart where they collided” the two sides of America that has bee created, the hard-working side, and the other side, that relies on their white native American privilege.

“A tale of two Americas. And the mini-mart where they collided” is a speech by Anand Giridharadas who is an American of Indian descent. He is an author and columnist and is known for his writing about India and the people there. The speech focuses primarily on the story between a white American, and an Indian immigrant. What happens is that after the 09/11 attack, the climate and feelings against, Muslim immigrants has changed drastically. A white American male, Mark Stroman went into a Mini-mart, and shot Raisuddin in his face. Stroman went to prison, and on death sentence, while Raisuddin who faced an indefinite amount of challenges in his life, prospered, got a great job, but he started to focus on trying to get his shooter out of prison. The speech aims to enlighten about the American dream, and how there are to distinct societies “ a republic of dreams, and a republic of fears”. How immigrants are thankful for the chances they get, like Raisuddin, even though he got shot, and faced the many challenges “He didn’t die. His right eye left him. His fiancée left him. His landlord, the mini-mart owner, kicked him out. Soon he was homeless and 60,000 dollars in medical debt, including a fee for dialing for an ambulance. But Raisuddin lived.” ( l. 16 p. 1 ) He even came from India, where he was in the air force, but wanted to start a better life for himself, where he could achieve his dreams, but he fought through the challenges, and made something better of off it. Stroman on the other hand, even though he is American, came from a family, where violence and drugs was a norm “He was getting arrested before he shaved, first juvenile, then prison. He became a casual white supremacist and, like so many around him, a drug-addled and absent father.” ( l. 57 s. 2 ). This kind of upbringing can make need for somebody to take the blame, for all the things going wrong for you. Like Stroman did, he lost faith in the system, and saw that more and more immigrants were coming in, and taking the white American’s, jobs, and chances which made him a vigilante. Which one of them is truly thee most American, and who reflects the true values that America truly is built upon.