Reading Response 6

In Cynthia L. Selfe’s essay titled “Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution”, one of the passages that Selfe brings to my attention is when she introduces the second narrative, that being the Land of Equal Opportunity and the Land of Differences. The statement that Selfe says about the Land of Equal Opportunity is that, “it is, in fact, at some level, a romantic re-creation of the American story and the American landscape themselves – a narrative of opportunity in an exciting land claimed from the wilderness, founded on the values of hard work and fair play. It is a land available to all citizens, who place a value on innovation, individualism, and competition, especially when tempered by a neighborly concern for less fortunate others that is the hallmark of our democracy.” (302) In this passage, I believe that Selfe is depicting the American image as being peaceful and harmonic, like a way that is only seen as good. Everything is done equally and fair with no one being put down and no discrimination. The way Selfe is describing this American story and landscape is in fact no way reality. I completely disagree with what Selfe has said, and at no time in history has equality ever been present, and most others do not care for those who are less fortunate because it is them who are not in the less fortunate’s shoes. What Selfe sees as the Land of Equal Opportunity is the complete opposite of what the world is and always has been. There is discrimination, poverty, racism, and everything in between. The ways that the world views the American lifestyle to this day is a disappointment. For example, advertisements shown on billboards, television shows, and the media found on the Internet – the main sources to how the world is described to us – only display the false hopes of what Americans want the world to be. People who are too afraid to understand the real world use these methods to keep from stepping towards reality. I believe that if America could really see how citizens are being treated, differences could be made, and maybe one day every citizen can truly be treated equal and equal opportunities can be achieved. The countering method that I used was arguing the other side, and my paper ties in to this strategy because I took the passage from Selfe’s essay and argued against her claims.