America's Word

Kari Dawson

Mr. Sheets

English III Honors

Helen Keller once said, “The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision.” Because of the fact that we live in America, our vision has become blurred and clouded by the illusion of the American Dream. We do not realize how desperately we need the truth to allow us to see clearly and allow us to see how we differ from the rest of the world. Americans are increasingly starting to focus more on we see at hand and has started thinking narrow mindedly. America’s word is myopic because appearances have become too important in American society, and we have become self-absorbed.

The myopic nature of America is demonstrated in the fact that appearances have become too essential in the American society. Americans judge others on what clothes they own, what hairstyles they wear, what their sexuality is and even on their ethnicity. Racial profiling would be a perfect example of how Americans still struggle to look past the color of someone’s skin. According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, of the entire New York population, 23.4% are African American, but they get pulled over by the police 53% of the time. Compare that to the Caucasians who get pulled over only 13.3% of the time though they account for 47.3% of the total New York population. It is so obvious that racial profiling is the result of our law enforcement biased views and stereotyping. Moreover, appearances as the highest priority reveal themselves in places you would least expect. For instance, people who can barley scrape together enough money to pay the rent or food can somehow find the money to pay for the fanciest car and the newest shoes or jewelry. Since appearances have become so valuable, politicians are forced to maintain a flawless image leaving no room for error, for it puts their position in the government in jeopardy. Appearances have become the only thing we see.

Secondly, America’s undeniable myopia is indicated...