Stakes Is High Sparknotes

The book “Stakes is High: Life After the American Dream”, written by Mychal Denzel Smith, examines the current condition of American society and the challenges that marginalized communities face in the United States. Smith addresses issues such as systemic racism, inequality, police violence, and the unfulfilled promises of the American Dream. The idea of the American Dream is important to many Americans as it promises freedom and equality for everyone and this idea is motivating for many people as it provides the chance for individuals to have freedom and control of their own life. However, the idea of the American Dream is a misconception and is a distorted version of society which fails to recognize and acknowledge the truth behind the history

American presidency holds a large amount of power which ultimately gives the president the authority to rewrite history in a way that they deem sounds better to strengthen their image and the nation’s. The individual elected to be president should be “[representing] the totality of our values” (Smith, 2020, p. 20) which is what Reagan pretended to do in regards to Martin Luther King. Smith (2020) discusses how Reagan, who was not a supporter of Dr. King and his cause, took credit for Dr. King’s accomplishments by claiming that it was the democratic peoples that had recognized racial injustice and made efforts to change it (p. 31). Altering the facts behind what had happened and creating this positive image, allows people to continue to believe how great America is. However, due to continuous denial and failure to remember history, it created a distorted version of American society which also led to Trump being elected as president. Racism and prejudice re-emerged after Trump’s election because people were unaware of the American past due to constant

Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly are prime examples of celebrities that were able to get away with their crimes as a result of their work that was able to mask the reality. Bill Cosby, for example, had created this fantasy and ideal image of the perfect American life through his television show which led many to believe that the fictional character and Bill Cosby were intertwined as one person. “You can do a whole host of bad things when you have convinced the rest of the world you are good”, which is exactly what Cosby did because people found it hard to believe that he would commit these crimes (Smith, 2020, p. 78). Celebrities and public figures that commit crimes are usually sent to prison which provides “no incentives for the truth” and that “the lack of recognition that there is trauma on the part of the perpetrator results in the inability to have true accountability” (Smith, 2020, p. 82-83). The “but for” phenomenon as mentioned by Chan and Chunn (2010) relates to Smith’s discussions on accountability as it describes those individuals who embody the traditional characteristics of white, middle-class, heterosexual masculinity and femininity are treated as alike by both elites and non-elites (p. 32). As Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, R. Kelly, and other celebrities that commit crimes embody most