Two images that refute and affirm the connection between America and its ideals.

This is a picture taken from the Cincinnati race riots of 2001. Four nights of violent rioting occurred between April 9th and April 13th as a reaction to the murder of an unarmed, African American man, Timothy Thomas.

Cincinnati Police Department patrolman, Stephen Roach shot Timothy Thomas during an attempted arrest for non violent crimes, most of which where driving offences. 

This image opposes the ideal of American liberty because it shows the direct consequence of the rise in racial oppression within this community at the time of the incident.

Furthermore, not only inhabitants of African American ethnicity rallied and rioted in retaliation to the actions of Stephen Roach. This indicates that a large portion of the community felt far from liberated by the situation and that the ideals from which they draw a lot of national pride had been lost in this set of events.

Similar cases, such as the murder of Rodney King ten years previous and the more recent murder of Eric Garner in 2014, verify that racial oppression and racism (not only from Policeman) is a reoccurring obstacle to the affirmation of American liberty.

This photo immortalises Michael Jordan's game winning shot in the 1998 NBA finals game 6 - against the Utah Jazz. You could strongly argue that this is one of, if not, the most iconic sporting image in American history. The National Basketball Association is a juggernaut of a market, according to Forbes, the top three most valuable teams are worth 2,600, 2,500 and 2000 million dollars respectively. The least valuable team being worth $600 million. And so, the journey that young people take in their unlikely attempt to make the big league is a true advocate for the American ideal that, with hard work, in America you can be whatever you want to be, no matter where you come from.

Before you play in the NBA you, in all but outlier circumstances, must be drafted from a division I college basketball team. 

To contextualise this; 1.5million kids graduate from high school each year and with four years worth of graduates able to play on each college team, this gives a possible pool of six million players. With 4511 spots available in college basketball for six million hopefuls, the chances of 'making it' to just college level basketball for the average high school graduate is 1 in 1330. In the same year, 2013, sixty players where drafted into the NBA in total. Forty of which had American nationality. (statistics for 2013 taken from www.powerrank.com)

Despite the incoherently slim chances of making it to play in the NBA, each year, more and more American players enter the league and make vastly successful careers for themselves and their families despite the diversity of their backgrounds and affluence of their upbringing. The only way to make such luck is to work tirelessly practising and perfecting your skill to come from wherever you are, to wherever you want to be. A philosophy which is inherent in the American mindset. 

Michael Jordan, pictured above, was born into a modest family from Brooklyn and now, via his famous NBA career and post retirement ventures qualified for Forbes' annual billionaires list in 2015. 'Making it' despite your background, race, religion, gender and sexuality is one of the key ideals that Americans base their sense of national pride upon. Furthermore, the ascendancy of Americans from 'normality' to iconic status champions belief in the validity of the American Dream.