hard work

i was listening to a song the other day that had kids singing the chorus--something along the lines of "if i work hard at it, i can be what i want to be." hearing this song made me think how that message to kids is both harmful and beneficial.
of course i want kids to believe they can be anything. this unwavering belief is one of many benefits, i am sure. there should be more done for this belief to become a reality. i want to focus on that aspect--reality.
i know that not all kids will grow up to become what they want; some kids might fail, but not due necessarily to a lack of hard work. some might fail simply because of the systems in which they are living. it's incredibly disheartening that reality is the harmful part of the message.
let me be specific about what i am really writing about; not a song necessarily, but the false belief in how to achieve the american dream. the belief that a person can be successful and achieve the american dream through hard work alone. that there is nothing that prevents some from achieving and advances others into achievement. this is the PLE (perfectly logical explanation) we tell ourselves (as a country) that some people just don't try hard enough. that some people didn't work hard enough to be successful.

stereotypes of who is (or should be) smart, aggressive, obnoxious, boisterous, disruptive, and a leader begins to separate our culture into the haves and have-nots. the haves truly have it all--looks, race, religion, leadership traits, intelligence...or do they? why do we assume glasses make us look smart? or asians have the answer in math class? or white men are inherently better leaders then...well, anyone? those are stereotypes at their finest. when we apply those stereotypes to individuals, we are making a judgment about them before knowing them. when stereotypes are applied to systems, like laws for example, that is systemic stereotyping. if this stereotyping grants an unearned benefit or opportunity to a group of people, that's privilege. if this stereotyping limits access to opportunities, that's discrimination.
stereotypes are but a mere beginning to systemic privilege and systemic discrimination. such systems are powerful because they are pervasive, cyclical, and commonly viewed as what is right. i don't believe there is anything right with saying one person should be treated better than another. that one person (or a whole darn group of people), based on their social group identity, should be given rights that are beyond the rights of others. i believe these systems and these beliefs are what create gaps--divides that stamp a label of have or have-not.
there are many such divides in america (historically and presently) that manipulate a child's ability to "be what they want to be"--less than equal pay for equal work, digital divide, glass ceiling, school segregation, white flight, racial profiling, redlining, capitalism, slavery, what i will call less-than-human laws, and even (dare i say it) democratic voting.
when the obstacles set out for a child to overcome are laden in the same system that promotes hard work to achieve, there is a problem. there is a problem in this country when we say "go, achieve. be what you want to be" with an asterisk (*) attached.
*if you are poor, a racial minority, in the lgbtq community, not christian, a woman, or are a person with a disability, then try hard, but you are not meant to achieve in this country. we didn't actually mean you.

should children really have to carry with them this asterisked american dream?