Achieving the American Dream

Abstract

The belief that the United States is a place where it is possible for children to become more economically successful than their parents is a core tenet of the American Dream. Seamless economic progress from one generation to the next ensures that the middle class is stable over time. While scholars tend to argue that today's middle class is struggling to stay afloat, by many accounts, the black middle class is at greater risk than other groups of sliding back down the class ladder. Put simply, some scholars worry that the black middle class will be unable to reproduce itself over time, that is, to pass their class position on to their children. But this conclusion is rooted in a monolithic conception of the black middle class. In this chapter, I focus instead on intra-class distinctions within the group to show that not all middle class blacks face the prospect of downward mobility. Elite middle class blacks spare no expense to provide their children with luxuries associated with the finer things in life under the belief that these sacrifices give their children a leg up in their efforts to achieve the American Dream. By contrast, core middle class blacks, concerned with their own financial stability, provide their children with necessities only, requiring them to purchase luxuries with their own money. In doing so, I not only show that there is not a single path to the American Dream, but I also reveal the (often hidden) mechanisms by which two distinct groups of middle class blacks put their children in a position to achieve the American Dream.