Hochschild combines survey data and vivid anecdote to clarify several paradoxes. Since the 1960s, white Americans have seen African Americans as having better and better chances to achieve the dream. At the same time middle-class blacks, by now one-third of the African American population, have become increasingly frustrated personally and anxious about the progress of their race. Most poor blacks, however, cling with astonishing strength to the notion that they and their families can succeeddespite their terrible, perhaps worsening, living conditions. Meanwhile, a tiny number of the estranged poor, who have completely given up on the American dream or any other faith, threaten the social fabric of the black community and the very lives of their fellow blacks. Will the still optimistic majority of poor African Americans eventually follow the alienated minority into neighborhood and even society-wide destruction? Does the new black middle class vindicate the American dream, or does the frustration of its members make apparent the limits of a vision never intended to include African Americans? Hochschild probes these questions, and gives them historical depth by comparing the experience of today's African Americans to that of white ethnic immigrants at the turn of the century. She concludes by claiming that America's only alternative to the social disaster of intensified racial conflict lies in the inclusiveness, optimism, discipline, and high-mindedness of the American dream at its best.
Fully 63 percent of blacks scored “below basic” (a slight improvement over the 1990s), and almost 60 percent of Hispanics did the same (a slight decline). Only 22 percent of Asian Americans read “below basic”; that figure was cut in ...
Facing Up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation
In this succinctly argued volume, he shows that, on measures of economic opportunity and quality of life, there has never been a better time to be alive in America.
Combining personal interviews with dozens of Americans and a longitudinal study covering 40 years of income data, the authors tell the story of the American Dream and reveal a number of surprises.
This is a book full of surprises and revelations—the accidental beginnings of the 401(k) plan, with disastrous economic consequences for many; the major policy changes that began under Jimmy Carter; how the New Economy disrupted ...
Gregory Hood has written a powerful and poignant book about what we have lost. I highly recommend this book."-Ramzpaul "Calling Mr. Hood's work 'must read' doesn't quite do it justice.
In this thoughtful, informed guide, he offers a clear roadmap to find the answer.
Robert ( Sonny ) Carson was the leader of the December 12th Movement . Carson viewed Korean - owned stores as part of a larger conspiracy . The group's flyers stated : “ The Korean boycott must be seen as an overall campaign to control ...
Clark, A. 2003. “Inequality Aversion and Income Mobility: A Direct Test.” DELTA Working Papers, Paris. Clark, A., and D'Ambrosio, C. 2015. “Attitudes to Income Inequality: Experimental and Survey Evidence.
Facing Up is like a powerful dose of truth serum injected into the body politic of America's debate over budgets and deficits, investment and productivity - and, ultimately, the future...