Social Mobility In America

In 1931, James Truslow Adams introduced the term “American Dream” in his international bestseller The Epic of America. He described it as “that dream of a land...with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement... in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable...regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position” (Adams). Although this phrase has been challenged and changed since Adams’ time, the basic principle of the“American Dream” has prevailed. It is that of equal opportunity, where anyone can climb to the top rung of society “through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work” unencumbered by their initial social position (“American Dream”). Yet,

The most pronounced gaps can be seen between white and black Americans. In 2013, the Brookings Institution issued a report on the black-white gap and social mobility, analyzing trends in movement as well as the underlying conditions that contribute to them. The study arrived at two main conclusions: Black Americans “are more likely to be born into poverty” and “less likely to escape” (Reeves). These assertions go hand-in-hand, as the lack of social mobility that prevents economic “escape” contributes to the cycle of being born into poverty. Therefore, the limitation of upward movement for black Americans must be examined and dealt with before the cycle can be broken. The Brookings Institution analyzes mobility and race by first measuring the “stickiness” across the income spectrum. Black Americans face a trend similar to that of female Americans in this area, as “half of black adults raised at the bottom of the income scale remain stuck...compared to a third of whites” and are, in general, more likely to fall from the middle income quintile (Reeves). Furthermore, the common “stickiness” white, predominantly male Americans enjoy at the top of the income scale is not able to be compared to that of black Americans simply because there are “too few observations to report estimates” (Reeves). A similar Brookings study states that “black wealth barely exists”, as “the median wealth of a white household is now 13 times greater than for black households” (Rodrigue and Reeves). These observations combined show the severity of the restriction black Americans face when it comes to social mobility. These trends towards bottom-rung “stickiness” and downward movement are predicated only in race and make reaching the top of the income scale all but impossible. A second metric of social mobility employed by