The American Dream in the 21st Century

Abstract

The American Dream has long been a dominant theme in U.S. culture, one with enduring significance, but these are difficult times for dreamers. The editors of and contributors to The American Dream in the 21st Century examine the American Dream historically, socially, and economically and consider its intersection with politics, religion, race, gender, and generation. The conclusions presented in this short, readable volume provide both optimism for the faith that most Americans have in the possibility of achieving the American Dream and a realistic assessment of the cracks in the dream. The last presidential election offered hope, but the experts here warn about the need for better programs and policies that could make the dream a reality for a larger number of Americans.

Full text

Chapter 9
<cn>Conclusions
<ct>The American Dream
<cst>Where Are We?
<ca>Sandra L. Hanson and John K. White
<cot>The American Dream has been a dominant theme in U.S. culture from the very beginning.
But these are difficult times for Dreamers. Large numbers of Americans are unemployed, living
in poverty, and without health -care insurance. Jim Cullen (2003) and others (Ho 2007; Johnson,
2006; Moen and Roehling 2005; Shapiro, 2004; Ho, 2007; Moen and Roehling, 2005) have
suggested that the American Dream and this “glue” that binds us together may be unraveling, as
we see a growing wealth gap, ongoing race inequality, an expanding poor immigrant population,
and continued sexism in all aspects of American life. Perhaps the 21twenty-first Ccentury is not
a time of increasing progress toward the American Dream. And middle-class Americans are not
being spared. Downsizing and restructuring are here to stay as jobs go to cheaper markets. The
growing distress across socio-economic groups is a trend that began before the recent economic
downturn and will most likely continue (Ehrenreich, 2005). Public- opinion polls show that most
Americans think it isthat hard work alone that affects one’s ability to achieve the American
Dream—suggesting that those who do not get ahead are somehow at fault (Hanson and Zogby,
forthcoming). Some have speculated whether that America has lost its way as well as its legacy
of core values of economic and social justice (Kochan, 2005). Is the American Dream so much a
part of the fabric of American society that we fail to question it—regardless of whether or not we
have full access to it (Johnson, 2006)?
Hanson concl-1

<tx>Our goal was to examine how the American Dream is doing in the 21twenty-first
Ccentury given these historic social and economic conditions. The authors discuss the history of
the American Dream and its enduring significance in American life. They discuss the complexity
of the Dream and its intersection with politics, religion, race, gender, and generation. The
conclusions that the authors draw provide both optimism about the faith that most Americans
have about regarding the possibility of achieving the American Dream as well as a realistic
assessment of the cracks in the Dream that exist for women and minorities but also an increasing
number of Americans across race, gender, and social- class groups. The authors provide evidence
of a new hope for the Dream with the election of President Barack Obama. They also provide
warnings on the need for better programs and policies that would make the Dream a reality for a
larger number of Americans. What are the key conclusions and recommendations regarding the
American Dream in the 21twenty-first Ccentury from the point of view provided by an
interdisciplinary group of scholars? And what are these scholars’ thoughts on the influence that
President Obama has had on the American Dream?
Jim Cullen (Chapter 21) suggests that the first decade of the 21twenty-first century has
not been a particularly good one in American life. He argues that Iimperial overstretch in Iraq,
indebtedness at home and abroad, and political corruption in the electoral process have created
anxieties that our system of government and way of life may be breaking down. It is widely
believed that the American Dream is the product of a historically unique exceptionalism, which
is rooted in a particular location and political structure codified in the Declaration of
Independence. In fact, Cullen argues that many of the most cherished aspects of the American
Dream, like such as upward mobility, have clear antecedents in other civilizations. Moreover, the
American Dream as it developed both preceded the creation of the United States, and has
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survived its transformation from a de jure republic to a de facto empire under the current
leadership of Barack Obama, whose political appeal is in no small measure a perception of the
degree to which he embodies the American Dream. Cullen concludes that, culturally democratic,
the Dream is likely to survive the demise of that empire, and suggests that it is worth considering
what our lives would be like without it as a means of understanding where we currently stand.
{Au: The paragraph for the White chapter originally preceded the paragraph for the
Kimmage chapter. The positions of the paragraphs have been reversed to reflect the order of the
chapters in the book. ED: Good.} Michael Kimmage considers the politics of the American
Dream over the past few decades in Chapter 42. His chapter begins with a distinction regarding
the American Dream. There is the material reality of the American Dream, the actual state of the
economy, and the actual prospect for social advancements. Then there is the Dream itself, the
hope that one will advance. Kimmage then applies this distinction to twentieth-century political
history, starting with Franklin Roosevelt and ending with Barack Obama. The finding is that
successful American presidents have a clear language for articulating the American Dream, and
one that is related to their historical moment: FDR made a sober, moderate appeal to the
American Dream during the Great Depression; and Ronald Reagan used the American Dream to
convey a national self-confidence. Success and failure follow cycles in party politics. Jimmy
Carter’s inability to reference the American Dream coincided with the larger decline of the
Democratic Party in the 1970s. George W. Bush’s relationship to the American Dream was
overshadowed by his war against terror and then by the economic crisis, with a subsequent
decline in the fortunes of the Republican Party. The American Dream’s enduring stature in
American politics, Kimmage argues, is visible in Barack Obama’s frequent references to Martin
Luther King’s dream and in the title of Obama’s first autobiography, Dreams from My Father.
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John White expands on the background and history of the American Dream in Chapter 3
by noting how the American Dream and the U.S. Ppresidency are inextricably intertwined. He
argues that nearly from its inception, American presidents have used the up-from-the-bootstraps
bootstraps-to to-success stories that are embodied in the concept of the American Dream to make
a vital connections to voters. In many ways, White notes that presidents are the chief priests in
the American civil religion, since one requirement of the job is to continuously express their faith
in the American Dream and its the possibilities for its renewal. Barack Obama is the latest
president to understand the power of the American Dream, and he used it to sell himself to the
American people at a propitious moment in history when Americans sought to have the
American Dream revitalized. White’s chapter reveals how Obama’s personal story, from his
humble beginnings in Hawaii, born to parents without means, to his childhood in Indonesia, and
his success in climbing the educational and political ladders to extraordinary success in
becoming the first African -American president, wais not just a compelling story, but it one that
containsed an important lesson to all Americans regardless of race—i.e.,: yYou, too, can make it.
White concludes that, in telling his tale, Obama established an important link to his constituents
and enhanced his powers as Ppresident.
James Loewen looks at race and the American Dream in Chapter 54. He concludes that
American dDreams of a “good life” are racially tinged. In part, this happens because we dream
about what we know, and what we know in the United .States. is residential segregation by race.
Loewen’s chapter provides a background on racial segregation in the United .States. He argues
that it our society was no’t always this wayso segregated. Until around 1890, Americans lived
much more integrated lives, racially and economically. Between 1890 and 1940, however,
racism rose to new heights, and race relations sank to new depths, prompting historians to call
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this era the “nadir of race relations.” Loewen provides detail on how this racism became
embedded in our geography. The separation took a toll on African American morale and made it
more likely that African Americans would receive inferior educations, health care, and other
public services. Loewen details Tthe implications for African Americans and their American
Dreams are detailed by Loewen. He concludes that to change our American Dream, we must
change our racial geography. What do we do? Loewen recommends that every sundown town
and county in the nation needs to take three steps: aAdmit it, apologize, and reform. He advises
that, until a proven sundown town or county takes these steps, the United .States. (and states)
should disallow the mortgage- interest exemption from their residents’ income- tax filings. The
election of America’s first black president in 2008 was a step toward a more integrated nation,
and Americans saw it that way. But Loewen argues that the transformation is hardly complete.
Barack Obama won the presidency with just over 40 percent% of the votes of white males, and
only 10% percent of those in the Deep South; and despite his win, racism is not an aberration in
our society but a central part of it. As African American families try to pursue the American
dDream, they still face special obstacles. During the summer of 2009, it became clear that the
subprime mortgage loan crisis hit African Americans especially hard. Thus the American
dDreams of many families—especially black families—turned to nightmares.
In Chapter 65, Sandra Hanson notes the long history of the American Dream and the
assumption that the Dream is for all. The potential divide in the Dream that she considers is the
gender divide. Hanson super-imposes data on gender equality in areas involving education,
occupations, income, and politics with public- opinion data showing how men and women feel
about the American Dream. Her findings reveal progress yet considerable inequality by gender in
many areas of American life associated with the Dream. Today, women attend college and
Hanson concl-5

graduate from college at a higher rate than men, but they continue to enter majors that assure
them of occupations in lower-status, lower- paid, female- dominated occupations. Working
women average 77 seventy-seven cents to a man’s dollar. Hanson finds that men and women are
much more similar in their attitudes about the American Dream than in their achievement of it.
In spite of this shared optimism, Hanson’s data does reveal some differences in how men and
women view the Dream and its possibility. She finds that women are more likely than men to
think of the Dream in spiritual terms (rather than economic), and they are more likely to
acknowledge inequality in the ability to achieve the American Dream. In her analysis of public-
opinion items before and after President Obama’s election, Hanson finds that women (but not
men) became more optimistic about the chances of their children having a better life than them.
With regard to the remaining gender gap in educational and occupational indicators of the
American Dream, Hanson provides a number of policy recommendations. These include, for
example, allowing flexible careers and occupational paths that acknowledge family obligations;,
promoting families in our economic and legislative policies and practices, not just wealth
accumulation;, and enforcing laws, such as Title IX and the Equal Pay Act, that prohibit gender
inequality and sexual harassment.
John Zogby uses data from his public- opinion polls to examine attitudes about the
American Dream over the past few decades in Chapter 76. He addresses questions about how
Americans define the American Dream and whether they think it is achievable. He looks at these
issues across generations of Americans. Zogby conceptualizes a model of American Dreamers
which that distinguishes between different versions of the Dream. His examination of post–
September 11 9-11 polls suggests a dramatic shift in the nature of the American Dream, with a
move away from a material definition and toward a more spiritual definition of the American
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Dream. Additionally, data are provided which that reveal distinct attitudes among America’s
youth (he calls them the “First Global” generation) who are connected to the rest of the world
like no other generation. It is tThis generation and their new view on the world that haves
partially contributed to the move away from a materialistic version of the American Dream.
Zogby notes that it was the “Dreamless Dead”—those who do not believe in the American
Dream—that werewas one of President Obama’s largest support groups during the campaign. He
notes that Americans remain optimistic about the Dream, but it is a time of great social and
economic anxiety. Zogby’s conclusions focus on the implications of these shifts for changes in
the nature of American character. He suggests that Americans (and their American Dreams) must
face a new reality where excess is no longer possible. This, he concludes, is where President
Obama has the skills to lead—toward a government that is fair and provides opportunity for all.
The final chapter (Chapter 87) in the volume is a Catholic reflection that considers the
American Dream in the context of religion and generations. Bill D’Antonio explores the meaning
and experience of the American Dream as it was perceived and lived out during the 20twentieth
century for those Tom Brokaw has called the “Greatest Generation,” and as it is currently
perceived and experienced by those D’Antonio calls the Millennial gGeneration. Within that
context, D’Antonio reflects on how the Roman Catholic Church in the United States might have
impacted the lives of American Catholics in their quest for the American Dream. The
comparison of the grandparents with the grandchildren allows one to examine the American
Dream as it has been lived throughout a period of a full century. D’Antonio’s look at
Catholicism makes a distinction between a Dream that focuses on the individual and one that
focuses on the community. He discusses the building of the Catholic school system as a
communal experience. D’Antonio notes the irony in the fact that Catholics in the suburbs today
Hanson concl-7

with higher incomes and more discretionary funds than their forbearers, have been less willing to
pay the price to build the Catholic schools for the 21twenty-first century. And so the question
arises as to whether they may have become more self-centered than community- centered in their
perspectives about the Dream as they go about living the middle- class suburban way. D’Antonio
ends his chapter (and the volume) with thise question:, wWill the Millennials help forge a social
order that focuses less on “rags to riches” and more on the values derived from a mix of religious
and other progressive visions of the good society that are encompassed by the phrase “the
common good?” encompasses?
These are historic times. Americans are being hit with a great recession like no other.
Rates of unemployment, underemployment, poverty, and homelessness are at unprecedented
levels. Given this, have Americans stopped Ddreaming? The experts in this volume provide
considerable insight into the answer to this question, and their research suggests that the answer
is a qualified “no”—Americans have not stopped Ddreaming. A recent (March 2010) public-
opinion poll by Zogby shows that although the percentage of Americans who believe that it is
possible for them and their families to achieve the American Dream is down, a majority of
Americans (57%) percent) still believe. But there IS evidence does show that the nature of the
Dream is shifting. Chapters by Hanson, Zogby, and D’aAntonio show a shift toward a more
spiritual (and less materialist) version of the Dream. The shift began after 9-11September 11 and
continues during the economic recession. The spiritual component of the Dream is especially
large among the young generation, which Zogby refers to as the First Global gGeneration and
D’Antonio refers to as the Millennial gGeneration. D’Antonio’s chapter notes the necessity for a
continued shift toward a more communal and less individualistic version of the Dream.
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Part of the answer as to why this Dream persists comes from the chapters by Cullen,
White, and Kimmage that consider the history of the American Dream. Cullen argues that the
Dream of upward mobility is an old Dream that has antecedents in earlier civilizations. It is,
however, the basis of American exceptionalism, and almost every U.S. president has embodied it
as a way to connect to American voters. White and Kimmage argue that it is President Obama,
the first elected African American U.S. president, who has embodied this Dream more than any
other. Public- opinion polls examined in chapters by Hanson, Zogby, and D’Antonio show the
importance of this Ppresident for the Dream during these difficult economic times. Given the
connection between Ppresidents and Dreams developed bythat White and Kimmage develop, it is
impossible to predict how alive the Dream would be under a different president, whose life was
not so clearly a personal account embodiment of the American Dream.
Our conclusions noted that the authors provide a qualified “no” to the question of
whether the American Dream is dead. The nature of the qualification is developed in the chapters
by Loewen and Hanson, which look at the race and gender divides in the American Dream.
These authors provide a cautionary note in thinking about a Dream that involves equal access for
all. Loewen focuses on racial segregation and the central role that racism still plays in U.S.
society in spite of the step toward integration that occurred with President Obama’s election.
Hanson’s chapter examines a continued gender divide in education, occupations, income, and
politics. In spite of the gender gap in achievement, she shows that a majority of women do
believe in the American Dream. Although public- opinion polls reveal they are less optimistic
than men, they have become more optimistic about the Dream with the election of President
Obama. It is optimism, layered with the reality of difficult economic times, which that leads the
authors of this volume to argue for the continued presence of an American Dream. The Dream
Hanson concl-9

has survived difficult periods. It stayed alive during times when women and blacks could not
vote and during the economic crisis of the Great Depression. The authors suggest that shifts in
how we define the Dream are taking place, and part of their optimism comes from a new version
of the Dream which that is more focused on equity, equality, and community rather than material
success and economic mobility.
<h1>References
<ref>Cullen, J. 2003. The American Dream: A short history of an idea that shaped a nation.
NYNew York: Oxford University Press.
Ehrenreich, B. 2005. Bait and switch: The (futile) pursuit of the American Dream. NYNew York:
Henry Holt and Company.
Hanson, S. L., and J. Zogby. Forthcoming. The polls—trends: Attitudes about the American
Dream. Public Opinion Quarterly (forthcoming).
Ho, A. K. 2007. Achieving the American Dream. Lanham, MD: Hamilton Books.
Johnson, H. B. 2006. The American Dream and the power of wealth: Choosing schools and
inheriting wealth in the land of opportunity. NYNew York: Routledge.
Kochan, T. A. 2005. Restoring the American Dream. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Moen, P., and P. Roehling. 2005. The career mystique: Cracks in the American Dream. Lanham,
MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Shapiro, T. M. 2004. The hidden cost of being African American: How wealth perpetuates
inequality. NY: Oxford University Press.
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