Race and Advancement Opportunities

Many years ago, Horatio Alger proposed that any American who was ambitious, determined to succeed, willing to work hard, and able to mobilize his or her personal skills and abilities toward achieving social and economic advancement would do precisely that (in Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle, 268). Anyone, even Alger's "Ragged Dick" the shoeshine boy, could become a wealthy (or at least very comfortable) member of the American upper-class or the middle-class, working their "way to fame and fortune" (in Colombo, et al, 269). It is this myth of the attainability of the American dream that has for generations, according to Colombo, Cullen and Lisle (261) in Rereading America, dominated the domestic political ethos and lead countless Americans to believe fervently that advancement is simply a matter of personal determination. The reality, as several authors whose works are included in the text demonstrate, is radically different: race and culture as well as class all have the effect of determining who earns what, how much one can earn, and what opp

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Category: Government - R