Facing Up to the American Dream
Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation
Chapter One
WHAT IS THE AMERICAN DREAM?
"IN THE BEGINNING," wrote John Locke, "all the world was America."[1] Locke was referring specifically to the absence of a cash nexus in primitive society. But the sentence evokes the unsullied newness, infinite possibility, limitless resources that are commonly understood to be the essence of the "American dream." The idea of the American dream has been attached to everything from religious freedom to a home in the suburbs, and it has inspired emotions ranging from deep satisfaction to disillusioned fury. Nevertheless, the phrase elicits for most Americans some variant of Locke's fantasy - a new world where anything can happen and good things might. Millions of immigrants and internal migrants have moved to America, and around within it, to fulfill their version of the American dream. By objective measures and their own accounts, many have achieved success. Probably just as many have been defeated and disillusioned. Millions of other immigrants - predominantly but not exclusively from Africa - were moved to America despite their preferences ... read full excerpt from Facing Up To the American Dream ebook
