The (Impossible) American Dream

Few phrases in our political vocabulary are more abused than "the American dream." The standards for achieving the dream have become so open-ended and expansive that, inevitably, we must fail. Does it mean becoming a homeowner? Enjoying increased living standards? Having "opportunity"? Rising above your parents' class? Achieving economic security if you "play by the rules"? Or all of the above—and more?

It's a mushy concept that inspires endless debates over who's been cheated and why. What's lost in these noisy controversies is the bedrock reality that we're more prosperous than at any time in our history. But the selective and highly critical reading of economic and social trends distorts our vision. Consider as a case in point a well-publicized report from the Economic Mobility Project, a group established by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

"The dream that one can rise up from humble beginnings and achieve a comfortable middle-class living ... transcends racial lines," the report begins. "But is this a reality for black and white families alike?" Well, no, it concludes.

The study compared the adult incomes of whites and blacks whose parents were middle-aged (average: 41) in the late 1960s. As adults, only 31 percent of the black children born into middle-income families had inflation-adjusted incomes exceeding their parents' at a similar stage of life. Meanwhile, 68 percent of the comparable white children had higher incomes than their parents. Somehow, the report said, middle-class black parents couldn't protect their children from downward mobility.

Press reports duly echoed the theme. MIDDLE-CLASS DREAM ELUDES AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILIES headlined The Post. The message: The already-small black middle class is in eclipse. The reality is different: Since the 1960s, the black middle class has steadily expanded.

Although blacks' economic status lags that of whites, the advances are still sizable. In 1972, only 6.2 percent of black households had incomes exceeding $75,000 in inflation-adjusted "2006 dollars"; in 2006, 16.8 percent did. Over the same years, the share of non-Hispanic white households with incomes above $75,000 went from 18.4 percent to 33.8 percent. Yet in 1972, the ratio of whites to blacks in this income bracket was 3 to 1; now it's 2 to 1.