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The American Dream: Fiction or Reality?

February 18, 2010 by Jeremy Jones

I learned about the American Dream as a kid growing up in Singapore and Indonesia. What a concept. A country in which democratic ideals are perceived as a promise of prosperity for its people. I considered American citizens lucky because they enjoyed a system where everyone was created equal and every person could achieve a better, richer, and happier life if they worked hard. So I chose America as the place to get my college degree. I was going to work hard and build success in the land of opportunity.

Fast-forward 13 years.

The American Dream doesn’t exist. This may sound a bit ironic coming from a green card holder who is married to a Professor, has a beautiful two year old, and enjoys success as a Marketing Director. I may be living the “dream” but I see others everyday who work hard (many times harder than I do) and don’t live the dream. Despite the public’s deep-seated belief in the egalitarian American Dream, I believe today’s educational structure perpetuates racial and class inequalities. Advantage and disadvantage are not always connected to individual successes or failures (what anthropologists would call achieved status), but to one’s position in a social or ethnic group (ascribed status).

Let’s imagine the cycle. I often think about the Hispanic manual laborer who builds houses or landscapes gardens 12 hours a day. He puts in more hours than the nine I commit to daily. Shouldn’t he be enjoying the “dream” just like me? Or was his path to the American dream shattered when he didn’t have access to the type of world-class education I received? Now think about his children. Because their father can only earn $10/hr, the family probably lives in a low-income community. Low-income communities usually have underperforming schools. Thus, a poor education for the children means they’ll never go to college and have equal access to the opportunities their middle class peers do. If a good education provides access to the American Dream, here’s a disturbing fact: a sixth grader from a low-income community in Houston, TX has a 6% chance to go to college. That means, through no fault of their own, 94% of people from low-income communities will never live the American Dream—just because they were born in the wrong zip code.

What can be done?

YES Prep marketing stickers Last week I had the good fortune of attending a Campus Insider event at YES Prep East End. The campus is part of a network of YES Prep schools around Houston that educates 3,800 students in low-income communities. YES Prep is a public charter school serving Houston that has a goal to grow to 10,000 students. Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report and the Houston Chronicle have ranked the school as the best public school in Houston. One of its campuses, YES Prep Southeast, is currently ranked #68 on U.S. News & World Report’s America's Best High Schools: Gold Medal List.

The event I attended helped me think differently about what’s possible in public education—especially public education focusing on lower-income communities. I had the privilege to learn from students, teachers, and school leaders. You want to hear something impressive? YES Prep has a 100% college acceptance rate among their graduating seniors. Seniors are accepted into four-year colleges including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Rice and Stanford. The YES Prep mission is simple “…to increase the number of low-income Houstonians who graduate from a four-year college prepared to compete in the global marketplace and committed to improving disadvantaged communities.” Yes Prep teachers and school leaders believe that “education is our generation’s civil rights issue and to truly achieve justice and prosperity in our society, every student should have access to an excellent education.”

The energy at the school was infectious. Students were excited about being studious and teachers were clearly committed to teach effectively. Getting students to college was the goal of the day. Everyday. Each classroom had a college theme. On Fridays students and teachers wore their favorite college apparel (they wore uniforms the rest of the week). Everyone worked their tails off.

I left the Campus Insider event with the knowledge that a lower-income kid was getting access the same educational opportunities that my daughter will be taking for granted. This was a humbling experience. At YES Prep, I witnessed a growing educational model that would help the disadvantaged access the American Dream. I left energized, inspired and filled with hope.

YES, I believe.

[Click here to learn more about how you can help YES Prep.]

Sean de Luna is a Singaporean living in America for the last 13 years. He has nurtured a burgeoning interest in education ever since a transformative experience volunteering in Zambia. He is the Marketing Director for a document management company and a graduate of the University of South Carolina.

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1 Comments
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During the years I was studying educational theory and methods, as well as my student teaching semester at Alief Middle School, I did not contemplate who the actual students I would teach and apply my degree and training would be. My nativity led me to believe that all students are the same, but I learned an invaluable lesson the two years I taught at Lee High School (HISD). I am grateful that schools like YES PREP continues to grow, but I also want to recognize the dedicated teachers in many public schools districts. Years before the new HISD superintendent implemented the longer school year and new teacher accountability structures, I along with my colleagues at Lee High were striving to ensure every student was given an excellent education and preparation for success in college and in all aspects of their lives, not because it was a school mandate, but because the teachers passionately believe that every student deserves a quality education and equal opportunity for success.
Lee High serves a student body that lives in low income neighborhoods as well as speaking over 40 different languages. The lesson that I learned while teaching at Lee is that despite the diverse background and experiences of my students from each other and my self, there is a common bond uniting everyone. There is a desire to improve one self and education, knowledge, is the keystone for a better life. From an AP student accepted into St. Thomas University on a full academic scholarship to a four month recent refuge from war torn Darfur or a newly inducted gang member following his brother’s path, all of my students who came to Ms. Nikooie’s class and into any of the teachers’ classrooms at Lee, were guaranteed to be given the same excellent standard of education and tools for a successful life.
I have witnessed and contributed to the change in education and my goal is to continue to be a part of those who share the same belief that every student has access to an excellent education and make the dream of a successful and improved life a reality.

Roxanne Nikooie on Feb 20, 2010