Is the American Dream really just a myth?

One of the concepts that I am still struggling to wrap my brain around in my Teaching and Learning in Urban Settings course is this idea of the "Myth of Meritocracy." Merriam-Webster defines meritocracy as a system in which the talented are chosen and moved ahead on the basis of their achievement. Sounds reasonable enough. As educators we can easily argue that student performance is a function of hard work, ability, skill, intelligence, and persistence. Meritocracy is an idea that is ingrained into the American psyche: "No matter what circumstances children are born into, all have the opportunity to become educated and, if they work hard, to pursue their dreams." We all know anecdotes about famous people who have pulled themselves up out of bad situations to become wildly successful, and we point to these success stories as proof that our "American Dream" philosophy holds true. However, the author of our textbook, H. Richard Milner IV, argues that meritocracy is a myth. He challenges educators to become mindful of the many factors participate in the shaping of a student's academic success. To illustrate one of the problems associated with the myth of meritocracy, Milner quotes sociologist James Henslin:


"[All] positions would be awarded on the basis of merit. If so, ability should predict who goes to college. Instead, family income is the best predictor - the more a family earns, the more likely their children are to go to college...while some people do get ahead through ability and hard work, others simply inherit wealth and the opportunities that go with it...in short, factors far beyond merit give people their positions in society."


Now consider that a person with a bachelor's degree makes, on average, $20,000 more per year than a person with only a high school diploma. What are the chances that the high school graduate's children are going to make it to college? Yes, economic realities are linked with educational opportunities, and this is only one of the examples disproving the meritocracy myth. The problem that I am having with accepting this viewpoint is that I look at the above example and I think, "I understand that there are forces working against the children of the high school graduate, but it can still be done." I understand that there are a million and one factors contributing to every student's success on any given day. However, I have trouble with the idea of saying, "Well, meritocracy is a myth so it will never happen." I have trouble giving up the idea that people in this country can make it out of even the most dire circumstances if they really want to. Maybe it is because I AM the child born to two parents with a high school level education who found my way to college. Maybe it is because I am perfectionist who doesn't accept excuses. Maybe I'm even brainwashed. I don't know. In any case, I am reluctant to give up the idea of the "American Dream."

Here is an interesting article about the meritocracy myth from Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201006/the-myths-the-self-made-man-and-meritocracy

Thoughts?

Credits and disclaimers:

The class I'm taking is EDF 6496 Teaching and Learning in Urban Settings, taught by Dr. Angela Griner.

The textbook we use is called "Start Where You Are, But Don't Stay There," written by H. Richard Milner IV. All quotations in this post come from our textbook.


Also, I should note that one of my parents now has a master's degree. However, when I started applying for colleges in 1997, this was not the case.