So when minorities were faced with signs of neighborhood deterioration – graffiti, litter, abandoned buildings — they were much more anxious about the threat to their most vital asset.Overall, Greif found all homeowners are more attuned to their communities than renters – in both good and bad ways. The other American Dream is for every individual to have a fair … The feelings are similar among Latinos, many of whom are immigrants looking to assimilate socially and economically.Black and Latino homeowners, however, are significantly less likely to be able to buy homes in the neighborhoods that would elicit those feelings.In 2002, the median net worth of white households was 15 times that of black households and 10 times that of Latino households, meaning blacks and Latinos put considerably more of their net worth into buying a home.
Parents' Income Influences a … By Despite the collapse of the housing market, this dream hasn't died. The American dream, the idea that anyone can succeed through hard work, is one of the most enduring myths in this country. So while many see the American Dream including a home, not everybody is able to think about that home in the same way. The American Dream, as imagined by the post-WWII generation of lucky, prosperous Americans, meant, if nothing else, owning your own American home, for your perfect, nuclear American family… As I … While an advantaged white family might simply move to a new home if they begin to dislike their neighborhood, minority home owners didn’t have the same luxury. Those minorities were also far less able to buy in those neighborhoods to begin with. Though owning a home is considered the American dream, race can determine how sweet that dream actually is.
Minorities had to put more of their net worth in each home, which made them more attuned and anxious about negative changes in their community, like graffiti or abandoned buildings. In the 1950’s, the foundation of the American dream was masked by the illusion of perfect white “cookie-cutter” families living in suburbia.
Whites were also most likely to live in “desirable” neighborhoods with greater property values, better services and higher prestige.However, Greif’s findings suggest that living in these enviable communities may not provoke the same sense of pride and achievement that it does for blacks and Latinos – just as living in disadvantaged communities may not spark the same level of concern.“Whites have more of an economic buffer,” she said. The American dream seems a little more difficult to attain when the American dreaming is a member of a minority group living in poverty. Many of them bought homes in less desirable areas, and felt unable to move once they had purchased their home. But there was a flip side. Forty years ago, King’s dream was for blacks to achieve true equality with whites.
But recent research suggests that, when we talk about it, we’re not all talking about the same thing—that the meaning of that dream differs between white people and minorities. However, negative and pessimistic thoughts about race and culture poisoned many minds, making it difficult for immigrants and minorities to realize their own idea of the American Dream.
This is not to say that the dream of success and money (Yes, I said success and money -- they are not the same thing) is unattainable for certain people. Rose Eveleth is a writer for Smart News and a producer/designer/ science writer/ animator based in Brooklyn. But, because blacks and Latinos buy more …
Her work has appeared in the The American Dream is often described as striving to attain success through hard work and dedication amid vast opportunities — that anyone can succeed in … “For minorities, the highs of homeownership are higher while the lows are lower.”Studying homeowners in Los Angeles County through information gathered in 2001 by the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey and the 2000 Census, she found that whites had significantly higher rates of homeownership than blacks and Latinos.
“There is less at stake for them one way or the other.”For blacks, owning a home, particularly in a more advantaged community, may evoke feelings of conquering the odds. The American Dream is as real for black Americans as it is for white Americans, or any other racial or ethnic or religious group.
It is just incredibly more difficult to achieve when one is faced with certain obstacles that others do not have to overcome.