The reports call into question whether the American Dream is a reality for black and white families alike. In every income group, blacks are less likely than whites to surpass their parents' family income and more likely to fall down the economic ladder. These trends are particularly startling for children born to middle income black parents - the analysis suggests that black parents who achieve middle income status are not able to pass their economic advantages onto their children in the same way as white parents. Only 31 percent of
[WS:] On the pain of attracting the wrath of the guardians of the left orthodoxy, I would like to point out that this pattern suggests that something else that the old fashioned racism is at work here.
Racism was more blatant and institutional in the past than it is today. Yet in the past black families could attain the middle class status, while today they have more difficulty maintaining it. If barriers to mobility created by racism were the main culprit, one would expect the reverse trend - black mobility increasing as the racism decreases, instead of increasing.
One can speculate what those other than racism factors may be. Some would point "genetic factors" "intelligence" and the like, which is a bunch of rubbish in my opinion. My conjecture is the spread of Black counterculture, especially "gangsta culture" - which discourages many Black youth from "acting while" i.e. obtaining education and mainstream jobs. According to the schoolteachers that I know, it is a big problem, especially at the middle- and high-school level.
Wojtek