I like this piece by researchers at Pew because it separates out desire from the practical aspects of mobility for most Latinos. "Latinos say achieving the American dream isn’t easy. Only about half (51%) said they had achieved it so far, and about three-quarters (74%) said achieving the dream today is hard for people like them."

So when politicians and pundits say that Latinos aren't sufficiently aspirational, nothing can be further from the truth. The issue is less about the ideal of the American dream and more about the barriers they face in achieving it. Here is, of course, where equitable health, education, and housing policies can make a difference in helping families fulfill their own aspirations.

-Angela Valenzuela

Latinos are more likely to believe in the American dream, but most say it is hard to achieve. 

BY MARK HUGO LOPEZ, ANA GONZALEZ-BARRERA AND JENS MANUEL KROGSTAD

Sept. 11, 2018

Hispanics are significantly more likely than the general U.S. public to believe in core parts of the American dream – that hard work will pay off and that each successive generation is better off than the one before it. Yet many Hispanics see the American dream as hard to reach, and belief in it declines as immigrant roots grow distant, according to newly released results from a Pew Research Center 2016 survey of Hispanic adults.

More than three-quarters of Hispanics (77%) said at the time that most people can get ahead with hard work, a higher share than among the U.S. public (62%) in 2016. For Hispanics, similar shares expected their standard of living to be better than that of their parents (75%) and expected their children to be better off than themselves (72%). Among the U.S. public, by contrast, just 56% expected to be better off than their parents, and 46% expected their children to have a better standard of living than they did.

Even so, Latinos say achieving the American dream isn’t easy. Only about half (51%) said they had achieved it so far, and about three-quarters (74%) said achieving the dream today is hard for people like them.

While there is no official definition of the American dream, public opinion surveys of U.S. adults in recent years show it involves hard work, financial security, career success and confidence that each new generation will be better off than the one before it. Americans also see life milestones as a part of attaining the dream: graduating from college, owning a home, raising a family and giving your kids a life that’s better than your own.

The life goals of Latinos overlap with some of these ingredients of the American dream. The two goals rated most highly by Latinos were being a good parent (51%) and having the resources to provide for their family (49%). Owning a home – often seen as a key part of the American dream – was cited by 33% of Hispanics as an extremely important life goal for them. Other top goals for Hispanics included having a successful marriage (30%) and being successful in a high-paying career or profession (22%).

Among those who say they have achieved the American dream, about equal shares of Hispanics attributed their achievement to home ownership or financial stability (26%), their work or career (25%) and hard work (24%). Another 22% cited coming to or living in the U.S. as the reason for their success. Immigrant Hispanics often mentioned this last reason: About one-third who believed they achieved the dream said they did so by coming to the U.S. (Responses were to an open-ended question.)

The survey also asked those who have not achieved the American dream how they might one day do so: 31% cited homeownership or financial stability, 25% said work or their career and 14% said education.

In many ways, what Latinos say they need to accomplish to reach the dream reflects their concerns and worries: Three-quarters (74%) said they worry a lot about providing for their family and 60% said they worry a lot about their finances.

Differences by immigrant generation

The U.S. born account for about two-thirds of Latinos and for most of the growth in the Latino population today. Among these adults, belief in some aspects of the American dream fades as their immigrant roots grow distant.

Eight-in-ten immigrant Latinos said in 2016 that their own standard of living is better than that of their parents, and just as many expected their children will be better off. Among second-generation Hispanics (the U.S.-born children of immigrant parents), these shares were 75% and 71%, respectively – slightly below the shares of immigrant Latinos. But for third or higher generation Latinos (U.S.-born Latinos with U.S.-born parents), just two-thirds (66%) said they will be better off than their parents and 60% said they expect their kids to be better off.

Note: See full topline results and methodology (PDF).

In lak’ Ech—You are my other me and the American Dream Game

Powerful image by the cartoonist, Horsey, that represents the African American trajectory toward the so-called American Dream—and how divergent and unfair for African Americans in this country. As a teacher, I see this as both useful to instruction on the history of African Americans, but also as a potential classroom activity that could be done for other marginal groups in the U.S. like Mexican Americans, Asians Americans, Puerto Ricans, Central Americans, and Native Americans.

The ultimate point of understanding these histories is for all of us to acknowledge our shared humanity that the Mayans expressed as In Lak' Ech, meaning your are my other me. It includes the Golden Rule of do unto others, but expresses a deeper relationship to all life, including Mother Earth and the universe itself.

In lak’ Ech (Spanish)

Tú eres mi otro yo.
Si te hago daño a ti
Me hago daño a mí mismo.
Sí te amo y respeto,
Me amo y respeto yo.

In lak’ Ech (English)

You are my other me.
If I do harm to you,
I do harm to myself.
If I love and respect you,
I love and respect myself.

I suspect that the Golden Rule as expressed in the Bible and which is core to most, if not all, faiths always included this, but that culture in the span of time eviscerated this deeper understanding to which so many of us are now connecting, given an increasing awareness of potential biocide and ecocide thrust upon us by climate change and the pandemic.

Let's not mince words here, my friends. I am you. You are me. And we are all one with Source, meaning God, Creator, Pachamama, Wakan Tanka, Jehova, or the Supreme Being of your understanding. 

Pedagogically, particularly as taught in the Ethnic Studies classroom, this means decolonizing and disavowing white supremacy that is an ideology that has left no one untouched. That's what a good and virtuous education should ultimately teach—this ancient, life-saving wisdom that we are one with Source. It is with such a foundational understanding that we can all reach, individually and collectively, our greatest and highest good.

-Angela Valenzuela

#EthnicStudiesNow