Social Reproduction In Ain 'T No Makin' It By Jay Macleod

“In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate” said Toni Morrison. If so, is American Dream only for the White people? In a society where racial inequality was prevalent throughout the country, non white people, especially African Americans were treated severely. Such phenomenon, known as the social reproduction is closely examined by Jay Macleod in the book “Ain’t No Makin’ It”. Macleod closely examines two groups of working class teenagers in Massachusetts. One group, known as The Hallway Hangers, filled with white boys, and the Brothers, composed mainly of African American boys. By laying out multiple social theories and bringing in several sociologists’ theories, Macleod reveals his thoughts on why social reproduction occurs in the United States and why an American Dream is something that only few people could achieve. MacLeod shows that race, along with with class are directly proportional to people’s aspirations. If they belong in the lower class, they would automatically achieve less, no matter how hard they try. This means, working class children usually end up having working class jobs in the future. In order for people to get one step closer towards success, they must learn and develop their own cultural capital. One’s social background such as access to proper education determines one’s class within the society and has huge influence on one’s future life.

In every society, social division based on race, economic conditions, and family statuses exists. The book, And Still We Rise, by Miles Corwin, follows the lives of inner-city youth in South Central Los Angeles, where students are constantly exposed to poverty, violence, gangs, and drugs in every aspect of their lives. Specifically, Corwin tells the stories of high school seniors at Crenshaw, who are participating in the school’s gifted magnet program due to their talents and intelligence. He describes the inequalities that the students have to face every day because of their race, economic conditions, and family statuses. Although some of these students have become the victims of failure, many of them still manage to survive and achieve success. Overall, Corwin is mainly focused on the younger generation, who are easily influenced by the biases of the

control, such as financial issues, segregation, suspensions and drop-outs rates, subtractive schooling, and school climate negatively impacts their overall performance. Jay MacLeod brings to light these issues in his book, Ain’t No Makin’ It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood. The book, which reports the author’s findings on fifteen boys living in public housing and their overall educational and life success over several years. The book centered around the achievement ideology, which is the belief that success can be obtained through hard work and education. Under this belief, factors such as race and socioeconomic status do not impact one’s success so long as there is a strong work ethic. He described two groups who had a different perspective of the achievement ideology (MacLeod, 2009). The white boys, called the Hallway Hangers, did not agree with ideology and believed they were being cheated out of what was rightfully theirs by minority students. They put no effort into their schooling and were highly involved in criminal life. Meanwhile, the Brothers, were black males who strongly believed in the Achievement theory. They worked hard not only with school but in other things as well and believed they would soon be rewarded for their efforts. Another theme that MacLeod covered was the idea that these boys were “pushed into jumping.” He describes that this idea is based on the fact these individuals in spite of the circumstances in which they were born are either able to does they please and see it, also known as jumping or are forced to do certain things therefore, “pushed into jumping.” In utter agreeance, minority individuals are “pushed into jumping” and if they are at any point failing, then educators and schools need to collaborate with the community to assure these students stay in school.

societal ladder Times have changed since then, but social class is still a major factor to people’s success.

In Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance talks about his rise from the poor, working class Hillbillies of the Rust Belt to the more affluent middle class. In doing so, he talks about the work needed to move up the economic ladder (to a different social class), expressing that it is always possible but very difficult. Vance talks about the struggles he faced within his family and his community, as well as how he overcame them. Vance’s reason to write this book was because he accomplished something ordinary, which does not happen to most children that grow up like him.

Thesis Statement: The achievement of the American Dream, represented by social classes and opportunities available for social advancement, is unrealistic. The American Dream is propaganda for capitalism, rooted into the minds of believers that are used for labor. Capitalism’s fixed social classes leave no room for immigrants or for the hopeful to move up towards material success and wealth.

The American Dream is a concept that has been instilled in the minds of citizens for much of America’s history. The Dream is the idea that everyone is equal and that anyone can start with nothing and become successful through hard work and perseverance. Unfortunately, due to prejudices and discrimination, the American Dream has not been attainable for all races and ethnicities that have immigrated to this country in search of a better life. Instead, it has been quite the opposite: no matter how much hard work and perseverance one puts forth, he/she is always beaten down by those in a higher social class. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird explores the concept of the failing American Dream by examining discrimination, prejudice, and social hierarchy in 1930’s Maycomb, Alabama.

financial issues, segregation, subtractive schooling, and the overall school climate may negatively impact their overall performance. Jay MacLeod brings to light these issues in his book, Ain’t No Makin’ It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood. The book, which reports the author’s findings on fifteen boys living in public housing and their overall educational and life success over several years. The book centered around the achievement ideology, which is the belief that success can only be obtained through hard work and education (MacLeod, 2009). Under this belief, factors such as race and socioeconomic status do not impact one’s success

Throughout the years knowledge and culture has been passed down within generations. Elders within the community often teach life lessons to the young adults growing up in the neighborhood. This idea still holds true today, especially in low-income communities. People from different socioeconomic backgrounds live different lifestyles they also have different opportunities made available to them. Because of this idea, people with a higher social standing have an advantage over those in lower class standings. Social classes divide the people of our nation and have existed for as long as we can remember. The American Dream created the American nation that we know today. The dream itself is different for each individual. Money plays a major part in the American Dream because to be successful in America means to bear great wealth. We live in a nation, in which money controls our very existence. “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara creates an argument about society’s unfairness that involves financial opportunities by revealing the differences in living environments between upper class and lower class.

America historically owns the reputation of being the land of opportunity, and for generations immigrants have fled to the United States to experience the freedom and equality our government lays claim to. At the root of this reputation is the American Dream, the belief that with hard work anyone can succeed based solely on his or her merits. While definitions of success vary, the American Dream defines it as the ability to become a "self-made man," thereby rising to a more-than-comfortable state of living. The American Dream is believed to be blind to race, sex, or socio-economic status and at a first glance, seems to be almost Utopian. Conversely, repeated examples and statistics of the lower-classes, those continually facing the harsh

Here, in the United States, the “American Dream,” is a popular belief. There is a strong relationship between hard work and success. In this perfect scenario, those who put in multiple hours are on the road to success and can move up the social ladder. Thus stating, one could be thrust into the lowest of the social status, and with some hard work, one can elevate into the world of the social elite. As a demonstration to this global view of the United States, immigrants from all over the globe have made the excursion to the “land of opportunity” in beliefs of better education, employment, government, communities, religious freedom, and lives for not only themselves but the generations that come pursuing behind them. All of this survives based on a game of social stratification – a diagram on how to successfully obtain the American dream. This observation of social class is based on many mechanisms, some of which is bestowed to people at birth, and not rewarded for hard work and dedication. The class system at play in the United States has become incredibly complex – it no longer has the fundamental class values of our forefathers. Those trying to move up in the social ladder of America are often caught replication the actions of the rich and famous, but this alone cannot make them part of the higher social class. Some think that there are simple rules to follow to climb higher into another social class ladder, but there is more to being upper class than just talking the talk or having the right identity.One way to look at class is the model developed by Janny Scott and David Leonhardt's article, “Shadowy Lines That Still Divide,” in The New York Times. They assert that “one way to think of a person’s position in society is to imagine a hand of cards. Everyone is dealt four cards, one from each suit: education, income, occupation and wealth, the four commonly used criteria for gauging class” (Scott and Leonhardt 27). While being sure on these four criteria, a basic understanding of a person’s predicted class can be made. While this model works fine for providing an elementary level of perception, it must be recognized that a person could rate well on this scale and still be in a different class than those

In his book, Ain't No Makin' It, Jay MacLeod interprets the experiences of two groups of young men, the Hallway Hangers and the Brothers, living in a public housing project located in Boston. There are many way to understand their experiences. While MacLeod interpreted their experiences in terms of social reproduction, I interpreted their experiences through norms, values, and ideology. Because of my understanding of these terms, I am able to analyze why each group of boys carry themselves the way they do.

Contemporary society deems social class a division within a given population defined by wealth, education, and power, but the lines that divide them unceasingly deepen. Social mobility, or the movement of an individual between the stratification of societal classes, remains virtually illusory, an unattainable falsity that millions have laboriously fought for since the turn of the twentieth century. Monopolies and wage slavery remain definite and palpable, both of which contribute to immobility between social rankings, establishing an unbreakable cycle of poverty. The idyllic ethos of the American Dream, a belief that one will achieve success through hard work and opportunity, prove to be a fallacious, hollow and vague ambition that cannot be attained. Paradigms that exploit the plight of the “American worker” beginning in the early nineteen hundreds include muckraker Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle and John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. The quandaries that plague the characters of the aforementioned novels parallel that of modern day exposés, such as Class Matters, by Bill Keller, Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich, and Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser, all of which harness and expose the falsehood of The American Dream as a result of wage slavery, class separation, and monopolization of major industries. The delineations that exist between the lower and upper class render the American Dream an empty, intangible delusion, unattainable to those enslaved by low wages

The class inequality has been an issue for quite some time; the levels of this are the elite, middle, and lower class tiers. But even within these three major tiers, there are sub tiers, but mostly within the United States, society tends to rate women within the Middle to Lower class. This is true within the professional world of women, seeing as how they are considered on the weaker, lower class tier, Collins refers to an “outsider-within status” (1986), which “ exists with one is located on the boundary between two groups statuses—one with potential power and the other with little power” (2001). African American women have been affected by this “outsider-within status”, more than their Caucasian counterparts because even though “technically they have membership in a high status group, as black women, they are a part of a group

Throughout history, individuals have strived to achieve the “American Dream.” Whether they worked endless hours to achieve financial stability or fought infinite amounts of people for their equality, their drive came from the understanding that if they tried hard enough, they would be prosperous and successful. The different viewpoints of the “American Dream” are depicted in the books, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as told by Alex Haley, and Ragged Dick, Or, Street Life In New York With The Boot-Blacks, written by Horatio Alger. Malcolm X was known to challenge the notion of the “American Dream”; however, his life, alongside Ragged Dick, can be depicted as a model of the “American Dream.” Struggling with discrimination, beginning their lives in poverty, and pursing a better life through education are key components that helped Malcolm X and Ragged Dick discover their own “American Dream.”