In the open opening lines to her acclaimed essay “The White Album,” Joan Didion writes "We tell ourselves stories in order to live… We interpret what we see, select the most workable of the multiple choices." What does Didion mean by this? Among other things, she seems to be telling the reader humans have a propensity to distort reality in favor of a safer and more pleasant facade. We shape narratives in a way that reflects stories we have previously told ourselves. Oftentimes, we do it to make the reality of hardships more digestible. These stories include the jaded trope of “everything happens for a reason,” “everything is possible” and many more. As Americans, in order to make sense of our realities, we have been telling ourselves the narrative “if you work hard, then you will succeed.” This aphorism is dishonest because it ignores the cumulative factors that result in a person’s success.
We have all probably heard a political pundit, politician or next door neighbor condemn other Americans for lacking jobs. The underlying argument behind the condemnation is that Americans who lack jobs are not working hard enough to secure employment. In his book “One Nation, Underprivileged: Why American Poverty Affects Us All,” sociologist Mark Robert Rank examines the economy, its number of available jobs and the number of unemployed Americans. Rank finds there are too few job opportunities for too many Americans. He goes on to demonstrate that job hunting is a lot like musical chairs — Americans must inevitably compete against each other to secure a seat (i.e., job). Of course, this competition for few jobs will leave many American families without sources of income and, thereby, (temporarily) impoverished.
Nowadays, the Americans most likely to be successful are those who receive a college degree, and studies reveal that those higher along wealth ladder are more likely to do so. Why is this? Is it because poor Americans are lazy, inept, dumb or raised on bad values? No, it is on account of a structural failure to provide all students with an equal opportunity for the American Dream. Generally, low-income students do not perform as well in their academics relative to their middle- and upper-class peers. This difference exists on account of a lack of school funding, lack of access to quality test prep resources, lower-income parents being unable to help their children navigate the academic world and several other environmental factors. We cannot blame children or their parents for lacking the resources of those better off, especially when they are born into their situations.
In “The Meritocracy Myth,” sociologists Stephen J. McNamee and Robert K. Miller, Jr. pull the covers off the myth of an American meritocratic society. McNamee and Miller explain there are non-merit factors which often negate the effects of merit and institute further barriers to mobility, such as social capital — the collective value of one’s social networks. The authors find that members of higher classes tend to be well-connected to people with authority and hiring power at well-paying companies. Lower-class Americans, however, often lack that social capital. When race is taken into consideration, these disparities in social capital are further exacerbated.
In her book “Race and the Invisible Hand: How White Networks Exclude Black Men from Blue-Collar Jobs,” Deirdre Royster finds that lower-income black men are often at a disadvantage compared to lower-income white men. According to Royster’s study, black men (and black women) are often unable to utilize their social capital to secure jobs. They are incapable of securing a job solely on account of knowing a person. On the other hand, lower-income white men are often able to bypass any formal or meritocratic process to land some jobs. Instead of advancing through the application process, they secure employment by way of nepotism. Though I am certainly not attempting to shame those who secure employment via nepotism or social capital, I think it is fallacious to suggest achieving the American Dream and success requires that a person or group simply work hard.
We need to stop telling ourselves the story that success requires only hard work. There is much more to it than diligence. Success in America is not only defined by hard work but also by who you know and what opportunities are accessible to you. Until the playing fields are equal for everyone, America will never be a meritocratic society. We must reject the myth that hard work is all it takes. If we do not, then we will be ignoring the obstacles and hardships faced by thousands of Americans. We should be striving for an America where every child has an equal opportunity at the American Dream.
Alexander Adames is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at a.adames@cavalierdaily.com.
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