From a young age, N had a keen sense of the American Dream he would dedicate himself to achieving. But only recently has N begun to recognize how his progress toward that dream has been inextricably linked to the privileges afforded to him as a White, upper-middle-class man.
For N, a 36-year-old accounting firm manager, achievement of the American Dream closely aligns with home ownership. Growing up in a wealthy, predominantly White neighborhood meant that the majority of N’s neighbors owned cushy suburban homes, and he began to envision the same future for himself.
“All of my friends had single-family homes with backyards, and that, to me, was like, ‘You’ve made it,’” N said. “My parents, my parents’ friends and all my friends had homes … One day I would do [that].”
The expensive housing market in California has hindered his progress toward that lifelong dream. But while home ownership might be out of reach, N has started to recognize the economic and social privileges that have already allowed him to build a comfortable life for him and his family.
The economic advantage passed down from his parents has made it easier for him to begin financially supporting his own children and their dreams for the future; even if that dream is becoming a “dinosaur astronaut,” like it is for his four-year-old son.
Money has never been an issue for N. His parents funded his undergraduate education at a university in the Northeast United States and financially supported him throughout law school. This financial security enabled him to take unpaid internships at California big media corporations — opportunities that would have been impossible for his peers in need of a summer income.
“I was only able to get a leg up for myself and have that on my resume … because my parents allowed me to do that, essentially,” he said. “It wasn’t really apparent to me at the time; it is very apparent to me now.”
N’s career is the direct result of this generational wealth that funded his higher education. The economic advantage passed down from his parents has made it easier for him to begin financially supporting his own children and their dreams for the future; even if that dream is becoming a “dinosaur astronaut,” like it is for his four-year-old son.
And, even if N is never able to own a home, he realizes that his social privilege puts him one step closer to achieving that dream.
“I’ve never felt inhibited, because of my Whiteness and my maleness and all those things that tend to give advantage in this world,” he said. “There was never anything I [couldn’t] do.”
N is…
- 36 Years-Old
- Male, Cisgender
- White
- Middle Class
- Heterosexual
