Since the end of state sponsored segregation in the 1954
with Brown v. Board of Education decision,
the prevailing myth of American prosperity has convinced the people that there
are no structural racial barriers to keep minorities from reaching the American
dream. Fancy cars, stately houses prestigious educations, high powered jobs,
and a life of material wealth is available to all who work hard enough to
achieve it. According to this mindset, it is thought that all individuals have
the freedom of social mobility. These individuals, despite race or class, are
believed to have the ability to live anywhere they please, working their way up
from low income areas to the suburbs if they so desire. In light of this claim,