This book explores the deterioration of the promise of the American dream, particularly for Black Americans. Cal Jillson traces the source and cause of that decline to race prejudice, first in the stark form of human slavery and later in various forms of racial and ethnic discrimination, that has distorted American progress over the past four centuries and now portends American decline. Employing historical analysis of race and ethnicity in American life from colonial to modern times, the chapters examine the various understandings of race and ethnicity in American public life and politics and ask what those understandings imply for political and policy approaches to addressing injustice and restoring the American dream. Drawing on sources from political science, history, sociology, and economics, this book will supplement a main text in upper division courses on race and ethnicity, political sociology, public opinion, demography, and public policy.
1. Racial Orders and the Structure of American Life
2. Demographic Stability and Change in American History
3. Citizenship, Suffrage, and Race in America
4. Race, Ethnicity, and the American Mind
5. Race, Education, and Social Competition
6. Income, Wealth, and Race in America
7. Race and Health in America
8. Housing, Neighborhoods, and Opportunity’s Environmental Context
9. Race, Ethnicity, and the Criminal Justice System
10. Social Justice and the Modern American Promise: The Way Forward
Biography
Cal Jillson is Professor of Political Science at Southern Methodist University. He is the author or editor of 14 books including American Government: Political Development and Institutional Change (12th ed., 2023), Texas Politics: Governing the Lone Star State (9th ed., 2024), Lone Star Tarnished: A Critical Look at Texas Politics and Public Policy (4th ed., 2021), and The American Dream in History, Politics, and Fiction (2016).
