America: “The Land of Opportunity!” The desirable ideal of this great nation is that those who reside or migrate here have the chance at the American Dream— the opportunity to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” and achieve success as long as they “put their best foot forward.” This practice is essentially a give and take procedure in order to enjoy the fruits of one’s labor. In a society that prides itself on meritocracy, based on the misguided premise that equal education produces individuals whose success is based on personal talents, abilities and efforts, the opposite is seen today as it contradicts this idea through structured stratification processes, with schooling as its primary enforcer. Contrary to the pervasive societal belief, American society is not a meritocratic system; factors of social structures such as race, class and gender ultimately determine or limit …show more content…
It is not until careful analysis proves this notion of “equality” wrong, that we understand the significant impact that dimensions of inequality/oppression has on the concept of meritocracy in regards to