Black millennials are more optimistic about their futures than Hispanic, Asian and even White Millennials according to research done by the University of Texas-Austin and Hispanic advertising agency Richards/Lema.  

The title of the study, called “Millennials Deconstructed”, has other interesting findings about where millennials, young adults who are between the ages of 20 – 36, stand when it comes to the American Dream and their ability to succeed in the future.  Millennials make up the United States’ most racially diverse generation ever.

The study was designed to decode the relationship millennials have with the U.S. and for many of the researchers it was said that the data reached out and smacked them with untold cultural stories that challenge popular notions about each race and ethnicity.

The study was designed to decode the relationship millennials have with the U.S. Many researchers stated the data reached out and smacked them with untold cultural stories that challenged popular notions about each race and ethnicity.

The researchers that looked at over 1,000 respondents, said that black millennials in particular showed some of the study’s most interesting and counterintuitive discoveries, writing: “A reasonable person may expect to uncover a sense of despair, apathy, or hopelessness. In this case, a reasonable person would be wrong.”

The researchers said that they expected black millennials to be the most likely group to reject the concept of the American Dream, which is traditionally defined in the study as “the ability to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” However, the study showed that, although 55 percent admit their race has made it more difficult to attain the American Dream, black millennials (49 percent) are more likely than any other segment to say they still strive for it.  

The study also showed that, compared to other groups, black millennials have the strongest sense of control over their future (56 percent), place more value in hard work (59 percent) and are more likely to believe that people can achieve their dreams if they work hard enough (59 percent).

As a millennial, I have high hopes that our future will only get better, especially with programs like Black Heights and others coming into existence to focus on the inequalities that exist.  Many of us are taught from an early age that we have to work twice as hard and I believe now more than ever we have created access to more examples of black success and black excellence.

BH Nugget:

Sources:

Lilly Workneh, (20, March 2017), “Black Millennials Most Optimistic About Future In Face Of Racial Oppression: Study”, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-millennials-most-optimistic-about-future-in-face-of-racial-oppression-study_us_58cf1d9ae4b0ec9d29dcf283 , Huffington Post,  Accessed 01/19/2019