Route 66 and the Uneven American Dream

Student research explores how the historic highway symbolized freedom for some Americans more than others.

Route 66 and the Uneven American Dream
Orlando Jackson, a member of CASI, shares his family's experience traveling Route 66 during a community event at Hillcrest May 26. The event, hosted by the Cultural Awareness and Social Inclusion committee, included presentations from students in Professor Anan Eugenia Lopez Ricoy's Race and Ethnicity course at the University of La Verne. Photo courtesy Ana Eugenia Lopez Ricoy

University of La Verne students explored how U.S. Route 66 shaped ideas about mobility, opportunity and the American Dream during a May 26 presentation at Hillcrest in La Verne.

The presentation, “Race, Mobility, and the Uneven American Dream,” was hosted by the Cultural Awareness and Social Inclusion committee, a local nonprofit, also known as CASI.

Ana Eugenia Lopez Ricoy, assistant professor of sociology at the university, described how Route 66 came to represent ideals of “freedom, adventure, progress.” She said the highway connected communities across the country and served as a major alternative to rail travel before losing relevance after the interstate freeway system expanded. Route 66 was officially decommissioned in 1984.

CASI Corresponding Secretary Rebekah Hong said the project aligned with the committee’s mission of creating “a safe space where all people are welcome, respected, cared for, and treated with kindness and compassion.”

“Cultural awareness and social inclusion includes the hard work of digging back into the roots of history,” Hong said.

Lopez Ricoy explained that the project was designed to bring classroom conversations about race and ethnicity into the broader community through a community engagement component tied to her course. Students spent eight weeks researching topics and creating posters for the presentation.

University of La Verne Assistant Professor Ana Eugenia Lopez Ricoy introduces her Race and Ethnicity class project: “Race, Mobility, and the Uneven American Dream" before students presented their work. Photo by Staci Baird/La Verne Daily News
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