I think the person who wrote this article should read about the history of imperialism and colonization of the non-white world. The quote: "...doing what we can to teach kids from impoverished backgrounds not just how to read and write but how to become upwardly mobile in their networking" really demonstrates a lot of historical ignorance.

Anyway, regarding this topic, there's an entire field of academia which regularly studies intergenerational economic mobility (Sociology). Would anyone familiar enough with the field like to provide us with a paper on this topic? (Preferably about the US)