Most asians in this country are newly arrived immigrants or the children of those immigrants. They have all that immigrant drive to forge ahead and be successful. White people have lost that. I really don't want to get in to the comparison game but I really think most white people (kids as well as parents) really place more value on their recreational time rather than education and getting ahead. They'll complete high school and go to college because it's more or less expected of them--white middle class. But education has been dummied down and even white kids aren't as literate or knowledgeable in many fields such as literature, history etc etc although their test scores may be better than the kids in the ghetto. It seems as if Asian families are quite obvious in their pursuit of education. I'll be a bit crass here; little Buffy Muffy and Todd from the burbs want to study drama or expressive this that or the other when they go to college while the Wangs, the Changs and the Lees will do the science and math courses and become doctors and scientists.
Better than crass . . . provocative.
Wish I had seen the WSJ article. I'd like to know which Asian group they wrote about.
Do all Asians on average perform better in school than Anglos, Latinos and Blacks? Do the Hmong, the Vietnamese, the Thais, the Japanese, the Koreans perform on par with the Wangs, Changs and Lees?
"I'll be a bit crass here; little Buffy Muffy and Todd from the burbs want to study drama or expressive this that or the other when they go to college while the Wangs, the Changs and the Lees will do the science and math courses and become doctors and scientists."
And Buffy, Muffy and Todd will become the lawyers and deal makers and political leaders because of their verbal skills, which are key for the jobs with power.
Math will get you a high paying job, if you apply it.
Language skill will give you command, if you apply it.