Yes, many of the Asian groups have been exemplary. It is, however, true that there are Chinese gangs in New York and elsewhere, and that the Yakuza (the Japanese Mafia) have been more active in establishing business activity in this country. Thus, the picture is sometimes more mixed.
Also, the Koreans who come over are often highly educated and middle class within their own country, but stifled by the comparative lack of opportunity. Those from India and Pakistan are also often better prepared to take advantage of opportunity than a lot of kids from the ghettos and barrios, because of education and strong family networks. They succeed to some extent because they have the tools, in terms of education, family support, and good work habits.
But there is a problem,and that is that the success rate among black immigrants from the West Indies has been markedly higher than among indigenous blacks, and the main reason seems to be the immigrant mentality: those who come are determined to make a better life, and will do what it takes. Even someone like Colin Powell comes from that background, as his parents were from the West Indies. And, as it happens, a lot of these immigrants and children of immigrants deplore the lethargy and scapegoating exhibited by many African- Americans, and wish to shake them out of it, as they take leadership positions in the black community........... |
