LogFAQs > #884033624

How do you explain minority immigrants who come to America and succeed more than everyone else, including whites born here? How do you explain whites who didn't benefit from any accumulated wealth but who still did well in school?

I am one of those. I'm pretty sure we've already talked about this. Please don't use my experiences for your political purposes. We have this same exact conversation every time. People who come from other countries face challenges, but not the same as the ones from the US.

Though they come from poor countries, they were probably doing pretty well over there or they generally wouldn't be allowed entry, other than refugees and lottery winners and I don't know how well they're doing. They are some of the most driven people on the planet because they were willing to leave everything they've ever known (a likely big point of disagreement is that I believe you can't expect or require this from people, very few have this mindset, it comes from desperation and a new lease on life through immigration, it's not an on-off switch), they often have family networks of established people (when my family came we lived rent free with cousins for example), they have not been beaten down by generations of segregation and discrimination within a specific area, etc. There's tons of factors that differentiate a Chinese, Indian, or Nigerian immigrant from a kid in Baltimore, Chicago, New Orleans, etc. There's also many immigrant groups that aren't doing too hot even within groups that are stereotyped as doing well.

As for whites, many people who don't "feel" rich and are not rich often have way more wealth than blacks and hispanics and that skews things in their favor. You may not be rich, but maybe your parents could qualify for the GI Bill and were able to buy a house that builds wealth, while others couldn't based entirely on race. That said, class alone can have a big effect and white people such as those in the Appalachians can be affected by many of the same dynamics that hurt people of color and they're not doing too well at all, even if a few make it out. That should be taken into account, but a "pure meritocracy" wouldn't acknowledge that in any meaningful way.

There's always a few people who do well regardless of the situation they're in. These people had no advantages of any kind. But you can't run a system by pointing to these people and saying everyone should just do that. Because the fact of the matter is, 99 percent of people are not gonna do that and can't under a pure meritocracy because the spots will already be filled by others who had all the necessary advantages.
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