Yes - I agree. Africans are brought up in an environment where all their leaders, great figures - are black, like them - which leads them to have a different (b

Yes - I agree. Africans are brought up in an environment where all their leaders, great figures - are black, like them - which leads them to have a different (better?) self-identity. So when they come to America - they succeed, whereas African Americans might have some systematic self-esteem issues. But this doesn't help your case - just the opposite: it shows that culture is a driving factor - not racism. Again - we are assuming that both African Americans and African-Africans face the 'same amount of racism' and yet one group succeeds because of their cultural values. I don't doubt that racism holds people back - but I don't think it's the primary driver. Your example illustrates this quite well.