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And yet non-White groups (specifically Indian and Taiwanese) are the top earners in the USA by median household income: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_e

And yet non-White groups (specifically Indian and Taiwanese) are the top earners in the USA by median household income: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_groups_in_the_United_States_by_household_income https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_groups_in_the_U... Culture and genetics are a substantially bigger factor than skin colour. Ghanaiain-American and Nigerian-American migrant households earn more than median White households. If there is anything systematically racist against African-Americans, its a welfare system that encourages single motherhood, and a drug law system that locks up fathers for petty drug dealing, possibly in addition to a culture which glorifies thuggishness and disdain for education ('acting white').

aminozuur 6y ago
I’m a refugee from the Middle East and I agree with you. Though the socio-economic class people grow up in seems at least as important as “culture and genetics”.
andrewmd5 6y ago
Ignoring the blatant racist generalization of Black people in your comment, recent Fed data shows your assumption is categorically false. Systemic Racism has always slowed the economic progress of those whose family roots are tied back to the first generation of slaves. It’s easier to build wealth as an immigrant than it is to build wealth after generations in a system that churns and spits out Black bodies without a second thought. This essay talks specifically about the tax of being successful and Black in America: what did your comment aim to do other than try to dismiss that people with a different skin color have difficult lived experiences?
- neilsense 6y ago
  > It’s easier to build wealth as an immigrant If you truly believe this you're too far gone to be brought back to reasoned thinking. A black person in America is born into the richest country the world has every seen, already speaking the right language, with the right accent, is surrounded by safety, welfare, libraries, schools, colleges. An immigrant has to work ten times harder to get the opportunity to even apply for a job remotely in their second or third language, leave their friends and family, entering a new country with zero credit and starting everything from scratch. Absolutely ridiculous to suggest that an immigrant has it easier just because it doesn't fit the narrative you want to set. Maybe spend some time with Black and Brown immigrants and ask what they have been through, what they have witnessed since arriving, and how they feel about things.
  - andrewmd5 6y ago
    “too far gone.” I’m sorry I’m not a model minority in your eyes, but it’s rich you’re telling a black person to spend more time with black people. These aren’t just my lived experiences, it’s subject matter that comes from thousands of hours of talking with the very people you claim I should spend more time with. You’re so uncomfortable with race and acknowledging racism you’d rather pretend you are the expert. I’m not “too far gone,” I simply live a life you can’t bring yourself to understand. If it’s such a ridiculous statement then I invite you to provide anything backing up that claim. Because all those resources you claim are available to Black Americans are often the very things lacking in Black communities: https://www.epi.org/blog/the-racial-wealth-gap-how-african-americans-have-been-shortchanged-out-of-the-materials-to-build-wealth/ https://www.epi.org/blog/the-racial-wealth-gap-how-african-a... I mean Christ, have you even heard of a food desert?
    - neilsense 6y ago
      I'm more than happy with acknowledging racism both when it happens and also understanding the depth of the effect. I've been hurled racial slurs/insults throughout my life at various points. Sometimes randomly on the street, sometimes as a joke, sometimes when I didn't even catch the meaning of what was said until I had gotten home and it was too late to reply. Despite that, I cannot subscribe to this thread that somehow people, of any colour, born in the most prosperous country the world has ever seen are somehow disadvantaged compared to those that arrive on its shores. You may have spoken thousands of hours to people from all walks of life, but you are dangerously wrong with your assertion and it are perpetuating the falsehood that it's always someone else's fault as to why population X (whoever it might be, in whichever Western country) has an issue. Racism still exists, however it's not the answer to every question.
      - andrewmd5 6y ago
        Your inability to accept reality is not an assertion of truth unto others. People can’t pull themselves up by the bootstraps if they have a boot on their neck. https://andrew.im/essays/a-journey-to-the-american-dream https://andrew.im/essays/a-journey-to-the-american-dream
fwip 6y ago
You're ignoring the fact that the selection of immigrants is not random or a representative set. If you're right and that an immigrant has to work "ten times harder" to apply for a job, then surely the immigrant population represents a. It would be a damning indictment of America if these people were not more successful than the average citizen - and if you look at the data, they're just a few percentage points ahead of median white people. And Nigeria and Ghanian immigrants were cherry-picked because those two groups represent largely first and second-generation immigrants, who still largely have wealth and prosperity to go around from these original highly-qualified applicants. (Also, why do you capitalize white? Usually it's just white-supremacists who do that, so you might want to reconsider your choice.)

aminozuur 6y ago

I’m a refugee from the Middle East and I agree with you. Though the socio-economic class people grow up in seems at least as important as “culture and genetics”.

andrewmd5 6y ago

Ignoring the blatant racist generalization of Black people in your comment, recent Fed data shows your assumption is categorically false. Systemic Racism has always slowed the economic progress of those whose family roots are tied back to the first generation of slaves. It’s easier to build wealth as an immigrant than it is to build wealth after generations in a system that churns and spits out Black bodies without a second thought. This essay talks specifically about the tax of being successful and Black in America: what did your comment aim to do other than try to dismiss that people with a different skin color have difficult lived experiences?

neilsense 6y ago
> It’s easier to build wealth as an immigrant If you truly believe this you're too far gone to be brought back to reasoned thinking. A black person in America is born into the richest country the world has every seen, already speaking the right language, with the right accent, is surrounded by safety, welfare, libraries, schools, colleges. An immigrant has to work ten times harder to get the opportunity to even apply for a job remotely in their second or third language, leave their friends and family, entering a new country with zero credit and starting everything from scratch. Absolutely ridiculous to suggest that an immigrant has it easier just because it doesn't fit the narrative you want to set. Maybe spend some time with Black and Brown immigrants and ask what they have been through, what they have witnessed since arriving, and how they feel about things.
- andrewmd5 6y ago
  “too far gone.” I’m sorry I’m not a model minority in your eyes, but it’s rich you’re telling a black person to spend more time with black people. These aren’t just my lived experiences, it’s subject matter that comes from thousands of hours of talking with the very people you claim I should spend more time with. You’re so uncomfortable with race and acknowledging racism you’d rather pretend you are the expert. I’m not “too far gone,” I simply live a life you can’t bring yourself to understand. If it’s such a ridiculous statement then I invite you to provide anything backing up that claim. Because all those resources you claim are available to Black Americans are often the very things lacking in Black communities: https://www.epi.org/blog/the-racial-wealth-gap-how-african-americans-have-been-shortchanged-out-of-the-materials-to-build-wealth/ https://www.epi.org/blog/the-racial-wealth-gap-how-african-a... I mean Christ, have you even heard of a food desert?
  - neilsense 6y ago
    I'm more than happy with acknowledging racism both when it happens and also understanding the depth of the effect. I've been hurled racial slurs/insults throughout my life at various points. Sometimes randomly on the street, sometimes as a joke, sometimes when I didn't even catch the meaning of what was said until I had gotten home and it was too late to reply. Despite that, I cannot subscribe to this thread that somehow people, of any colour, born in the most prosperous country the world has ever seen are somehow disadvantaged compared to those that arrive on its shores. You may have spoken thousands of hours to people from all walks of life, but you are dangerously wrong with your assertion and it are perpetuating the falsehood that it's always someone else's fault as to why population X (whoever it might be, in whichever Western country) has an issue. Racism still exists, however it's not the answer to every question.
    - andrewmd5 6y ago
      Your inability to accept reality is not an assertion of truth unto others. People can’t pull themselves up by the bootstraps if they have a boot on their neck. https://andrew.im/essays/a-journey-to-the-american-dream https://andrew.im/essays/a-journey-to-the-american-dream

fwip 6y ago

You're ignoring the fact that the selection of immigrants is not random or a representative set. If you're right and that an immigrant has to work "ten times harder" to apply for a job, then surely the immigrant population represents a. It would be a damning indictment of America if these people were not more successful than the average citizen - and if you look at the data, they're just a few percentage points ahead of median white people. And Nigeria and Ghanian immigrants were cherry-picked because those two groups represent largely first and second-generation immigrants, who still largely have wealth and prosperity to go around from these original highly-qualified applicants. (Also, why do you capitalize white? Usually it's just white-supremacists who do that, so you might want to reconsider your choice.)