Asian Americans

It appears there is more to racism in America than skin color. Case in point. Asian Americans. This is not a monolithic group as Asians from Japan are quite different from Asians in India. Some things they have in common are emphasis on education and strong family ties including respect for elders. This group has the highest marriage rate and the lowest divorce rate. They have the highest high school and college graduation rates. They have the highest SAT scores running 50% above other minorities. They have the highest family income once again 50% higher than other minorities. This brings us back to the point that racism is based on something other than skin color. The question is, what? One answer is that they have a number of cultural things in common with Whites, things like God, family and country. Another factor is language. 72% of this group are bilingual and 28% speak only English. As a comparison for Latinos the bilingual rate is 55% and 44% speak only English. There were only 10 million Asian Americans here in 2000 while there were 35 million Latinos here in 2000. Asian Americans have the lowest incarceration rate at 1.4% of any group. It makes sense to have an immigration policy that is merit based and this would bring in Asian Americans almost exclusively. They will speak English and have job skills that are badly needed especially in the tech area. They will be self supporting and not dependent on public assistance. One actual example is the story of the Vietnamese boat people. During the late 1970s hundreds of thousands of people from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos began their flight out of their homelands. Most left by sea. In emigrating to the United States, these Boat People faced extraordinary cultural, material, and psychological obstacles. In the face of these impediments to success, their rapid economic and educational achievements provide one of the most intriguing success stories of our time.