I have read but can’t source, that at some black schools academic awards are given out without any sort of announcement lest the recipients be the targets of bullying.
A couple of personal anecdotes: My son was in seventh-grade algebra and came home to tell me he did poorly on a test, scoring say a 70. He then began to list all of these kids I knew and their scores, ranging from 38 to 65, making his score the best of a bad lot. I then asked him, “How did __________ do?” My son looked at me with a look of exasperation and said, “Dad, he’s ASIAN!” He thought it unfair that I would expect him to do as well on an algebra test as an Asian student.
Last year my son participated in some type of statewide Science Bowl or Olympiad that involved the taking of a biology test. Most of the kids there had completed AP biology, but my son and his friends were still enrolled and only a third of the way through the course. My son scored in the 50th percentile of those taking the test, which was a good score considering the circumstances. His classmates, the aforesaid Asian kid and an Indian student, scored in the 95th percentile. I asked my son why they did so much better, and he said, “Dad, they read the entire textbook,” with a tone suggesting that he would never do such a thing.
There are two points here. There is empirical evidence which shows that Asian kids spend far more time studying than white kids, who in turn spend far more time studying than black kids. Second, the brightest white kids frequently won’t even try to compete with the brightest Asian students, and the brightest black kids won’t even try to compete with the brightest white kids. So the kids work just enough to be the best of their peer group and no more. (And yes, there will always be kids who break out of this mold, but I’m talking about patterns).
This isn’t the only thing gong on, but it’s out there, and I’m sure many of you have seen it.