<p>To answer the OP’s question, no. Proof? Exhibit A - This thread that he/she started. Exhibit B - The question “Is it because we speak a second language and have better morals than they do?”</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but I don’t think the OP was thinking when he made this thread.</p>
<p>In response to- I don’t know who it was- who said why do HMong or those ethnicities do worse as first generation. I reply- do these ethnicities have a good command of the English Language ? Morst first gen. African immigrants have an excellent command of the English Language due to education and it being spoken in their home. </p>
<p>Anyway, I have a new theory that discounts both the first generation effect and the notion that African are smarter/whatever? than african americans (untrue).</p>
<p>After talking to my mom, I realized that on the visas for visa lotteries and what not questions were asked such as What is your occupation? What can you bring to the United States?So if two people applied and one was a janitor-and the other a lawyer- who would you pick to live in your country- the lawyer if course. Furthermore, people working low paying jobs tend to be less educated in their ability to read or write English. Believe me, even the university educated make many spelling mistakes ( personal experience). Therefore, the less educated probably couldn’t even apply for a visa or express their thougts in a coherent manner. By default, the most educated - docotors,lawyers,engineers are the majority- ( read: there are probably a few anomalies) of the immigrants. Therefore, african immigrants often seem smarter b/c they are the intelligentsia of their country. </p>
<p>Taking this theory into account, africans or african immigrants are not smarter than african americans at all. African americans are only exposed to a small percentage of intelligent african people. This is the reason african immigrants “seem” smarter. </p>
<p>What does everyone else think?</p>
<p>We already know no group of people are smarter than any other group. that might explain why african immigrants do well in school but it doesn’t explain why aas as a group do so poorly.</p>
<p>I think what nil is saying is that you are comparing the modicum of the best & brightest from this generation’s African diaspora to the entire African American populus. </p>
<p>Is it really a fair comparison? You might as well compare all Africans to all African Americans, which I don’t advise. I hope this makes sense. I’m just saying the African immigrant group is so small already, but those who come have a propensity to being the more ambitious, educated, and wealthy of their countrymen. So comparing the performance of them or their kids to all African Americans as a whole doesn’t right to me.</p>
<p>I think that in general a lot of Africans (from all over) resent African-Americans. We’re seen as sell-outs, and we’re called ghetto. They see the men as thugs, and the women as hoes. I guess you can thank BET for that, but still, I can’t say much because African-American kids think that all Africans have AIDS and that they’re all poor. They think that they don’t have cars or electricity in Africa. It’s just ignorance from both sides of the fence. If we all united with our roots, questions like these wouldn’t come up as often.</p>
<p>Yeah, very true. We should start a healthy discussion about this rather than just spewing garbage from both sides. I for one think that the media plays a big role in enforcing some of these stereotypes. In the news we see black people being shot, going to jail and what not. Portrayal of black women isn’t any better. When they talk about Africa it’s almost always about AIDS, war, poverty, and hunger. Barack Obama’s election as President should mean something. This is a time in America where we should be seriously moving beyond stereotypes and race.</p>
<p>^^it’s not just african immigrants it’s everyone. white, asian, hispanic make the comparisons as PC as you want the results are still the same. aa children are behind. it’s not because aa children are less intelligent but there it is a problem. i had some therories but no one seems to be listening. maybe i haven’t stated my thoughts well. i don’t think any one is totally understanding me. oh well story of my life T_T</p>
<p>^^^What you’re saying is true, just share your views.
Actually here’s a good article about Obama on the subject we’re discussing. Very interesting.
[Evelyn</a> Hsieh: Following Obama, Students Define “Black” on Ivy League Campuses](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>Following Obama, Students Define "Black" on Ivy League Campuses | HuffPost Latest News)</p>
<p>immigrant Africans and Caribbean folks are, statistically, one of the most successful immigrant groups out there. it’s not because they’re smarter. it’s because many of the smart and/or well-off folks who live in Africa and the Caribbean leave for the US and Europe because there are better opportunities. Thus, their children grow up in a family with parents who value education and expect their children to honour the sacrifices they made.</p>
<p>@BananaSandwich- well yeah, it’s everyone. I was just focusing on African immigrants since they were the main topic of the discussion.</p>
<p>In the article refrenced above a commentator makes a good point, that could be of key interest to this thread in discerning the difference in the African American <em>1st vs. 10th generation</em> experience.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I personally find this to be truth. I have long come to look at life as full of opportunity for a black person. College & the educational system is my hustle as they say, & I feel as a black person we are at a prime position to take advantage of it.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>52% dropout rate for Vietnamese? I did a little searching and apparently, the Vietnamese HS dropout rate is only 6.5% (lower than the rates for whites and blacks). source: [Growing</a> up American: how Vietnamese … - Google Books](<a href=“Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States - Min Zhou, Carl Bankston - Google Books”>Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States - Min Zhou, Carl Bankston - Google Books)</p>
<p>Africans are no smarter than aa and vice versa. This question makes little sense. I agree that Africans and African Americans need to unite. we have alot in common. We have similar cultures and similar struggles in our respective countries. For example, my father grew up in complete poverty and faced adversities similar to those of many African Americans here. However, he attended boarding school and got a unique chance to get out of his environment, an oppurtunity that changed his life. Therefore, looking at how the gap occured between the success of Africans and African Americans could help, but i think more than anything we should find unity in our history and our present circumstances rather than looking at a small percentage of africans compared to african americans in America.
However, first we need to unify. Today, African Americans still very much feel that Africans are not one of them. (Africans also feel that African Americans are not one of them). However, in America we are all labeled as African Americans, regardless of our differences. When we are united we can close the gap and end the negative image of our race world wide.</p>
<p>Ok, lol, i think this was a bad idea.lol I was just trying to entertain myself out of boredom, but i see this went way out of scope. </p>
<p>Easy answer:
Immigrants and children of immigrant parents in general do better than the average American student, not just African-Americans (a.k.a. the answer i was looking for).</p>
<p>Oh, the other reason I brought this up was because my friend from Ghana doesn’t like to be called ‘Black’. Is there really a difference? Well, I guess it is different; ‘black’ is used for African Americans born in the States, so I guess I just answered my own question, again. thanks anyways everyone for keeping me soooooo entertained!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>this is my dad too!</p>
<p>My mom was first gen born in the US, her parents West Indian, and she told me not to marry one. But I did. I wonder what his parents told him?</p>
<p>Ok well, I glanced through this thread and I figure I may as well add my 2 cents since I’m also gonna be an immigrant going to college in the U.S. The black kids at my high school who decided to apply to colleges in the U.S. this year did pretty well. We have people going to Howard, Emory, Macalaster, Brown, Stanford, Columbia, Vassar, UChicago, Duke, Johns Hopkins and other great places. I’m going to be heading off to Yale myself. We all know the OP doesn’t have a way with words, but I think the difference between African Americans and blacks from other countries is motivation, not intelligence. </p>
<p>It’s like some of you said before, although there are still prejudices and boundaries etc, the rest of us looking on from outside really do see a mecca of opportunities more than anything else. The resources, everything is just so much more readily available up there than where we are coming from, so we strive to gain access. to many of us, the racist comments and prejudice remarks just roll off us because we come to the U.S. knowing what we need to do and what we need to prove (and the responses some of us can give we know would blow any insulter away lol). I can also say, as a West Indian, there tends to be a lot of pressure from parents to have their kids succeed, ESPECIALLY when they get the opportunity to go abroad because of the overwhelming lack of opportunity here, especially for those of us who don’t have money. It’s not to say that African American parents do not motivate, it’s just that with us, knowing what and where we’re coming from, we tend to feel more pressure and feel it more necessary to succeed. This is only a generalisation though, as just looking not only here, but at the other threads on this board, it’s quite evident that you all are motivated yourselves.</p>
<p>^Wow, I agree 100%. After spending a couple years in Kenya, I see endless resources and oppertunities in America, especially compared to my home country. Though my parents do put some pressure on me to succeed, a lot of motivation comes from experiencing both sides and appreciating what the other one has to offer.</p>
<p>I have very strong feelings on this topic. I am first generation from Nigeria. Because I came to the US when I was only 3, I consider myself as AA and not African. </p>
<p>First let me tell you that intellect has nothing to do with it. The reason Africans do better academically than AA is due to their family structure. I was raised by two strong parents who worked hard and didn’t do drugs or drink. My parents always told us to work hard and take school seriously, and we did. I attend Columbia. My sister just graduated from Harvard and is now in medical school. I have 11 cousins in the US. Every one of us did exceptionally well in school. Like me and my sister, my cousins were raised in two-parent families who emphasized education. This is why first-generation Africans often do so well. They aren’t smarter but they are raised in traditional families where education is valued.</p>
<p>Now compare me to the AA who lived in our neighborhoods. I didn’t even know of an AA in my high school who was raised by both parents. Everyone I knew was being raised by extended family and none of them lived in a home like mine where education and good citizenship were emphasized. Academic failure was expected by most AA I knew in high school. </p>
<p>I noticed this difference when I was 12. I asked my father why this is true. His answer burned a hole in my young heart. He said to me “These people have been told by their leaders that they can’t succeed and they now believe it.” I am 20 now and the wisdom of my father’s words become more apparent to me each day.</p>
<p>Every time I hear a so-called “leader” say that racism is the reason why our people suffer, I want to vomit. What other race defeats itself like this? You think Vietnamese tell their children that they can’t succeed? Koreans? Jews? They say just the opposite. Who but AA do this to their children? </p>
<p>We need new leaders. All of those “reverends” who get rich by pretending to lead us need to go far away. We need new leaders who will tell is that us that we can succeed and that if we don’t it’s our own damn fault. We need new leaders to tell African men that each time they leave their women to raise children alone they are ensuring us of more poverty. These “men” need to hear that it’s their own damn fault. We need these leaders to tell our women to stop having kids without husbands. These women need to hear that it’s their own damn fault. </p>
<p>From what I see, AA have been told for 50 years that their failures are not their fault and they now expect to fail since the world is against them. We won’t succeed until we stand up and take responsibility for our failures. Candidate Obama tried to make this point and he was ridiculed by people like Jesse Jackson who gets rich by keeping us down. He knows that if we accept responsibility for our failures, we will eventually succeed and won’t need him. I keep waiting for President Obama stand up and give his speech again, this time as president.</p>
<p>Jamma - your message is amazing. If more AA spoke the truth and weren’t afraid to bring this issue into the open, the huge changes could be made. It is heartbreaking to think of kids being raised with the idea that they are doomed to failure merely because they are black. I hope you and others with similar views can be a voice of reason to inspire future generations. What a great message.</p>