Here is a handful of statistics describing the success that Asian-Americans — many of whom are the children of immigrants who arrived in this country poor as church mice a generation ago — have in education:
— Percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college and university by race:
All races ………….. 39.6
Asian………………..57.6
White ………………..44.2
Black ………………..32.1
Hispanic ……………32.1
— Percent of all adults 25 and older to achieve high school diplomas by race
All races ………………86.6
Whites ……………….. 91.5
Asians ………………..89.0
Black …………………. 83.3
Hispanic ……………. 62.3
— Percent of all adults 25 and older to achieve a college degree by race
All races …………….. 29.4
Asian ………………… 51.9
White …………………..32.6
Black …………………..19.7
Hispanic ………………13.3
— Percent of all adults 25 and older to achieve a master’s degree by race
All races ……………….. 7.5
Asian …………………..14.0
White ……………………. 8.4
Black ……………………..4.9
Hispanic ……………….. 2.9
— Percent of adults 25 and older to achieve a doctoral degree by race
All races ……………….. 2.8
Asian …………………….6.4
White ……………………..3.1
Black ……………………..1.3
Hispanic …………………1.0
THE CASE for hard-working Asians is made better through statistics like these than through rhetorical argument. The tables are taken from a two-page feature story in Sunday’s Kansas City Star, in which reporter Eric Adler presented three profiles of Kansas City area Asian students, all of whom are high achievers, academically and otherwise.
The facts, which are commonplace among educators, are that Asian students are not more intelligent than students of other races. They work harder and have focused ambitions.
One girl, Yen Vo, 17, came to the U.S. with her family 13 years ago from Vietnam. Her mother had nothing but the clothes on her back. She began working seven days a week, five at a sewing factory then weekends selling vegetables at Kansas City’s City Market. Her mother told Vo she only came to the U.S. to give her children an education.
Other members of her family are in dire circumstances, but Vo is an all-A student at Lincoln College Prep who wants to become a corporate attorney.
“To me, money means happiness. I’m serious,” she told Adler.
MORE AMERICAN parents and their children should get serious, too. The children of Asian immigrants not only win twice as many doctoral degrees as do the children of white Americans, they also have the income and accumulate the wealth that comes with those degrees.
The link between effort and reward should not be missed by any parents or any students, whatever their race, whatever their family circumstances. Neither race nor poverty are barriers to achievement in the United States. Even poor whites could match Asian accomplishments. All they need do is match Asian work habits.
The Asians-in-America story not only shows the one-for-one connection between disciplined effort and achievement, it also gives the rest of Americans still another reason to be proud of their country. There are fewer than 15 million Asians in the U.S. They make up less than 5 percent of the population, yet the children of this very small minority rise to the top in our nation’s best universities.
They are perfect proof that opportunity in this land of ours is open to all — or to all who aim high and work hard.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
