The Whitest Immigrants You Know
A follow up on the List of Aspects of White Culture. Something I had no idea existed until this week, but the Census tracks household income by ancestry. It's a very long list, but I'll post some highlights:
Indian American : $119,858
Filipino American : $92,328
Australian American : $90,930
Chinese Americans: : $80,944
Japanese American : $80,036
Russian American : $77,841
Pakistani American : $77,315
Iranian American : $75,905
Lebanese American : $75,337
Korean American : $72,074
Indonesian American: $70,851
Cambodian American: $67,766
Vietnamese American : $67,331
Thai Americans : $65,357
Palestinian American : $65,170
Egyptian American : $64,728
Median American Household Income : $63,179
Syrian American : $63,096
Nigerian American : $60,732
British American : $59,872
Cuban American: $57,000
Brazilian American : $56,151
Moroccan American : $52,436
Peruvian Americans: $52,000
American Americans : $51,601 (white Americans?)
Ecuadorian American: $48,600
Colombian American: $48,000
Haitian American : $47,990
Bangladeshi American: $47,252
Burmese American : $45,348
Afghan American: $43,838
Ethiopian American : $41,357
Mexican American: $38,000
Puerto Rican American: $36,000
African Americans: $33,500
Iraqi American : $32,818
Somali American: $18,756
Um so holy shit Indian Americans. I kind of figured that they were a well-established immigrant success story, but I had no idea that they represented the highest income demographic, almost double the median. The rest of the top entries are heavily dominated by Asians and Middle-Easterners.
I'm not really sure what to make of this data (which, again, is from the Census). I think obviously, there is some selection bias effect at play. Almost by definition, the Australians that are willing to shoulder the expense to move to the United States must be wealthy already. And the fact that a significant driver of Somali and Iraqi immigration is seeking refuge from a failed state probably explains at least partially why they're at the very bottom.
Even keeping all of that in mind, we still have a ton of ethnic groups that are absolutely trouncing native-born Americans at their own game. I've encountered the consternations in progressive circles about Asians being the "model minority" but don't believe I ever seen an earnest attempt to address idea on its merits. Most of what I've seen is an opprobrious accusation of the idea being a tool of white supremacy intended to pit minorities against each other while also casting doubt on the existence of systemic racism.
But what exactly is left to explain things? It seems that the idea of a culture of work ethic within certain demographics hyped up to a pathologic degree is somewhat accepted (see the Tiger Mom trope). But so does that mean that all you need to make it in America is enough determination and grit? This reveals some truly uncomfortable conclusions. If so, then how exactly does systemic racism manifest itself? If household income is a proxy, then apparently Indians, Filipinos, Pakistanis, Chinese, Cambodians, Vietnamese, Egyptians, Nigerians(!!), Brazilians, Moroccans, Peruvians, etc not only do not experience any racism but the system is apparently built to significantly favor them to a greater degree than your generic white household. Under what theory of systemic racism does this make sense?
I also just find it fascinating that a lot of these immigrant success stories come from third world countries struggling to catch up. Even the white supremacist idea that Europeans are responsible for the modern world falls apart here, because even if you concede that White people are uniquely skilled at establishing flourishing institutions (compelling theory IMO), those institutions apparently are geared towards allowing Asians and Arabs to achieve their apex. Odd combination.