"There are men, in all ages, who mean to exercise power usefully; but who mean to exercise it. They mean to govern well; but they mean to govern. They promise to be kind masters; but they mean to be masters." Daniel Webster

Thursday, March 19, 2009

The Immigrant Paradox

Joanne Jacobs notes that scholars are trying to understand the "immigrant paradox," the fact that the grandchildren of many immigrants seem to be doing worse than their grandparents, despite having better English skills.

Why?

"They are starting to buy in to the notion of minorities here [in the United States], that even if you work hard and play hard, discrimination is going to get at you," said one researcher.

It seems that the groups who have the least problems are those that in some ways assimiliate the least and who shelter their children from American culture, the Chinese and Koreans.

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