Comments on: LA Times: Why do Asian students generally get higher marks than Latinos?

By: Confuse_Us

Confuse_Us — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:36:04 +0000

I wonder if there is a normal socialization process going on for the Asian kids. Are the Asian kids losing out on social experiences because they are so focused on academics, or are they able to focus on academics because the socialization opportunities within the general school population are more limited for them than they might be for the Latino students?

I make this point because so many Asians comment on how they feel a sense of social/political marginalization as adults and I wonder if this is a feeling that has it's roots in their experiences in school?

By: John

John — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:11:05 +0000

I agree, this statement is ridiculous.

By: John

John — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:09:43 +0000

I am sure this is not just Silicon Valley… People in general tend to socialize with people in their own socio-economic background.

Hell, when I lived in Western Massachusetts, my county was “79.10% White, 8.10% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 1.30% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 8.85% from other races, and 2.32% from two or more races. 15.17% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.”

You bet my parents mostly socialized with other Asians.

By: DolemiteT3

DolemiteT3 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:34:16 +0000

"be explained by genetic and biological causes"

This particular comment is absolutely absurd, and should occupy blog space relating to something on the order of " Eugenics and how im the master race".
To disregard all of sociology and purly rely on a biological explanation, would be analgous to programming a computer without the use of a keyboard.

http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/amp60146.pdf

By: ancient one

ancient one — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:21:27 +0000

It might seem shocking that John doesn't really know any local Silicon Valley Latinos despite the large Latino presence, but it really isn't surprising to me any more. Many of the folks here in the Silicon Valley go to work and then go back to their own enclaves. Outside of work, Silicon Valley is rather segregated. This fact really struck me when I started coaching my daughter's volleyball team, and our bunch of Asian girls would play against teams that were totally white.

By: Anon

Anon — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:53:20 +0000

I think all these hackneyed notions of peer expectations and parental expectations completely miss the main point of the intrinsic differences between different ethnic groups. Its obviously something which is very un-PC to say, however, all of the statistics and studies in social sciences regarding educational achievement of different groups of people have shown factors when controlling for the environment still show differences which can only be explained by genetic and biological causes.Some open-minded reading by the LA Times journalist and the posters on this blog would be quite enlightening. The most rigorous would be Jensen's “The G Factor” and for starters this paper by Linda Gottfredson
http://www.udel.edu/educ/gottfredson/reprints/2...

By: DolemiteT3

DolemiteT3 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:25:30 +0000

This is funny, because first generational asian and mexican nationals not only excel in academia and in the case of Latinos ( Mexican-americans – California region ) overall better health than there 2nd or 3rd generational counterparts in the United States. Much less to do with race than an underlying social cause that we are not capable of understanding. ( i myslef am a latino computer sci/ premed major at a major univeristy with a 3.8 avg, – out score any asian anglo in my class, “boom”.) Whomever reads this form, Im sure is capable of noticing the difference between an Asian or Latino whos parents are first time immigrants and those who are not. One thing I know, and can guarantee is that any immigrant who settles in the United States, and then decides to have a family , that thier 2nd generation will be less ambitious and , less stuidious as the first. It doesn't take long for psuedoamerican culture to corode at any foreign race of people; just watch and take another poll, this second additional poll being more focused at those Asians who have adopted the “thug life”, ” graffiti” , “wear my cap to the side, im mean “.

By: John

John — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:58:14 +0000

Um, my point is exactly what Sunny had blogged about living in China.

By: moye

moye — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:54:19 +0000

Alright, so let's just throw all our ideas about ethnic identity out the window then. We can be anything we want to be.

By: John

John — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:09:00 +0000

Anybody can define themselves regardless of what others define them. Of course, one might be treated differently.