Do certain groups in America excel in certain fields? If so, why?

[LuckyGem]

Originally Posted by Clark Park

This is just a generalization, I suppose, but I was always intrigued by the fact that certain specific communities - minority groups, you might say, seem to excel or even dominate in specific fields, occupations, and/or industries.

First of all, let's get one thing clear: this is meant to be a respectful and non-prejudiced inquiry. PLEASE NO BIGOTED, POLITICAL, RACIST or STEREOTYPING RANTS.

Let's honestly discuss how the myriad communities of our land contributed in a positive way, and how they came to specialize in those areas.

A few examples:

• African Americans - professional sports, popular music, entertainment, religion, etc.
• Irish Americans - politics, law, literature, journalism, film and television, etc.
• Gays & Lesbians - fine arts, theater, literature, classical music, etc.
• Jews - business and finance, medicine, higher education, film production, etc.

These few examples represent a racial minority, an ethnic minority, a sexual minority, and a religious minority.

I would like to learn more about other groups, say German-Americans (engineering?), Italian-Americans (Culinary Arts, Opera, Architecture?), etc.

Also, why do you supposed these groups gravitated to these particular fields?

Are my assumptions way off base? Are these really just stereotypes?

I'm here to learn!

Do not generalize about Americans that's your mistake number one.

Americans are NOT homogeneous. Americans are individualists.

There are ONLY two groups in America.

Group #1: Those who use their life to become educated and are industrious (doesn't mean book education all of the time).

Group #2: Those who do nothing to educate themselves (those who live off of other people/the government).

That's it. That's the mystery revealed.

Period.

When people generalize about groups it only reinforces stereotypes. And that is COUNTER PRODUCTIVE against American ideology.

American ideology says that no matter what your background is you can accomplish whatever you want if you work hard enough in America.

[swisswife]

There are LOADS of aspects to be taken into consideration....but surely the biggest factor has to parental influence which also perpetuates the stereotype...


Generally 1st generation immigrants ( in any country) work their asses off to achieve and so they impress the importance of hard work on their children. Parents who struggled don't tend to give their kids and easy ride.... All the Asian parents I know make their kids study HARD with lots of extra curricular activities to put them ahead of their peers... A Chinese friend is a well respected lawyer, as is his brother, the other brother is a doctor. Their Parents were 1st generation immigrants to the UK and spoke no English. They were hard on their boys because they wanted them to succeed.

Also many of the areas where specific groups excel could also be because they learn such skills from parents...learning to be a jeweler / chef because you hang around you parents.

Here is an interesting article about why Kenyans are so good at running....Why do so many Kenyans win marathons? - Slate Magazine