" Despite the racial animosity American blacks have faced, they have become the most "culturally Europeanized of all African-origin populations in the world " and the most prosperous," by virtue of their residence in the United States.
While Sowell certainly has a heart for Western civilization, particularly in its British expressions, he doesn't fail to recognize the successes of the Japanese, who for some time now have excelled at borrowing, adapting, and improving upon the inventions of others. Or of the Chinese, who make up five per cent of Indonesia's population but own four-fifths of its capital. Or of early 20th-century Hungarian Jews, who constituted six per cent of that nation's population and over 50 per cent of its physicians. Certainly these Jews, and their Eastern European kin, did not have it easy. Indeed, relative to their Christian neighbors, they often had it very hard indeed, yet they persevered, valued hard work, and were committed to prospering. They capitalized on available opportunities, and they nurtured a respect for honesty, discipline, and tough thinking in their children. In short, they accumulated human capital. One isn't surprised to discover, then, that the children of Eastern Europe's Jewish immigrants to the New World made up the most successful ethnic group in 20th-century America.
EDUCATION.
Decades of advocacy experience in public schools across the country has shown that even the best-intentioned reforms result in new problems for children who are poor, minority, or recent immigrants--those in greatest peril of academic failure. So far, the standards movements has failed to acknowledge the troublesome fact that U.S. public schools present students and parents with a very uneven playing field. .
Some schools have modern facilities, well-trained teachers, sufficient supplies and materials, and supportive communities. Other schools--mainly in urban and rural areas--are in profound disrepair, lack books and even toilet paper, have poorly trained and motivated teachers, and serve children with a wide array of social and economic disadvantages.
