Pop quiz on successful immigrants. I’m posting this because it goes against much current thought, and some of  the facts I’ve learned surprised me. More importantly, I believe there is an important take-home message from this pop quiz. Please continue reading.

After digesting the clues below, can you identify what country these immigrants came from? Admittedly, it is a relatively small group that makes up about 1.35% of our entire USA population (1). But this group has been astonishingly successful. Their median income amounts to nearly twice that of white households and three times that of black households (2).

Immigrants from this country are highly educated. Two-thirds have college degrees, and 40% have postgraduate degrees. Not surprisingly, they excel in many areas. For example, members of this group serve as CEOs of major companies, including those shown below. Can you name the country now? Below are more clues.

Here are more clues for solving this pop quiz on successful immigrants. These specific immigrants are highly represented in the professions. Many are lawyers or academics. According to one source (2), 1 in every 10 students entering medical school belongs to this ethnic group. This same source reports that this group has the lowest divorce rates of any ethnic group in the country, and that it owns 60% of all hotels (that astonished me!)

If you haven’t guessed by now, the answer is: Indian Americans! I learned this from today’s column by Tunku Varadarajan (“an ethnic Indian immigrant in the process of becoming an American“) in The Wall Street Journal (2). I was prompted to pass the word along because of the importance of Varadarajan’s take-home message, which is best expressed in his own words.

Take home message:

“Indian-Americans have achieved a breathtaking amount in this country in a couple of generations. What’s impressive is both the range of their success and that they have succeeded entirely on their own steam. No ethnic or racial favors have come their way from schools, colleges or government. At least until the recent Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action, it was a disadvantage to be an Indian student applying to an Ivy League school.

What Indians don’t specialize in is grievance. There is no Indian lobby pushing for increased “representation” in this or that economic or political sector, no pressure group ululating for ethnic enclaves, or for information to be provided in a language other than English. . . It is deeply unfashionable to speak these days of the American Dream. To do so marks you out, in certain circles, as anachronistic or sentimental. But if there’s one group that holds fast to its belief in the American Dream, it’s Indian-Americans. Unapologetic about their drive to thrive, they are rightly scornful of those who would say that America is a place that thwarts people on the basis of race.”

Question for readers:

What do you think of the Varadarajan’s statements, and of his opinions?