Maybe, maybe not. My sister works in the hospitality industry. They hire huge numbers of recent immigrants. She says it is quite common for a Bosnian or Croatian to come here not knowing a word of English and without two nickels to rub together, and in two or three years he is a manager, speaking good English. They often leave to start their own businesses, or go to college and become executives or professionals.
On the other hand, immigrants from more tropical climes will work until the end of their days at the same job, sometimes turning down promotions if they require learning English or working longer hours.
This is not because the white immigrants are favored by racism, either. Quite to the contrary. The company goes to excruciating pains to figure out how many non-whites they need to promote, whether qualified or not, to satisfy the Federal quota mongers. Moreover, she sees the same pattern of maniacal ambition and self-improvement amongst some non-white immigrant groups, like the Vietnamese and Chinese.
The professors and pundits can argue about whether it is cultural or genetic, but there is no question that immigrants from some countries do way better than those from other countries.
I can concur with this. I am a former casino dealer in Atlantic City (still living in the area), and many of my former co-workers (and current neighbors) are from places like Vietnam, China, India, Cuba and other "workers' paradises". The work ethic displayed by first generation Americans from these countries is incredible. Many of them would take second jobs, and work 70-80 hours a week, while living very humble lifestyles so they could save up enough money to purchase rental properties or to invest in other businesses (dollar stores, motels, grocery stores, gas stations, etc.). Two of my former co-workers (one Vietnamese, and one Cuban) who purchased several modest rental properties throughout the mid to late 90's are now worth over $1 million. They still work as casino employees for the company medical benefits, but they are living the American dream. My Cuban friend, who came here in the early 90's, explained that the drive to own property in the U.S. came from the fact that he couldn't own anything in Cuba, no matter how hard he worked. My Vietnamese friend (who still has a heavy accent) used to ask me: "How can people be poor in the U.S. when you can speak English?" I didn't know how to answer him. He came here with nothing, had poor English skills, and worked menial jobs (dishwasher, bus boy) until he was able to get a casino license, lived in a rented room (No TV), and saved his money so he could purchase one property a year. No new car, no big screen TV. He purchased some modestly priced rental properties in Atlantic City and in the surrounding area that needed some work, and now he is sitting on a "mini-empire" of real estate. What is interesting is the fact that some native born Americans will direct some bitterness towards these people, thinking that they were somehow "given" these opportunities, or that they were obtained at the expense of someone else. When people say that the U.S. isn't so great, I ask them to follow the migration. I don't see too many people leaving the U.S. to live in Africa, Europe, or the mid east, and I certainly don't see many people in Miami risking their lives, swimming through shark filled waters for an "opporunity" to live in the communist "woker's paradise" of Cuba. God Bless America.
I will bet money that the people you're talking about are better educated than the average African immigrant, but maybe I should have said, "A white man from Bosnia with no skills and the average education" and without the willingness to do something about either ...
Where do you live that Bosnians and Croatians are working in large numbers in hospitals? Im my area (WV) we're deluged with foreign doctors, mostly Muslims from Arab nations. Mexicans haven't made it this far north in large numbers, and Russians haven't made it this far south from NJ.