This paper examines how a great gap exists today between the academic achievements of white and Asian-Americans and the rest
of the non-Asian
minorities, which has been increasing steadily since the 1980s. The paper suggests the gap is a social construct created from the prejudice of the white majority and the unconscious and often paradoxical ways in which minorities inadvertently live up to their expected negative role. Other explanations for the achievement gap are discussed, but in the end, systemic prejudice mixed with the results of the "
stereotype threat" are seen to explain the burgeoning divide between minorities and the majority.