The success of Asians in western societies tends to blow this argument away.
Look at Australia, USA, Canada, UK......Asian immigrants have higher median incomes, dominate elite/specialist high schools and are massively over-represented in tertiary education. Basically they are much more successful than whites and other minorities in these societies and often as quickly as within 1 or 2 generations after arriving as immigrants.
What probably is the case and what statistics reflect is that people from non-"white" or Asian backgrounds lack the discipline, ingrained cultural strength and value of education and hard work that leads to long term success.
