[TimEricsson]

I thought the bogeyman in these discussions was genetic factors, not cultural ones?

Ever since I went to school in Ohio I realized that there is nothing Genetic to it. The Students from the Appalachian region of the US are white and lag significantly behind their white non-appalachian counterparts in Math and reading, on par with other minorities. This is entirely cultural, and is linked to poverty. Appalachian culture places an emphasis on being literate, math does not hold the same type of social reward as reading does.

I suspect that it is the same in some black cultures, where some that are poor have an economic disincentive to perform in Math and reading, then on top of that there is a cultural element that does not reward achievement in Math and Reading.

It strikes me as odd that white Appalachians are never added to the equation when race and intelligence are discussed.