A controversial examination of the performance rates of disparate cultural groups in America reveals how some ethnic groups appear to achieve greater income and productivity levels in spite of overall American beliefs about equality and self-esteem, discussing how the seeming benefits of a given group's cultural discipline and impulse control can also have consequences.

A compilation of more than 230 speeches by over 130 prominent African, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Americans from the late 1700's through early 1995, and includes a narrative of each speaker.