This article examines the disparities in school performance within the broader minority community of Quebec, itself made up of various immigrant subgroups. It compares academic achievement among students from Sub-Saharan Africa and the West Indies with outcomes for students born in Quebec, Canada, and elsewhere. Interviews have revealed that factors such as ethnic origin, social origin, and the time spent in the new country, in addition to the influence exerted by the immigrant milieu itself, work together to affect minority groups in different ways as they encounter what they perceive to be discrimination in Quebec society, and how the distinct individual identities that emerge as a result determine students' school success or failure.