Sowell further argues that Hitler was highly inconsistent in his views toward an unified Germany since he strenuously argued for annexation of the German-dominated Sudetenland, but German-dominated portions of Italy such as Tyrol were ignored in preference for an alliance with Benito Mussolini.īlack Education: Achievements, Myths, and Tragedies The fourth essay features Sowell's argument that Germany should not be defined solely by the 12-year regime of Adolf Hitler from 1933 to 1945. The economic effects of slavery are also misunderstood since slaves were often a luxury item whose upkeep was a drain on the rich, and the availability of cheap slave labor nowhere resulted in wealthy societies. The world's trade in slaves and then slavery itself, was abolished by the British in the 19th century, against opposition in Africa and Asia, where it was considered normal. Contrary to popular impression, which blames Western society and white people as the culprits, Sowell argues that slavery was a universal institution accepted and embraced by nearly all human societies. In the collection's third essay, Sowell reviews the history of slavery. The resentment is from a perceived 'lack of added value' that the middlemen provide, as it is not easily observable. In the collection's second essay, Sowell explores the origins of anti-Semitism among those harboring jealousy toward Jews for their financial and entrepreneurial successes.Īmong other historically-persecuted ' middlemen minorities' were Lebanese and Chinese immigrant merchants. That culture came, in turn, from the ' Cracker culture' of Welsh, Highland Scots, Ulster Scots, and border English or 'North Britons,' who emigrated from the more lawless border regions of Britain in the eighteenth century. Sowell argues that the black ghetto culture originates in the dysfunctional white southern redneckĬulture which was prominent in the antebellum South. The title essay states Sowell's thesis about the origins of the 'black ghetto' culture.

The last three essays discuss the history of Germany, African-American education, and a criticism of multiculturalism.Įssays Black Rednecks and White Liberals

The third essay, 'The Real History of Slavery,' discusses the timeline of abolition of slavery and serfdom. The second essay, 'Are Jews Generic?', discusses middleman minorities. The first essay, the book's namesake, traces the origins of the 'ghetto' African-American culture to the culture of Scotch-Irish Americans in the Antebellum South. The collection, published in 2005, explores various aspects of race and culture, both in the United States and abroad.

Black Rednecks and White Liberals is a collection of six essays by Thomas Sowell.

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