This is such an interesting book. We travel back in time, and are taken initially to the settlers in America, and some traits of those settlers. Also, there have been broadcasted statements that have been presented as facts about the intelligence of different races, and this book explains the reasons why these statements are not factually accurate. These are the main points, but there are of course many more, and all worth the time.

A woeful attempt in painting with the brush of a simple explanation to cover a complex social issue. The reader must first accept the authors's openly prejudiced view of southern Whites, then the reader must extrapolate that view to Black culture to be able to agree with his conclusions. This scholar, beforehand, states that his views which are commonly discussed among scholars and academia, would be hardly heard by the lay person. The proclamation itself is proof that he is not in touch with the people he claims to represent.

I initially wanted to read this book to gain a conservative economist's view on history, specifically on the 18th through 20th century, in order to broaden my beliefs not only racially, but also to try and understand a well though-out and articulated conservative perspective (Sowell himself would prefer the term 'libertarian' over 'black conservative') Sowell's analysis in each of the essays in his book is very broad, each one containing hundreds of citations. In each one I found that I could appreciate the conservative perspective on a variety of issues. At the same time, the book was highly readable, using both unambiguous terms while avoiding sociological or other research nomenclature that a layperson might not understand.

For example, in his first essay, he provides great historical background on the first cultures from the British Isles to come colonize the Americas. While the essay is not as in depth as the book "Albion's Seed" (Compare 60 some pages to 900) Sowell identifies that Southern blacks inherited the Scotts-Irish "Redneck" culture that predominates the Southeastern and mid-Atlantic states, and that the cultural attitudes of today can be traced back to similar "Honor-culture" issues that plagued whites in early American history (And even today, read "Hillbilly Elegy") and also existed back in Europe before then. Such culture was often hostile to the ideas of formal education, and over-reactive and violent to perceived slights. This ties in with his fifth essay on the history of black education and asks the question of the reader: Why did Dunbar High School have poorer academic performance amongst its black students after Brown v. Board of Education and Desegregation? Why were blacks, on average, gaining in prosperity from World War I up until the Vietnam war when state enforced segregation was becoming more draconian since reconstruction? As he claims in the preface of the book, "...There is not the slightest danger that there will be a shortage of solutions. On the contrary, an abundance of uniformed solutions has been one of our biggest social problems" His reasons for bringing this up, as he claims later in the book, is that affirmative action based policies have done little to help promote black excellence, as well as the fact that welfare policies that don't address the increase in broken black families will be ineffective at best, and further destructive at worst.

Sowell also admonishes current cultural-studies departments for their bias in covering the history of the institution of slavery. Specifically the lack of instruction in the institutions of the Ottoman Empire and Barbary coast, as well as the fact that the original efforts to destroy the institution came from abolitionists in the British Empire and United States. He also provides a counter-narrative that racism developed as a result of slavery. First, he explains that for a good portion of time free blacks lived in the South. The institutionalization of race in slavery didn't gain traction until religious revivalist movements sought to justify slavery against early abolitionist and democratic causes. Second, that many of the choices of the Founding fathers to retain their slaves stemmed not from their moral justification from it, but because they had to make careful political choices. For example, Jefferson only freed a fraction of his slaves, since the majority of them belonged to the "estate" that he inherited, and not necessarily to him. Because the estate still had outstanding mortgages, freeing the slaves would, in the most abhorring way, be devaluing the property collateral against the estate and would be means for the bank to claim default. Such facts are despicable today, but Sowell doesn't claim that such actions were moral, but necessarily pragmatic. Imagine if Jefferson had lost that estate. Would a Southern bank care for the integrity of the slave families of that estate? Jefferson vigorously advocated for preventing slavery for expanding into new states, and while unsuccessful, one can't imagine Jefferson could lobby if he was forced into a scandal amongst his fellow Virginians for freeing slaves.

While Sowell challenged and tempered my liberal political outlook, he was unable to fully convince me on several topics, not for my own biases, but because while well-sourced, the book is not comprehensive, or he hand-waves several topics away without providing a stronger argument in support of his views. For example, Sowell chides white liberals for supporting contemporary rap music: "The thuggish gutter words and brutal hoodlum lifestyle of 'gangster rap' musicians are not merely condoned but glorified by many white intellectuals- and 'understood' by others lacking the courage to take responsibility for siding with savagery." In doing so, he betrays his views and shares in the hypocrisy of other censorious busybodies of the 80s and 90s, for example conservatives in admonishing metal and rock music for "satanic anti-Christian" and "misogynistic" themes. Metal doesn't contribute to the lawlessness of its audience, so why would rap music do the same? Another example of Sowell's hand-waving is his omission of several key portions of European history between Czechs and Germans. He claims that the Czech mistreatment of Germans after WW I contributed to the rise of Nazism and had its roots in Czech "Identity-politics" from losses incurred during the Thirty Year's War. However, his glaring omission of the politics of the 1848 revolution: that Germans were actively trying to annex the *full* kingdom of Bohemia, the majority who identified ethnically and linguistically Czech, and not just its ethnic German enclaves, as well as active discrimination against Czech citizens (Václav Klemen) paints a more complex view of history than the one Sowell provides. While I understand why Sowell wanted to include an essay/chapter on the history of Germany, its especially ironic how ten years after the writing of this book, a good number of the issues Europe faces today can stem from the overreaching dominion of Germany and its politics in the EU. The inclusion of this chapter doesn't enhance his argument in his other essays, and its inclusion is dubious.

One last point, while Sowell does provide arguments and evidence against the benefits of Affirmative action, he does not any policy solutions, nor does he celebrate liberal policies that do have significant evidence of working. For example, he chides Social Security and civil rights era policies for harming blacks, but ignores the massive benefit they have had in reducing the poverty of the elderly. Thus he misses an opportunity to demonstrate how social security has some racist undertones, for example, with a fixed retirement age across race despite Blacks having a lower life expectancy on average, and thus Black men drawing less benefits. Highlighting this however, would show the benefits whites and thus a majority of citizens have received, from Social Security. Second, he doesn't provide much investigation into the Flynn Effect, where IQ and other standardized test scored have significantly increased over the last century, across all races. While he uses to Flynn effect to chide liberals for being against IQ-Race related research, he misses addressing the fundamental question: Why would IQ suddenly increase across all races. One theory that is gaining traction is the improved environmental regulations that have taken place across the country: (http://web.mit.edu/ckolstad/www/Newel...) The unleading of gasoline coincides well with the sharp jump of the Flynn effect as well as sharp decrease of violent crime from the 80s onward. This makes a compelling case that environmental regulation is desirable in order to address these kinds of issues, but such a viewpoint is absent from Sowell's analysis and libertarian perspective.

As a result of all these factors, I would rate 2/5. While well researched and written, I would have been inclined to give a 3, or possibly even a 4, if Sowell had omitted his German ethnography and other biases in the book.

(This review was updated on May 13, 2023 to normalize its score against other books read on similar subject matter. Its rating was reduced from a 3 to a 2)

The first few chapters are the content referred to in the title where he talks about the Redneck culture that influences the majority of blacks in the united states. The north and south of America have two very distinct cultures. The south has this "cracker" culture which seems to be defined by a reluctance to commit to arduous work. It also has this honour culture where anyone who feels he has been insulted by another is obliged by his honour to step up and challenge the offending party, usually with physical confrontation. This element of southern culture was also outlined in The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. Haidt described a study where participants were asked to report to an office at the end of a hallway. They had an altercation with an actor who muttered "asshole" under his breath. When the subjects entered the office their stress levels were examined (blood pressure, heart rate etc.) and the participants who were from the southern states were found to be experiencing much higher levels of stress. Southerners appear to have been culturally programmed to retalliate with aggression or even violence when insulted.

A general lack of industry and discipline and a tendency to use violence to resolve arguments are the main characteristics that Sowell singles out. Sowell points out that only 1/3 of the nation's white population comes from the south whereas 9/10 of the nation's black population comes from the south. Therefore, although whites are somewhat affected by this counter-productive southern culture, blacks are disproportionately affected. Sowell uses IQ data taken from 1st world war recruits to illustrate the point. Although the U.S. black IQ is generally measured as being around 15 points lower than the white IQ Sowell points out that White soldiers in Northern states also had higher IQs than White soldiers in southern states and that black soldiers in some northern states actually had higher IQs than the white soldiers in some southern states.

Sowell expands on this theme by looking at various accounts of what life was like in the south in the 19th century. For one thing, Southerners owned 40% of the dairy cows in the country but only produced 20% of the butter. Southerners were less willing than northerners to exert themselves in churning butter for hours on end. If you found a farm that had butter to sell it would invariably be owned by European immigrants.

Sowell also compares the habits of long-settled southerners vs new immigrants (norwegians and Germans) who settled in the same areas. Southerners don't bother to cut down the trees in their field and when they do they usually leave the roots in place and plough around them, whereas the european immigrants pull the roots up and so produce more crops for their land. A German (residing in a southern state) will build a bridge over any streams on his property the first chance he gets whereas a southerner will ford that stream every day of his life.

Supposedly the lazy and violent social tendencies of southerners can be traced back to England. Apparently Northerners tended to come from certain specific parts of England whereas the Southerners tended to come from Northern England, Ireland and Scotland and so carried with them the tendencies of those comparatively barbaric peoples. Sowell is eager to point out that the Scots subsequently changed their culture dramatically during the 18th century and today bare little resemblance to Southern Americans. Sowell has a lot of evidence to illustrate the differences between Northern and Southern culture, but this part of his thesis, that these cultures originated in England, seems a bit more speculative.

Sowell spends a long time listing all the ways in which today's American blacks have lower IQs, lower employment, Higher crime rates, Lower marriage rates etc. but he leans very heavily on culture as the culprit for these disparities as opposed to blaming either genetics or systemic racism. He repeatedly compares blacks to other ethnic groups in America (Chinese, Jews, Indians, West Indians) who frequently outperform blacks economically within two generations of their arrival in the US. If racism is to blame for the state of the current problems faced by blacks then it is hard to explain how these other races are out-competing blacks even in spite of their relatively recent arrival in the country. Chinese Americans and Indian Americans earn more than White Americans and are over-represented at elite universities. 2nd generation West-Indians earn 58% more than black Americans. Such statistics must baffle those who blame systemic racism for these problems because West-Indians are surely visually indistinguishable from Black Americans, certainly to the average racist at least.

To tackle the claims that inferior genes may be the cause of black under-performance Sowell compares the outcomes of certain black schools and finds that some of these schools (most notably Dunbar) disproportionately produce high-achieving and influential black individuals in spite of the fact that these schools do not practice selection when enrolling students. If inferior genes were to blame then it would be hard to explain how the few individuals with good genes all somehow wind up at the same schools. For Sowell, culture is the answer to these discrepancies. The good schools practice a kind of strict, Northern, New England culture where misbehaviour is immediately dealt with and where perfect grammar is insisted upon at all times. Students who do not comply are expelled promptly.

Why do the Chinese and the Indians outperform blacks and whites in America? Culture. The attitudes that the parents of chinese students instill in their children are very different from the attitudes instilled by black parents. Chinese americans live under an expectation to be well behaved and to study hard. By contrast, over 2/3 of black households today do not have a mother and a father. Sowell points out that black boys often bully their more academically successful peers who are studying dilligently. They ask them "Why are you acting white? You think you're better than us?" He also notes that the gap between the IQs of male and female students is larger amongst blacks due to the distinct anti-authority, macho, anti-intellectual culture that exists amongst black boys but not amongst black girls.

Sowell's main agenda in this part of the book is that America needs to take another look at the cultures and attitudes that exist amongst blacks as well as among the more prosperous demographic groups. If America is to fix its problems with racial inequality then it needs to change black culture, rather than blaming society as a whole. Essentially Sowell's premise could probably be boiled down to "maybe we could all benefit from being a bit more Chinese..."

In another section Sowell looks at Middleman minorities. The most famous examples are the jews. In various cultures jews have moved in and become retailers, jewellers, money lenders. They have rapidly become prosperous (more prosperous than the natives) and have drawn the ire of their neighbours due to the fact that middlemen are always perceived as parasites, agents who take a cut of the action without providing any benefit to others. Sowell makes the case for the economic usefulness of middlemen and also lists various other middlemen minorities in various countries around the world (e.g. the Chinese in Malaysia, Gujuratis in Britain, Koreans in America). Jews are generic to the ranks of the middlemen minorities although Sowell gives them extra credit for being disproportionately successful in intellectual endeavors. The world's 0.5% jewish population accounts for 29% of nobel prize winners.

There are also chapters on Germans and their exceptional record of economic productivity in many countries and many different eras. There are also chapters about slavery where Sowell is eager to remind us that slavery existed in all countries amongst all peoples and that the West (especially the Brits) distinguished itself as one of the few bodies that actually tried to abolish slavery. The rest of the world were enslaving each other long before and long after the peak of the Antlantic slave trade. Sowell goes further and says that it was Britain's imperial power which allowed it to wage such a successful campaign against slavery, meaning that it is effectively western imperialism which has done the most to abolish worldwide slavery. If there is anything shocking in this statement, that is not because it does not fit the facts but simply because it does not fit the prevailing vision.

In summary I thought this was another first rate Thomas Sowell book. It felt a bit more cobbled together than some of his other books but it was still extremely stimulating. It wouldn't be my first recommendation from his ouevre but I still recommend it.

A friend recommended this book me seven years ago and I can’t account for my taking this long to take his advice. Sowell is the least-known national treasure we have in the U.S. His title essay is worth the price of the book.

Too bad this book is unlikely ever to be required reading in American high schools or colleges. It's scholarly, thoughtful, objective - far from the superficial, agenda-driven treatment that's being handed out today. If you read "Under Our Skin" (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...), be sure to read this, too. Or skip that one and just read this one.

Sowell explains how the culture of the South, which was inherited largely from uneducated Scots who came over to the new world, is the basis for many issues that exist in America today. He also uses his work from 'A Conflict of Visions' to explain how the unconstrained vision used to remedy differences is deeply flawed and only exacerbates the problems that exist in America today.

It's a fascinating read that offers a lot of insight into race relations no only in the US, but all over the world as he explains 'middle man minorities' such as the Jews and the Chinese and how they often face similar antipathy around the world. Included among such people are the Koreans, Vietnamese, Lebanese, and Armenians who have all been middle man minorities that elicit enmity for performing necessary and useful roles.

Exacerbating the problems he outlines are the policies to remedy them which are often beset with serious flaws because the people trying to implement policy don't ever really understand the problem. Their goal is to force an equal outcome at all costs.

Very, very in depth. Contrasted with today's sound-byte videos, cursory infographics, dubiously-sourced memes, and dumbed down renderings of history, you will find Thomas Sowell's style complex and hard to follow! No wonder his ideas are ignored or unheard of by so much of society. However, if you have the will (I was battling my limited attention span the whole time), this book is worth every bit of difficulty. More than a few times my jaw dropped at how much breadth and detail he pulled from when discussing the background of a people group. His treatise underscored for me just how important history is to understanding the social narrative. If you don't have time to read the whole thing, the first couple chapters are an outstanding counterpoint to the systemic racism narrative being preached by popular (and wannabee) pundits of our day.

This should be required reading for all high school students.

I can never get enough of Thomas Sowell. This book is fantastic - so much information about ancestral populations that I didn’t know, especially related to cultural aspects of the British Isles. I would love to be able to read it again but I want to find time to read his other books too.

While I don't have favourite author per se, I must admit over the years, Thomas Sowell's writings have strong influence on my way of thinking, such as the wisdom to be critical on how an argument is packaged and presented particularly those by politicians, academia and experts, and above all--facts matter. Of all Thomas Sowell's books that I read thus far, this book is one that resonate the most to me, it's has global relevance even though the focal point of this book was an America's theme.

Образът на типичния американски чернокож е добре познат на всички от телевизията и киното (а на американците е добре познат от улиците). Характерният диалектен говор, предизвикателното държание, обилната бижутерия и изобщо крещящ кич в облеклото и поведението…

Всичко това е характерно само за определен тип хора – по-голямата част от бедните чернокожи, живеещи в градските гета – но въпреки това, в последните десетилетния именно то се представя като “автентичната черна култура” на САЩ, произлизаща от африканските корени на американските чернокожи. Едва ли не, само този вид чернокожи са “истинските” чернокожи, а останалите, нормалните човешки същества с образование и работа, само се правят на бели (acting white).

Бедността и престъпното поведение на гето-чернокожите пък, в модерния политически коректен свят, се дължат на робството и дискриминацията, а не на начина на живот и ценностите на тези хора.

Черният академичен изследовател Томас Соуъл обаче има някои сериозни възражения относно всички тези схващания.

В серия от 6 големи есета, в книгата си наречена “Черни селяндури и бели либерали”, той доказва как това, което в момента бива наричано “черна култура” всъщност няма нищо общо с Африка или чернокожите, а е запазената култура на американския Юг, която пък е привнесена преди повече от 300 г. от размирните райони по границите на Англия с Шотландия и Ирландия чрез масовата емиграция на хора от там – където вече отдавна е изчезнала.

Типичните за гето-чернокожите днес езикови конструкции и говор (използването на I be и He ain’t, вместо I am и He isn’t и много други), любовта към показност и кич в държание и облекло, лесно наранимата гордост и агресивността – всички тези белези са характерни точно за уелсците и ирландците от английските гранични области, а по-късно за големи части от южните щати, където огромната част от черните роби са живеели и където те са попили тази култура.

Тази “култура на гордостта”, както я наричат други автори, забелязали сходството и историческите й корени, има и други черти, особено важни в икономически и социален смисъл – приемане на предприемачеството, упоритата работа и образованието като маловажни дейности, под достойнството на истинския мъж, силно маскулинизиране на обществените отношения и силна обективизация на жените и т.н.

Всички тези характерности, в исторически библиографски план, са описвани многократно от автори, говорещи за белите южняци на САЩ – за техния мързел, нежелание да се развиват, склонност да инвестират доходите си в символи на статуса (скъпи дрехи, бижута), за провлачения им говор, популистичните и емоционални политици и проповедници на юга. Сравнението със сегашните гето-чернокожи е фрапиращо.

Накратко – робството и дискриминацията ли са виновни за сегашното незавидно икономическо и социално положение на голяма част от чернокожите в САЩ? Безспорно те имат голяма вина. Но с направените от автора описание на други култури със сходни проблеми, но много различни крайни резултати, чрез подробен анализ на робството като институция по света, чрез анализ на развитието на училищата за чернокожи и техните образователни методи и резултати още от създаването им в САЩ, изводът, който сам се налага е един:

Не толкова дискриминацията, колкото самозатворената и самоподхранващата се деструктивна култура е причина за проблемите на американското черно гето. И именно тези, които я подкрепят и славословят като “автентичната черна култура” допринасят много за това все повече чернокожи да я приемат и да не искат да се “правят на бели” (т.е. да ходят на училище, на работа, да третират жените си като човешки същества, а не предметна украса и т.н.).

Тази книга има много какво да ни научи за интеграцията на малцинствата у нас.