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Black Rednecks and White Liberals

Thomas Sowell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 85 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Dr. Sowell and Mr. Thomas 3 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Reading Thomas Sowell's essay collection is a frustrating experience. "Black Rednecks and White Liberal" is one of the most schizophrenic books I have ever read.

On the one hand, Sowell is a deeply informed and very insightful thinker. He brings a wealth of knowledge to the topics he discusses. With great erudition he casts light on many interesting questions, and he manages a wide ranging global outlook, which I found very useful. I learned a lot from "Black Rednecks".

On the other hand, Sowell is a highly partisan conservative. He will often stop an otherwise enlightening discussion to engage in petty, unfair, and unsubstantiated polemics. His account is biased and he makes sins of omission and commission.

In my review I will focus more on Sowell's sins than on his virtues. Partly because Amazon reviewers are so overwhelmingly in favor that I hope my review can act as a corrective. Partly because I dislike polemics and polemical writing, and partly because criticizing is more fun.

In the title essay, Sowell raises a fascinating possibility. I have long known that their culture is a main cause for the relatively poor status of America's Black. Blacks who do not share the dominant black culture - like Black immigrants - usually do quite well - Barak Obama and Collin Powel are merely the most spectacular examples.

I have always believed that the cultural causes for Blacks' lack of progress are a legacy of Slavery, and of the post Slavery discrimination against Blacks. Sowell argues otherwise.

Sowell defines the "Cracker" culture - lazy, intellectual incurious, sexual promiscuous, and machoisitcly aggressive. This culture originated in the periphery of England in the 16th and 17th century - the "Celtic Fringes" near Scotland.

Most settlers to America's North came from the central areas of England but the Crackers settled disproportionately in the South, and they brought their culture with them. Rechristened "Redneck Culture", it passed on to the Black population. Redneck culture has been fighting a slowly losing battle against the more productive culture of Northern Americans. Today, the last Rednecks are inner city Blacks.

Sowell makes a strong case, although I'm not certain he is right. I suspect we just don't know enough about the evolution and transmission of culture to really plot its motions. Right or wrong, this is a fascinating thesis.

Elsewhere, Sowell offers an insightful look into economically powerful minorities (a topic addressed by Amy Chua's World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability), a history of Germany and German Culture, and an interesting history of what was, up to the 1950s, America's leading black school, and how it fell victim to the Supreme Court's anti School segregation ruling.

Unfortunately, the essays are considerably weakened by Sowell's intemperate polemics. To illustrate, here's Sowell:

"The burgeoning... American welfare state ... and the declining effectiveness of the American criminal justice system... allowed borrowed and counterproductive cultural traits to continue and flourish among those blacks who had no yet moved beyond [redneck] thereby prolonging the life of a chaotic, counterproductive, dangerous, and self-destructive subculture in many urban ghettos" (p.33)

"In some white liberal circles--the New York Times, for example--the police are almost automatically at fault in confrontations with black criminals, hoodlums, or rioters" (p. 53).

In neither case does Sowell support these claims with facts or references. Some of the points Sowell the polemicist make are quite reasonable. Some Left Wingers are exceedingly deferential to minorities and overly critical of authority. But I think the worst offences in this regard are behind us. Today's mainstream Liberal view on race is quite nuanced and willing to acknowledge the problems with Black culture (See Richard Ford's brilliant The Race Card: How Bluffing About Bias Makes Race Relations Worse). Does Welfare promote unhealthy habits by encouraging delinquency and apathy? This is an argument Ian Buruma makes in the very different context of Muslim immigrants to the Netherlands (Murder in Amsterdam: Liberal Europe, Islam, and the Limits of Tolerence) - but it is less likely in the US, whose welfare state is far less generous than Europe's. And if Sowell was correct, we would expect a decline in Ghetto Redneckism (is that a word?) with the Reagan Revolution and the cut back of social welfare. Sowell does not offer any evidence to that effect.

The third essay, "The Real History of Slavery" is a useful, "big picture" history of slavery, which is worth reading and which I broadly agree with. But his account is again marred by partisanship. Sowell bemoans that American Black Slavery receives more attention than other instances of slavery, past and present. But obviously, American Black slavery plays a larger part in American life than other kinds of Slavery, so it would receive more attention. For the same reason, Jews discuss the Holocaust more than other genocides, and Americans discuss their war of independence more than those of the Greeks or the Indians.

Similarly, Sowell points out that Slavery as such did not grow out of racism. "For most of its history... slavery was largely *not* the enslavement of racially different people" (p.114). But American slavery did grow out of racism - Black indentured servants were treated quite differently than white indentured servants (See Don Fehrenbacher, The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law and Politics).

A main thesis is that Western Civilization is the only Civilization to have opposed Slavery. This is a good point, but Sowell rashes to exonerate Westerners, and to score political points. "Within Western civilization, the principal impetus for the abolition of slavery came first from very conservative religious activists--people who would today be called "the religious right." (p.116). Calling William Wilberforce and his ilk "The Religious Right" is akin to calling Newton a "Creationist". Sowell is both anachronistic and inaccurate.

Sowell's reading of history is partisan - he repeatedly lets America's white slaveholders off the hook. The record of the Founders on slavery is mixed (see Fehrenbacher's book and Joseph Ellis' Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation) - but Sowell consistently accentuates the positive. America's Founders recognized the immorality of slavery, and realized that posterity would judge their treatment of slaves. Some, like George Washington, went to great lengths to deal with the problem as honorably as they could. Other found ways of subduing their consciousness without getting rid of their slaves, or confronting their society. Thus Sowell points out that many Southerners (e.g. Thomas Jefferson) thought that the alternative to slavery would be a racial war, which they deemed more terrible. Slaveholders feared that releasing the slaves would breed disaster. In Jefferson's words: "we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale and self-preservation in the other" (p. 149). But Sowell only briefly concedes how convenient and self serving this conviction was - a perfect excuse for doing nothing. He also ignores the Southern view that slavery was worse for the slaver than it was for the slave. He emphasizes Southern support of the abolition of the slave trade, but ignores the economic benefit of abolition to the upper South, a net exporter of slaves to the lower South. In short, Sowell consistently offers the most charitable reading possible of the Slaveholders.

Stylistically, Sowell's somewhat heavy handed, piling example after example in support of his various theses. This makes the book duller than it should be, and especially predictable. Read the first example of a section (for example, the part about the education of Middleman minorities, pp. 92-96), and you can often mentally complete it yourself.

Like Jekyll and Hyde, Sowell oscillates between the good scholar and the bad polemicist. If you can learn from the one and overlook the other, you will benefit from "Black Rednecks and White Liberals".

Editorial Review:

Challenges dogma and dispels cliches that have long clung to topics involving race, ethnicity and culture.

State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America

Patrick J. Buchanan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 246 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Pat Buchanan is sounding the alarm. Since 9/11, more than four million illegal immigrants have crossed our borders, and there are more coming every day. Our leaders in Washington lack the political will to uphold the rule of law. The Melting Pot is broken beyond repair, and the future of our nation is at stake.
In this important book, Pat Buchanan reveals that, slowly but surely, the great American Southwest is being reconquered by Mexico. These lands---which many Mexicans believe are their birthright---are being detached ethnically, linguistically, and culturally from the United States by a deliberate policy of the Mexican regime. This is the “Aztlan Plot” for “La Reconquista,” the recapture of the lands lost by Mexico in the Texas War of Independence and Mexican-American War.
Comparing the immigrant invasion of America from across the Mexican border---and of Europe from across the Mediterranean---to the barbarian invasions that ended the Roman Empire, the author writes with passion and conviction that we have begun the final chapter of the Death of the West. Unless the invasion is halted now, Buchanan argues, by midcentury America will be a country unrecognizable to our parents, the Third World dystopia that Theodore Roosevelt warned against when he said we must never let America become a “polyglot boardinghouse” for the world. 
President Bush’s failure to halt the invasion and secure America’s border, Buchanan writes, is a dereliction of constitutional duty that, in other times, would have called forth articles of impeachment. In the final chapter, “Last Chance,” he lays out a sweeping immigration reform and border security plan, which, he contends, if not pursued, means George W. Bush’s legacy will be to have lost for America a Southwest that was the legacy of Sam Houston, Andrew Jackson, and James K. Polk. With an estimated ten to fifteen million “illegals” already here and tens of millions more poised to pour across our borders, few books could be as timely---or important---as State of Emergency. It is essential reading for all Americans.

The Fire Next Time

James Baldwin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Simply riveting; 1960s and Today: It holds its power 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

My sense is that Baldwin wrote The Fire Next Time for anyone who had ears to hear, regardless of color or faith or gender. The emotional intelligence with which he speaks is riveting.

It came true 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The man knew what he was talking about, when he said the U S would burn because of racial discord.

Editorial Review:

A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement. At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin's early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document. It consists of two "letters," written on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism. Described by The New York Times Book Review as "sermon, ultimatum, confession, deposition, testament, and chronicle...all presented in searing, brilliant prose," The Fire Next Time stands as a classic of our literature.

We Can't Teach What We Don't Know: White Teachers, Multiracial Schools (Multicultural Education (Paper))

Gary R. Howard

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Good ramp up, but... 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Three stars just for the "crazy uncle in the attic" metaphor. I intend to borrow that one someday- it captures what I've been trying for years to articulate.

The first two thirds of the book were interesting, though nothing you haven't heard elsewhere. Well, maybe not everyone was blessed with parents as enlightened as mine. That's the only explanation I can come up with.

The last third of the book, which SHOULD have been practical How-Tos instead turned into diffuseness and academic word play. It was very disappointing after how direct the first part was.

All authors claiming to teach me how to do something should first write a draft that lays out their proposals in point form. If you can't put it in point form, it's too academic. I want things I can take to a classroom.

Editorial Review:

Once again, in this expanded Second Edition, Gary Howard outlines what good teachers know, what they do, and how they embrace culturally responsive teaching. Howard brings his bestselling book completely up to date with today's school reform efforts and includes a new introduction and a new chapter that speak directly to current issues such as closing the achievement gap, and to recent legislation such as No Child Left Behind. With our nation's student population becoming ever more diverse, and teachers remaining largely White, this book is now more important than ever. It is a must-read in universities and school systems throughout the country.

Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass

Theodore Dalrymple

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 75 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Completely lacking in empathy 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 7 people found this review helpful.

The author is just dripping in self-righteousness. He places 100% of the blame for bad situations on the decisions the poor have made. He shows no grace or empathy. His observations aren't necessarily wrong- but he extends his assumptions to everyone in the same situation.

This is how he explains that abused women choose to be abused:
"At first, of course, my female patients deny that the violence of their men was foreseeable. But when I ask them whether they think I would have recognized it in advance, the great majority- nine out of ten- reply, yes, of course. And when asked how they think I would have done so, they enumerate precisely the factors that would have led me to that conclusion. So their blindess is willful." P40

These sorts of explanations are given for all different types of ailments of the impoverished.

Well Written and Interesting 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Life at the Bottom reminds me, in many ways, of Down and Out in Paris and London. It is an author looking at the lower classes from a fairly intimate and not academic view. Like Orwell's book there's not a ton of sociological jargon or academic noodling. That makes the book extremely readable but it also limits it to being a bit more anecdotal than far reaching.

Editorial Review:

A searing account of life in the underclass and why it persists as it does, written by a British psychiatrist.

Class: A Guide Through the American Status System

Paul Fussell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 124 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A dated, trite & slightly amusing outline of consumer spending habits by class, c.1983 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The bulk of this book is dedicated to consumer spending habits and while much has changed over the last 25 years (original copyright of 1983), there is a considerable amount that has stayed the same. There are some nuggets, but they are few and far between.

It is a light and fluffy distraction easily dispensed with in an afternoon. Those with a serious sociological interest would be far more satisfied with the work of Mills.

Just be sure to get it from the library, your bookshelves would not be complimented by it's presence.

Editorial Review:

In Class Paul Fussell explodes the sacred American myth of social equality with eagle-eyed irreverence and iconoclastic wit. This bestselling, superbly researched, exquisitely observed guide to the signs, symbols, and customs of the American class system is always outrageously on the mark as Fussell shows us how our status is revealed by everything we do, say, and own. He describes the houses, objects, artifacts, speech, clothing styles, and intellectual proclivities of American classes from the top to the bottom and everybody -- you'll surely recognize yourself -- in between. Class is guaranteed to amuse and infuriate, whether your class is so high it's out of sight (literally) or you are, alas, a sinking victim of prole drift.

Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession

Studs Terkel

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

My review 3 out of 5 stars.
4 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Studs Terkel has done some very good things with this book and he clearly is a talented interviewer with a strong grasp of the state of race relations in the US. I don't know that this book was particularly well written as he really did little more than aggregate a lot of (often, not always) interesting interviews. I'm not sure the book is still contemporary and I do feel that race relations have come a good ways along since this book was written. That being said, I do think this book is very worthwhile for most anyone, even today. While it was very interesting to gain insight into minority views on the Reagan administration, Farrakhan, etc., I think I honestly gained more from the every day stories and perspectives that were related. It will certainly get you to think about race relations from an entirely new perspective and that is far and away its most valuable aspect.

Editorial Review:

"The kind of book that happens along once in a long while."—The New York Times

First published in 1992 at the height of the furor over the Rodney King incident, Studs Terkel's Race was an immediate bestseller. In a rare and revealing look how at how people in America truly feel about race, Terkel brings out the full complexity of the thoughts and emotions of both blacks and whites, uncovering a fascinating narrative of changing opinions. Preachers and street punks, college students and Klansmen, interracial couples, the nephew of the founder of apartheid, and Emmett Till's mother are among those whose voices appear in Race. In all, nearly one hundred Americans talk openly about attitudes that few are willing to admit in public: feelings about affirmative action, gentrification, secret prejudices, and dashed hopes.

Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections From an Angry White Male

Tim Wise

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In this highly anticipated follow-up to White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, activist Tim Wise examines the way in which institutional racism continues to shape the contours of daily life in the United States, and the ways in which white Americans reap enormous privileges from it. The essays included in this collection span the last ten years of Wise’s writing and cover all the hottest racial topics of the past decade: affirmative action, Hurricane Katrina, racial tension in the wake of the Duke lacrosse scandal, white school shootings, racial profiling, phony racial unity in the wake of 9/11, and the political rise of Barack Obama. Wise’s commentaries make forceful yet accessible arguments that serve to counter both white denial and complacency—two of the main obstacles to creating a more racially equitable and just society. Speaking Treason Fluently is a superbly crafted collection of Wise’s best work, which reveals the ongoing salience of race in America today and demonstrates that racial privilege is not only a real and persistent problem, but one that ultimately threatens the health and well-being of the entire society.

Privilege, Power, and Difference

Allan Johnson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great insights 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This is a great book that will ennable you to see aspects of our culture that are so interwoven in our everyday experience that we're not even aware of them. It helped me see what we take for granted and understand what we can all do to make changes in our society so that it will become a place where people are truly equal. We all need to read this book and become more aware so things can change to become a more compassionate, just society.

Editorial Review:

This brief book is a groundbreaking tool for students and non-students alike to examine systems of privilege and difference in our society. Written in an accessible, conversational style, Johnson links theory with engaging examples in ways that enable readers to see the underlying nature and consequences of privilege and their connection to it. This extraordinarily successful book has been used across the country, both inside and outside the classroom, to shed light on issues of power and privilege..

. Allan Johnson has worked on issues of social inequality since receiving his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Michigan in 1972. He has more than thirty years of teaching experience and is a frequent speaker on college and university campuses. Johnson has earned a reputation for writing that is exceptionally clear and explanations of complex ideas that are accessible to a broad audience.. . .

A Practical Guide to Racism

C. H. Dalton

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Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A look at the races of the world by a lovable bigot, capturing the proud history and bright future of racism in one handy, authoritative, and deeply offensive volume

Meet “C. H. Dalton,” a professor of racialist studies and an expert on inferior people of all ethnicities, genders, religions, and sexual preferences. Presenting evidence that everyone should be hated, A Practical Guide to Racism contains sparkling bits of wisdom on such subjects as:

· The good life enjoyed by blacks, who shuffle through life unhindered by the white man’s burdens, to become accomplished athletes, rhyme smiths, and dominoes champions
· The sad story of the industrious, intelligent Jews, whose entire reputation is sullied by their taste for the blood of Christian babies
· A close look at the bizarre, sweet-smelling race known as “women,” who are not very good at anything—especially ruling the free world
· A crucial manual to Arabs, a people so sensitive they are liable to blow up at any time. Literally.

Including a comprehensive glossary of timeless epithets, with hundreds of pejorative words for everyone from Phoenicians to Jews, A Practical Guide to Racism is an essential field guide for our multicultural world.