by Walter Williams
The book that lays waste to myth after myth about the causes of human differences.
My longtime friend and colleague Dr. Thomas Sowell has just
published a revised and enlarged edition of "Discrimination and
Disparities." It lays waste to myth after myth about the causes of human
differences not only in the United States but around the globe.
Throughout the book, Sowell shows that socioeconomic outcomes differ
vastly among individuals, groups and nations in ways that cannot be
easily explained by any one factor, whether it's genetics, sex or race
discrimination or a history of gross mistreatment that includes
expulsion and genocide.
In his book "The
Philadelphia Negro" (1899), W.E.B. Du Bois posed the question as to what
would happen if white people lost their prejudices overnight. He said
that it would make little difference to most blacks. He said: "Some few
would be promoted, some few would get new places — the mass would remain
as they are" until the younger generation began to "try harder" and the
race "lost the omnipresent excuse for failure: prejudice."
Sowell points out that if historical injustices and persecution were
useful explanations of group disadvantage, Jews would be some of the
poorest and least-educated people in the world today. Few groups have
been victimized down through history as have the Jews. Despite being
historical targets of hostility and lethal violence, no one can argue
that as a result Jews are the most disadvantaged people.
Jews are not alone in persecution either. The number of overseas
Chinese slaughtered by Vietnamese mobs and the number of Armenians
slaughtered by mobs in the Ottoman Empire in just one year exceeds the
number of black Americans lynched in the history of the U.S. From
1882-1968, 4,743 total lynchings occurred in the United States, of which
3,446 of the victims were black. Sowell concludes this section
suggesting that it is dangerous for society to depict outcome
differences as evidence or proof of malevolent actions that need to be
counterattacked or avenged. Politicians and others who are now calling
for reparations to blacks for slavery should take note of Sowell's
argument.
There's considerable
handwringing among educational "experts" about the black/white academic
achievement gap. Part of the persistence of that gap can be laid at the
feet of educators who replaced what worked with what sounded good. One
notable example of success is the achievement of students at the
all-black Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., from 1870 to 1955.
During that period, Dunbar students frequently outscored white students
on achievement tests in the Washington, D.C., area. Sowell, who studied
Dunbar and other high-achieving black schools, says, Dunbar "had
unsparing standards for both school work and for such behavioral
qualities a punctuality and social demeanor. Dunbar's homework
requirements were more than most other public schools. Some Dunbar
parents complained to the D.C. Board of Education about the large amount
of homework required."
Dunbar High School was not the only black school
with a record of success that would be the envy of today's public
schools. Schools such as Frederick Douglass (Baltimore), Booker T.
Washington (Atlanta), PS 91 (Brooklyn), McDonogh 35 (New Orleans) and
others operated at a similar level of excellence. By the way, these
excelling students weren't solely members of the black elite; most had
parents who were manual laborers, domestic servants, porters and
maintenance men.
Observing the historical
success of these and other black schools, one wonders about the
catchwords of Chief Justice Earl Warren's statement that separate
schools "are inherently unequal." That vision led to racial integration
going from being a means to an end to racial integration becoming an end
all by itself. Sowell doesn't say this, but in my view, integration
becoming the goal is what has made diversity and inclusion the end all
and be all of today's educators at many levels.
Dr. Thomas Sowell's "Discrimination and Disparities" is loaded with
pearls of wisdom from which we can all benefit, and as such, this will
not be my final discussion of his masterpiece.
Source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273631/thomas-sowells-discrimination-and-disparities-walter-williams
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