Black Rednecks and White Liberals
Hardcover edition
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| Author | Thomas Sowell |
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| Subject | African American culture, Multiculturalism |
| Publisher | Encounter Books |
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Publication date
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June 25, 2005 |
| Pages | 360 pp. |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 57579375 |
Black Rednecks and White Liberals is a collection of six essays by Thomas Sowell. The collection, published in 2005, explores various aspects of race and culture, both in the United States and abroad.
The title essay is based on Sowell's thesis about the origins of the "black ghetto" culture.
Sowell argues that the black ghetto culture, which is claimed to be "authentic black culture", is historically neither authentic nor black in origin. Instead, Sowell argues that the black ghetto culture is in fact a relic of a highly dysfunctional white southern redneck culture which existed during the antebellum South. This culture came, in turn, from the "Cracker culture" of the North Britons and Scots-Irish who migrated from the generally lawless border regions of Britain.
Sowell gives a number of examples that he regards as supporting the lineage, e.g.,
an aversion to work, proneness to violence, neglect of education, sexual promiscuity, improvidence, drunkenness, lack of entrepreneurship,… and a style of religious oratory marked by strident rhetoric, unbridled emotions, and flamboyant imagery.
Sowell further argues that this "culture" did not exist uniformly among blacks, especially those considered "free persons of color", those trained in schools operated by people immersed in New England culture (who were, in turn, passing that culture to black students, specifically the need for a strong work ethic), and black immigrants from Caribbean islands (where slavery also existed). His essay argues that, among those groups, educational statistics were on par with similarly-trained whites (and higher than southern whites in general), and continued on an upward trend until the advent of multiculturalism.
In the collection's second essay, Sowell explores the origins of antisemitism among those harboring jealousy toward Jews for their financial and entrepreneurial successes.
Sowell argues that the jealousy is historically quite common among ethnic groups who have had historic success as economic "middlemen" who derive a profit from the service of bringing needed items to the marketplace. Among other historically persecuted "middlemen minorities" were Lebanese and Chinese immigrant merchants. The resentment is due to a perceived "lack of added value" that these middlemen provide, as it is not easily observable.
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