Black Rednecks and White Liberals

Black Rednecks and White Liberals

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 actually 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.

Are Jews Generic?

In the collection's second essay, Sowell explores the origins of antisemitism among those harboring jealousy toward Jews for their financial and entrepreneurial successes.

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.

The Real History of Slavery

The collection's third essay features Sowell's discussion of the history of slavery in Western culture.

Sowell argues that Alex Haley's popular mini-series Roots is more myth than reality.

Germans and History

The fourth essay features Sowell's argument that Germany should not be defined solely by the 12-year period of Adolf Hitler's régime from 1933–45. Sowell further argues that Hitler was highly inconsistent in his views toward a unified Germany – while he strenuously argued for annexation of the German-dominated Sudetenland, German-dominated portions of Italy such as Tyrol were ignored as Hitler preferred his alliance with Benito Mussolini.

Black Education: Achievements, Myths, and Tragedies

The fifth essay features Sowell's discussion of the early days of Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. and its eventual deterioration from its place of prominence in early Black education, which Sowell argues was a direct consequence of the famed Brown v. Board of Education United States Supreme Court decision.

Additionally Sowell argues that, though W. E. B. Du Bois was more activist in his attempts to end Jim Crow laws and other forms of legal discrimination while Booker T. Washington held a more accommodating position, Washington did at times secretly fund and support efforts to end Jim Crow laws.

History Versus Visions

The final essay features Sowell's criticism of the advantages that multiculturalism is supposed to confer to the society in which it is present.