I think that you'll be glad you read it. Some of the ideas in the book:
* Gangsta culture has nothing to do with Africa.
* Northern black and white people did not want either Southern black or white people around.
* Racism more likely followed slavery as a balm for conscience, rather than leading to slavery.
* Slavery is an ancient worldwide practice involving all races as the slavers and slaves.
* Slave trade in the west was with African slavers because that was who was doing business.
* Trans Saharan slavery left a different legacy because of the horrendous death rate of the Saharan crossing, the fact that most of the slaves were women and of the men who were enslaved, many were castrated so they were not reproducing to increase the wealth of the slaveholders like in America.
* Many of the sailors who crewed the slave ships died of tropical diseases which was fine with the slavers since that meant that they didn't have to pay them.
* It took the force of the British Navy to end slave trade outside the US and Brittan by stopping slave ships.
* Some of the most successful groups have been the ones facing discrimination, racism and poverty.
* The Federalist founders had to make compromises to have one nation, rather than two.
* The Southern states wanted the census to count slaves. The 3/5ths was a compromise to reduce the Congressional power of the slave states by reducing the number of Congressmen they would obtain from the Census rather than the gotcha accusation of racism.
* Estates were passed down thru the generations and to give up slaves was to deprive your heirs of wealth that was to be passed down to them.
* Some number of slaves were slaves in name only because freeing them subjected them to being shipped to the south and enslaved again.
* Many who opposed slavery despised the abolitionists desire for a sudden end out of fear of a race war (think Nate Turner) and felt like they had a wolf by the ears that they could neither hold nor let loose. It could be argued that that didn't happen with abolition because of the Northern troops stationed in the South for years.
* There were highly successful black schools that were ruined by court rulings.
* Black people were making faster gains before the civil rights activity of the 60s and there was even regression. If the woes of black Americans is all due to slavery, why did it skip a generation?
* Modern SJWs are too intent on making history about white people victimizing black people and other minorities while neglecting the history of accomplishments of black people.
* Everything is more complicated than the simple gotcha arguments floated today, and Sowell presents a great deal of balance missing today.
"* Black people were making faster gains before the civil rights activity of the 60s "
Whoa. I would like to see that corroborated. I remember black people with doctorates who could not advance past janitorial work. There was nothing iffy about discrimination, and without affirmative action I think this would be back in a generation.
Neither he nor I deny the gains brought by the civil rights movement. Sometimes things that happen in the same time frame may or may not have a causal relationship. He actually puts a great emphasis on the problems brought with the legacy of slavery, but an aspect mostly ignored. The redneck culture absorbed and carried away which have nothing to do with race. He does not deny the influence of poverty but provides evidence that with a different mindset, impoverished people can come out on top.
Just added the Sowell book to my Christmas wish list.
I think that you'll be glad you read it. Some of the ideas in the book:
* Gangsta culture has nothing to do with Africa.
* Northern black and white people did not want either Southern black or white people around.
* Racism more likely followed slavery as a balm for conscience, rather than leading to slavery.
* Slavery is an ancient worldwide practice involving all races as the slavers and slaves.
* Slave trade in the west was with African slavers because that was who was doing business.
* Trans Saharan slavery left a different legacy because of the horrendous death rate of the Saharan crossing, the fact that most of the slaves were women and of the men who were enslaved, many were castrated so they were not reproducing to increase the wealth of the slaveholders like in America.
* Many of the sailors who crewed the slave ships died of tropical diseases which was fine with the slavers since that meant that they didn't have to pay them.
* It took the force of the British Navy to end slave trade outside the US and Brittan by stopping slave ships.
* Some of the most successful groups have been the ones facing discrimination, racism and poverty.
* The Federalist founders had to make compromises to have one nation, rather than two.
* The Southern states wanted the census to count slaves. The 3/5ths was a compromise to reduce the Congressional power of the slave states by reducing the number of Congressmen they would obtain from the Census rather than the gotcha accusation of racism.
* Estates were passed down thru the generations and to give up slaves was to deprive your heirs of wealth that was to be passed down to them.
* Some number of slaves were slaves in name only because freeing them subjected them to being shipped to the south and enslaved again.
* Many who opposed slavery despised the abolitionists desire for a sudden end out of fear of a race war (think Nate Turner) and felt like they had a wolf by the ears that they could neither hold nor let loose. It could be argued that that didn't happen with abolition because of the Northern troops stationed in the South for years.
* There were highly successful black schools that were ruined by court rulings.
* Black people were making faster gains before the civil rights activity of the 60s and there was even regression. If the woes of black Americans is all due to slavery, why did it skip a generation?
* Modern SJWs are too intent on making history about white people victimizing black people and other minorities while neglecting the history of accomplishments of black people.
* Everything is more complicated than the simple gotcha arguments floated today, and Sowell presents a great deal of balance missing today.
* He does not let the slavers off the hook.
* He presents evidence for these ideas.
You can see why some activists hate the book.
"* Black people were making faster gains before the civil rights activity of the 60s "
Whoa. I would like to see that corroborated. I remember black people with doctorates who could not advance past janitorial work. There was nothing iffy about discrimination, and without affirmative action I think this would be back in a generation.
Neither he nor I deny the gains brought by the civil rights movement. Sometimes things that happen in the same time frame may or may not have a causal relationship. He actually puts a great emphasis on the problems brought with the legacy of slavery, but an aspect mostly ignored. The redneck culture absorbed and carried away which have nothing to do with race. He does not deny the influence of poverty but provides evidence that with a different mindset, impoverished people can come out on top.
Check out what Tulsa was like before the infamous Black Wall Street Massacre.
That's the one example I know of. I'll have to read the book to learn more I guess.
American slavery was likely the cruelest the world had ever seen. Even Roman slaves had some rights.