[ronmicle]

What are some good books and/or articles that tackle why blaming discrimination for differences in income between races is bullshit? I’m looking for something like this article that Tom Woods wrote a while back. I know Thomas Sowell has probably written stuff related to this issue…can anyone recommend a particular book of his?

I’m particularly interested in why blacks haven’t improved their socioeconomic status that much (in the aggregate) since the 1960s. I know it has to do with the failure of public schools, affirmative action, and the minimum wage, but I’m looking for a detailed analysis.

[woods]

Sowell’s book Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality? deals with this, but that book was published in the mid-1980s. I don’t know if he has updated his work on this in later writings.

[ronmicle]

Thanks Tom. I will try to pick up that book soon. I’ve realized Sowell has a bunch of videos on Youtube. Here’s one on why certain racial groups excel economically while others don’t:

[gutzmank]

Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality? is a fabulous book, not outdated at all. In fact, I’ve assigned it to my introductory students this semester, as on several previous occasions.

Besides that one, Sowell’s Preferential Policies: An International Perspective also obliterates the argument — I should say “assertion” — that discrimination accounts for differences in group achievement. That one is a bit dated, but still characterized by the author’s trademark cogency.

[ronmicle]

I just got through Rhetoric or Reality. I would like some updated stats, but it’s an excellent, short book. Has a great chapter on “discrimination” against women as well.

[woods]

Kevin, the book is definitely not outdated in a fundamental sense: its arguments are all sound, its logic is airtight, its grasp of history beyond reproach. But the stats go only up through the mid-1980s. Would be nice to see if Sowell’s claims hold up today. Do West Indian immigrants still earn much more than native-born blacks, for example?

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