A00168 - Book of the Month for the Months of June and July 2023: Black Rednecks and White Liberals by Thomas Sowell: First Notes
"A 1951 survey in Detroit found that white Southerners living there were considered "undesirable" by 21 percent of those surveyed compared to 13 percent who ranked blacks the same way." (Page 1)
"More is involved here than a mere parallel which between blacks and Southern whites. What is involved is a common subculture that goes back for centuries, which has encompassed everything from ways of talking to attitudes toward education, violence, sex -- and which originated not in the South, but in those parts of the British Isles from which white Southerners came. That culture long ago died out where it originated in Britain, while surviving in the American South. Then it largely died out among both white and black Southerners, while still surviving today in the poorest and worst of the urban black ghettos." (Page1)
"During the era when dueling became a pattern among upper class Americans -- between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War -- it was particularly prevalent in the South. As a social history of the United States noted: "Of Southern statesmen who rose to prominence atter 1790, hardly one can be mentioned who was not involved in a duet." Editors of Southern newspapers became involved in a duel." Editors of Southern newspapers became involved in duels so often that cartoonists depicted them with a pen in one hand and a dueling pistol in the other. Most duels arose not over substantive issues but over words considered insulting. At lower social levels, Southern feuds such as that between the Hatfields and the McCoys -- which began in a dispute over a pig and ultimately claimed more than 20 lives -- became legendary." (Page 10)
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I have only begun reading "Black Rednecks and White Liberals", but so far one gnawing thought is that Professor Sowell mistakenly believed that the "cracker" culture of white Southerners had died out. However, after watching what happened on January 6, 2021 and after binge watching the No. 1 television show in the country (Yellowstone), I am convinced that the "cracker" culture of White Southerners is alive and well and is not simply the province of the "poorest and worst of the urban black ghettos."
Peace,
Everett "Skip" Jenkins
Fairfield, California
July 5, 2023
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: skipjen2865@aol.com <skipjen2865@aol.com>
To:
Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2023 at 12:47:07 AM PDT
Subject: A Full Card Table of Black Economists
In response to my "A Tale of Two Black Economists", a fellow Black Alum of Amherst College who happens to be a distinguished economist in his own right wrote the email set forth below.
It may be some time before I can read his recommended book list, however, I can begin the discussion of Thomas Sowell's "Black Rednecks and White Liberals". In doing so, the book will be not only my book of the month for June 2023 but also for July 2023.
Let the reading begin.
Everett "Skip" Jenkins
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Russell Williams <williams_russell@wheatoncollege.edu>
To: skipjen2865@aol.com <skipjen2865@aol.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2023 at 10:25:26 AM PDT
Subject: Re: Fw: A Tale of Two Black Economists
;Hi Skip (and everyone else),
A couple of things related to your post.
Yes, it is thoroughly appropriate to read about an economist's (or any other social scientist's) background to seek insight into their beliefs and writings (although I caution everyone about simplified cause-effect reasoning). Just as an FYI and to give you some comfort in the quality of my recommendations, I hold a Certificate in History of Economic Thought from Duke University's Center for the History of Political Economy (CHOPE or simply HOPE)
One of the most thoughtful books in such explorations is Kenneth Hoover's Economics as Ideology: Keynes, Laski, Hayek and the Creation of Contemporary Politics, which, as described on the book jacket, "explores the lives and thought of three powerful theorists who shaped the foundations of the center, left, and right of the political spectrum in the 20th century." Notably, Keynes, Laski, and Hayek were contemporaries---all three wrote, taught, and were shaped by events in the early 20th century.
If you were intellectually interested in exploring still further in the insights that reading such books can provide, I refer you to Hayek: A Life, 1899-1950, by Bruce Caldwell (Director of Duke's CHOPE) and Hansjorg Kalusinger, This book was named "A 2022 Best Book of the Year" by The Economist magazine. The book description states "historians of economics Bruce Caldwell and Hansjörg Klausinger draw on never-before-seen archival and family material to produce an authoritative account of the influential economist’s first five decades. This includes portrayals of his early career in Vienna; his relationships in London and Cambridge; his family disputes; and definitive accounts of the creation of The Road to Serfdom and of the founding meeting of the Mont Pèlerin Society" One economist/reviewer described this book as "brilliant, comprehensive, and engaging. For any historian, social scientist, or philosopher interested in how ideas shaped the twentieth century and how the events of the twentieth century framed intellectual discourse, this is a must-read."
To stimulate your thoughts in a slightly different direction, I also recommend Paul Nizan's The Watchdogs.(in the original French it is titled "Les Chiens de Garde"--- which would be translated directly as "The Guard Dogs"). It is dated (published in 1972), but Its central idea---that many philosophers/academiciens/intellectuals choose to adopt the mission of protecting the interests of the powerful.-- is still worthy of consideration as we think about the various "philosophies" currently articulated in our world.
Next to last, If you are specifically interested in Sowell's experience at Amherst , I would call attention to the fact that there are some Amherst Black alums who took at least one Econ class with Sowell.You might invite some of them to share with you their perspectives. Be aware that some may not want to publicly comment. .
Finally, if you are generally interested in how the perspectives and activities of Black economists might be shaped, I refer you also to the recent articles in tribute to Bill Spriggs, who passed away recently.
Wishing you inner peace amidst the struggle for a better tomorrow......
Russell '72
Russell E. Williams, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
Department Chair, 2013-2019
Robert and Mary Priedeman Brown '43 Professor of Urban Planning and Environment,2014-2019 (endowed chair)
Wheaton College
Norton, MA
On Sat, Jun 24, 2023 at 5:25 AM skipjen2865@aol.com <skipjen2865@aol.com> wrote:It is June 24 and I have not yet begun reading my book of the month "Black Rednecks and White Liberals" by Thomas Sowell. But that is not surprising, I am still only four-fifths of the way through "Autobiography of a Yogi" and I still need to finish the Notes for "Awe". However, even before beginning Thomas Sowell's book, I stumbled tonight upon the bio for a contemporary black economist, Thaddeus Spratlen, and I was struck by the contrast in the lives of these two black economists and their vastly different economic perspectives.For those who have read Thomas Sowell's book or who are familiar with his economic philosophy, I wonder if it is at all beneficial to look at his personal background to better understand the foundation for his economic philosophy. I wonder...Peace,Everett "Skip" Jenkins-----Original Message-----
From: skipjen2865@aol.com <skipjen2865@aol.com>
To:
Sent: Sun, Jun 11, 2023 8:39 am
Subject: Book of the Month for the Month of June 2023: Black Rednecks and White Liberals by Thomas SowellOn my slow journey through Black History, I have now reached a "bump" that is causing me to stop and pull off to the side of the road. The "bump" is the biography of one Thomas Sowelland what causes me to pull off to the side of the road is a consideration of a Thomas Sowell book recommended by one of my Amherst College classmates entitled Black Rednecks and White LiberalsIn reading the Wikipedia bio for Thomas Sowell, it appears that his brief stint at Amherst College in the late 1970s was one of the main reasons that he decided to abandon his academic teaching career. Given all this, I am pausing in the month of June 2023 to read Black Rednecks and White Liberals, my Book of the Month for the Month of June 2023 to see if the Amherst men and women of the late 1970s performed the world a great service in helping to end Mr. Sowell's teaching career.Y'all are welcome to join me. Perhaps, by reading Professor Sowell's book, we all may experience a different kind of "awe".Peace,Everett "Skip" Jenkins