Discrimination and Disparities

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Discrimination and Disparities Page 19

by Thomas Sowell


  63. See, for example, Orlando Patterson, Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1982), p. 176; Stanley L. Engerman, Slavery, Emancipation & Freedom: Comparative Perspectives (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2007), pp. 3, 4; William D. Phillips, Jr., Slavery from Roman Times to the Early Transatlantic Trade (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1985), pp. 46, 47; Ellen Churchill Semple, Influences of Geographic Environment (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1911), p. 90; R.W. Beachey, The Slave Trade of Eastern Africa (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1976), p. 182; Harold D. Nelson, et al., Nigeria: A Country Study (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1982), p. 16; Christina Snyder, Slavery in Indian Country: The Changing Face of Captivity in Early America (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2010), pp. 4, 5; T’ung-tsu Ch’ü, Han Social Structure, edited by Jack L. Dull (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1972), pp. 140–141.

  64. Robert C. Davis, Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500–1800 (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), p. 23; Philip D. Curtin, The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1969), pp. 72, 75, 87.

  65. An essay on this subject can be found in my Black Rednecks and White Liberals (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2005), pp. 111–169.

  66. Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France and Other Writings, edited by Jesse Norman (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2015), p. 549.

  INDEX

  Ability, 8, 9

  human capital: 11

  innate potential: 1, 2, 5, 9, 11, 12

  IQ: 3, 7, 56–57, 102, 133 (note 14)

  Achievements, 4–5, 6, 9–13, 14, 15–16, 125

  Africa, 2, 17, 51, 101–102, 106, 126

  Africans, 60, 126

  Age, 57, 64, 71, 92, 95, 96, 101, 121

  consequences: 45–46, 85, 101, 102, 116

  differences: 31–32, 102, 152 (note 17)

  Agriculture, 35

  origins: 5

  role in urbanization: 5

  soil fertility: 18

  Alcoholics, 23–24

  American Telephone and Telegraph Company (A.T.&T.), 41, 42

  Argentina, 51

  Asian Americans, 78–79, 91, 104

  Asians, 59, 91, 118

  Astronauts, 8

  Atlantic Ocean, 12, 17

  Australia, 51

  Baseball, 4

  Basketball, 69, 83–84, 104

  Birth Order, 7–8, 32, 101

  Black Americans, 27, 30, 34–35, 38–43, 48, 49, 53, 59, 61, 67, 69, 72, 75, 78–79, 110, 127, 139 (note 7), 152 (note 17), 159 (note 37)

  acculturation: 54, 55, 60, 62, 90, 121

  attitudes: 90

  “black English”: 116–117, 160 (note 49)

  children: 110

  crime and violence: 24–25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 54–55, 57, 58, 68, 69, 70, 71, 74–75, 83, 84, 85, 86, 104, 105, 110, 111, 112, 121, 138 (note 6), 145 (note 26)

  discriminatory treatment: 24, 27, 30, 34, 35, 38–43, 47, 48, 50, 55–56, 60–61, 62–63

  education: 55, 56, 62–68, 91, 105, 122–123

  employment: 24–25, 34–35, 41–43, 44–47, 54, 71, 74–76, 96, 141 (note 31)

  external factors: 90, 91

  families: 53, 63, 67, 105, 110, 121, 122

  “free persons of color”: 59, 60

  income: 20, 27, 28, 29, 34, 35, 48, 53, 58, 68, 71, 72, 75, 90

  internal differences: 52–55, 121

  internal factors: 90, 91

  migrants: 54–56, 57, 62, 63, 121

  minimum wage laws: 45–47

  mulattoes: 53

  occupations: 41, 42, 43, 53

  one-parent families: 110

  preferential treatment: 42, 43

  progress: 61–62, 110–111

  regulated monopolies: 40–42

  residential housing: 48–49, 53–54, 61

  retrogressions: 54–56, 58, 60, 62–63, 110

  riots: 110, 112

  sorting and unsorting: 38–40, 52–58, 61–63, 64–68, 69–70, 71–72, 76, 105, 120, 122, 144 (note 20)

  unemployment: 45–47, 96

  Brazil, 51

  Britain, 7, 10, 13, 14, 17, 96, 97, 101, 102–103, 104, 107–108, 110, 113, 123, 159 (note 37)

  crime and violence: 104, 105, 107–108, 109, 113

  education: 9–10, 91, 104, 105, 107–108, 109, 110

  in ancient times: 14, 125

  medical facilities: 109

  Britons, 7, 10, 109, 113

  Brown v. Board of Education, 64–66, 68

  Burke, Edmund, 126

  Businesses, 14–16, 22, 23–29, 34, 35–36, 38–42, 44–45, 73–76, 93, 94–95, 98, 106, 119–120

  Camarata, Stephen, 129

  Canada, 51

  Capital Gains, 86–89, 153 (note 23)

  Capitalism, 34

  Capitalists, 34

  Causation, 31–33

  correlation: 47

  external causation: 21, 32

  hypothesis testing: 19

  intentional causation: 33–34, 76, 93, 97, 104, 105

  internal causation: 21, 32

  locus of causation: 27

  systemic causation: 34

  Chance (see Probabilities)

  Charney, Joseph, 129

  Charter Schools, 66–67, 105, 122–123

  Chicago, 43, 51, 52–53, 54, 55, 63, 69, 76, 121

  China, 5, 12–13, 14, 96, 125

  Chinese Language, 117

  Chinese People

  in China: 12

  overseas Chinese: 13, 56, 91, 152 (note 17)

  Cities, 5

  Classical Music Composers, 8

  Cleveland, 53, 55

  Communism, 19

  Coolidge Administration, 97

  Costa, Elizabeth, 129

  Costs (see Economics)

  Crime, 26–29, 30, 57, 61, 113

  criminal records: 24–26

  high-crime neighborhoods: 26–29, 58

  homicide: 84, 101, 108–109

  riots: 107, 109, 110, 111, 112, 117

  punishment: 113, 114

  racial profiling: 83–86

  Culture, 8, 112

  Czechs, 117–118

  Dalrymple, Theodore, 6, 17, 101, 107

  Decisions, 24, 29, 30, 31, 33

  categorical decisions: 118–119

  costs: 21–22, 23–24, 37, 40–41, 44

  decision-makers: 20–21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37–38, 40–41, 42, 43

  decision-making venues: 24, 37–43

  feedback: 35, 119–120

  incremental decisions: 118–119

  Degeneration, 107–111, 112, 159 (note 37)

  Detroit, 53, 61, 63, 76, 124

  Discrimination, 5–6, 11, 18, 19, 20–49, 77, 101, 102

  anti-discrimination laws: 21, 25, 73, 111

  costs: 21–22, 23–24, 25, 26, 30–49

  discriminating tastes: 20, 21

  Discrimination I: 21, 22–23, 24, 29, 30, 31, 32, 59, 60

  Discrimination II: 21, 22, 23, 24, 27–29, 30, 31, 36, 37, 40, 42, 44, 45, 57, 59, 60, 73, 79

  empirical evidence: 78–79, 83–86

  employment discrimination: 23–26

  law-enforcement discrimination: 83–86

  lending discrimination: 78–79

  “redlining”: 22, 26, 28

  Disparities, 1–19, 20, 32, 53–54, 72, 78–79, 101

  age: 31–32, 101

  crime and violence: 61, 69, 84, 101

  “disparate impact:” 5–6, 32, 73–75, 102

  education: 32–33

  in nature: 16–17, 101–102

  incomes: 53, 101

  IQs: 3, 7, 56–57, 102, 133 (note 14)

  racial and ethnic disparities: 31–32, 72

  sex disparities: 25–26, 31, 32–33

  “Diversity,” 68, 70

  Earthquakes, 6, 17, 101

  Eastman Kodak, 15
–16

  Economics, 6, 10, 16n, 34, 40

  businesses: 14–16, 22, 23–42, 73–76, 93, 94–95, 106, 119–120

  competitive markets: 33, 34, 36, 37, 44–45, 46, 75–76, 93, 96, 98, 120

  costs: 21–22, 29, 30

  economists: 4n, 16n, 26, 34, 37, 45, 58, 91, 93–94, 109, 129

  employment: 9, 23–28, 30, 91

  housing: 48

  human capital: 11, 123, 124

  incentives: 33, 34–35, 36, 38–43, 75, 113, 120

  incomes: 8, 20, 27, 33

  labor force participation: 3n, 45–46

  market economies: 19, 33–34, 35, 36–38, 39–41, 120

  minimum wage laws: 44–47

  output: 18

  prices: 27–28, 29

  profits: 27, 29

  regulated monopolies: 40–42

  unemployment: 45–47, 96

  The Economist, 97

  Education, 3, 4, 8, 9, 32, 101–106, 107, 112

  Asian Americans: 91

  black Americans: 56, 62–63, 64–68, 91, 116–117

  Britain: 7, 10, 104, 106

  charter schools: 105, 123

  colleges and universities: 3, 7–8

  Japan: 10, 91

  Jews: 11–12, 51

  Scotland: 10

  sorting and unsorting: 122

  United States of America: 104, 105, 110, 122–123

  Egypt, 5

  Engels, Friedrich, 34

  English Language, 10, 59, 116–118

  “black English”: 116–117, 160 (note 49)

  English as lingua franca: 118

  English People, 10, 104, 105, 107, 109, 110

  Europe, 10, 11, 12–14, 16, 17, 25, 30, 52, 59, 60, 108–109, 124, 125, 126

  Eastern Europe: 51, 101, 117–118

  Southern Europe: 14

  Western Europe: 14, 101, 106, 117

  Exploitation, 19, 27, 106–107

  Families, 3, 6

  birth order: 7, 32

  child-raising differences: 8–9, 32, 112–113

  middle class families: 3, 9

  parents: 3, 8, 102, 110, 112–113

  twins: 8

  working-class families: 9

  France, 7

  Frazier, E. Franklin, 52–53, 121

  Friedman, Milton, 43

  Genes, 1, 5, 6, 8, 17, 18, 19, 77, 91, 100, 102

  Geography, 5, 12, 13, 17, 18, 101

  coasts: 18, 101

  mountains: 18, 101

  river valleys: 18, 101

  German Language, 118

  Germans, 7, 51–52, 127

  Germany, 7, 127

  Ghettos, 30, 52, 59, 66, 68, 69, 90, 112, 116, 117, 122, 123

  Golf, 4

  Government

  categorical decisions: 118–119

  feedback: 119–120

  government employment: 37

  medical facilities: 109

  political incentives: 36, 37, 39, 120

  political “solutions”: 100, 118–120

  Greeks, 14, 120, 125

  Grievances, 111, 115

  Harlem, 27, 31, 48–49, 53–54, 62, 67, 120–121, 144 (note 20)

  Heredity and Environment, 7

  Higgs, Robert, 34, 35

  Hillbillies, 28, 70, 90–91, 159 (note 37)

  Hitler, Adolf, 13–14, 19, 127

  Holocaust, 6, 125

  Homicides, 84, 101, 108–109

  Hong Kong, 13, 96, 97, 127

  Housing

  building restrictions: 47–49

  sorting and unsorting: 30, 50–63, 68–72

  Human Capital, 11, 123–124

  Hypotheses, 18, 19, 36, 45, 64, 77–78, 84, 91, 106, 107, 108, 113

  Ideology, 5, 6, 30, 100–101, 126

  Incentives and Constraints, 28, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38–43, 72, 75, 113, 120

  Income, 8, 33, 77, 86, 113

  capital gains: 86–89

  household income: 79–81

  individual income: 81

  redistribution: 123–124

  salaries: 87

  top one percent: 83, 86, 88

  turnover: 82–83, 87–89

  India, 5, 12, 30, 117

  early civilization: 5

  untouchables: 30

  Industrial Revolution, 5, 10–11, 125

  Intellectuals, 10–12

  Intentions, 33–34, 76, 93, 97

  Invincible Fallacy, 77, 100–112

  IQs, 3, 7, 56–57, 102, 133 (note 14)

  birth order: 7

  Terman group: 3

  Ireland, 52, 102–103

  The Irish

  in America: 25, 30–31, 52, 55, 103

  in Ireland: 102–103

  Irredentism, 115

  Islamic World, 125

  Isolation, 12–13, 68

  Italians, 51, 52

  Italy, 51, 52

  Japanese, 10, 31, 52, 75, 91, 118, 152 (note 17)

  Jews, 11–12, 13–14, 51–52, 55, 125

  anti-Jewish discrimination: 11, 12, 13–14, 30, 31, 41–43, 52, 123

  Eastern European Jews: 51

  German Jews: 51

  ghettos: 30, 52, 59

  literacy: 11, 12

  Nobel Prizes: 11, 13, 14

  nuclear bomb: 12–14

  Kodak: 15–16

  Labor Force Participation, 3n, 45–46

  Laggards, 4, 9–10

  Languages, 10, 116–118

  Law, 5–6, 11, 28–29, 120

  courts: 28–29, 64–66, 68, 73–75, 84

  police: 28–29, 84, 109, 113–114, 121

  “Leaders,” 29, 114, 118

  Lebanese, 51

  Lester, Richard A., 93, 94n

  Lightning, 6, 17, 101

  Literacy, 2, 10, 11, 12, 105

  Liu, Na, 129

  Luck, 112, 113, 114

  Male-Female Differences, 3

  Market Competition, 33, 34, 36, 37, 44–45, 46, 75–76, 93, 96, 98, 120

  Marriage, 52, 56–57

  Marshall, Alfred, 128

  Marx, Karl, 19, 34, 139–140 (note 16)

  Marxism, 19, 106–107, 157 (note 17)

  Mathematics, 1–2, 11

  McWhorter, John, 116–117, 160 (note 49)

  Media, 27, 33, 54, 78–79, 111, 114

  Medicine

  medical facilities: 109

  medical science: 10, 11

  Mental Tests, 3, 7, 56–57, 102, 133 (note 14)

  Merit Scholarships, 7

  Migrants

  emigrants: 13, 52

  immigrants: 51–52

  internal migrants: 54–56, 62–63, 121

  Minimum Wage Laws, 44–47

  income changes: 99

  racial impacts: 45

  unemployment: 45, 92–97

  Morality, 30, 33, 103

  “Move to Opportunity” Program, 70–71

  Municipal Transit, 38–39

  National Merit Scholarships, 7

  Nations

  lagging: 10

  leading: 12

  median ages: 102

  Nazis, 13, 14, 19, 42

  New York, 51–52, 61, 62, 66, 121

  New York Times, 67, 82, 98, 99

  The Nineteen Sixties, 107, 108–112

  Nobel Prize, 3, 11, 125

  Non-Profit Organizations, 37, 42–43

  Nuclear Bomb, 13–14

  Occupations, 2, 20, 32

  Opportunity, 2, 8, 9, 12–13

  Outcomes

  equal: 9

  failure: 2, 5

  random: 1, 2, 18, 29

  skewed: 4, 5, 6, 17, 18

  success: 1–5, 7, 9, 13, 15, 16, 48, 66–67

  Pacific Ocean, 17, 55, 56

  The Past, 125–127

  Photography, 15–16, 84–85

  Pinker, Steven, 61, 108–109, 145 (note 26)

  Plessy v. Ferguson, 40, 64

  Police, 28–29, 84, 109, 113–114

  Politics, 5–6, 10, 19, 29, 30, 32, 36, 57, 72, 79, 85–86, 106–107, 108, 111, 114, 122, 126


  The Poor, 27, 34, 35, 83, 86, 92, 105, 106, 112, 119

  The Poor Pay More, 27

  Portugal, 13, 101

  Potatoes, 102–103

  Poverty, 15, 19, 35, 71, 90, 104, 106, 110, 111, 112, 119, 123–124, 125

  Preconceptions, 5, 18, 19, 79, 80, 113

  Prerequisites, 1–6, 9, 11–12, 13, 14, 101

  changing: 5

  multiple: 1–5, 9, 11–12, 16, 17, 19, 101, 116

  Prices, 27

  Princeton University, 93–94

  Probabilities, 1–2

  bell curve: 2, 4, 101

  odds: 1–2

  randomness: 1, 4, 18, 29

  skewed distributions: 2, 4, 5

  Progressives, 63

  Public Housing Projects, 69, 70, 121, 129

  Public Utilities, 37, 40–42, 141 (note 31)

  Punctuality, 115–116

  Race, 5, 6, 8, 14, 18, 19, 21, 28, 30–49, 52–56, 57–58, 59–72, 74–76, 90, 101

  Racism, 33, 36, 42, 46, 47, 58, 59, 60, 69, 76

  Railroads, 39–40

  Regulated Public Utilities, 37, 40–42, 141 (note 31)

  Retrogression, 12, 54–56, 58, 111

  Reversals in Achievement, 4–5, 9–13, 14, 15–16

  The Rich, 83, 86, 99, 106, 112

  Riots, 107, 109, 110, 112, 117

  Roman Empire, 12, 14, 125

  San Francisco, 47–49, 56, 69, 95, 120

  Scandinavian Countries, 14

  Science, 5, 6, 10, 11–12, 13–14

  Scotland

  changes over time: 9–10

  highlanders and lowlanders: 10

  language: 10

  Scots: 10

  Seattle, 95, 99

  Sex, 21, 101

  sexual attraction: 25

  sexual differences: 3n, 8

  venereal diseases: 108

  Singapore, 91, 96, 97, 118

  Slavery, 34, 38, 59, 60, 125–126, 127, 162 (note 65)

  Smith, Adam, 10, 34, 139 (note 16)

  Social Degeneration, 107–111, 112, 159 (note 37)

  Social Visions, 97, 100–127

  “Solutions,” 57, 100, 112–124

  Sorting and Unsorting, 22, 26, 38–40, 50–76

  educational sorting and unsorting: 62–68, 105

  imposed sorting: 30, 52, 58–59

  imposed unsorting: 63–66

  residential sorting and unsorting: 30, 50–63, 68–72

  self-sorting: 50, 67, 68, 72, 105

  third-party sorting and unsorting: 67, 72, 105–106, 120, 121

  South Africa, 36–38, 75

  South America, 17, 51

  Sowell, Thomas, 144 (note 20)

  Spain, 51, 101, 123

  Statistics, 32, 33, 77–99

  crime statistics: 77, 83–86

  “disparate impact” statistics: 5–6, 73–75

  errors of commission: 86–97

 

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