Ethnic America: A History [Paperback]

Thomas Sowell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0465020755 | ISBN-13: 978-0465020751 | Publication Date: February 1, 1981

This classic work by the distinguished economist traces the history of nine American ethnic groups—the Irish, Germans, Jews, Italians, Chinese, African-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas Sowell has taught economics at a number of colleges and universities, including Cornell, University of California Los Angeles, and Amherst. He has published both scholarly and popular articles and books on economics, and is currently a scholar in residence at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 353 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (February 1, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465020755
• ISBN-13: 978-0465020751
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thomas Sowell has taught economics at Cornell, UCLA, Amherst and other academic institutions, and his Basic Economics has been translated into six languages. He is currently a scholar in residence at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He has published in both academic journals in such popular media as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes magazine and Fortune, and writes a syndicated column that appears in newspapers across the country.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent unbiased view of the subject, October 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Ethnic America: A History (Paperback)

There are so many biased books/papers/articles/documentaries on this subject which take some pre-defined viewpoint and attempt to make some moral statement. This book is the only source of information I've ever seen which basically looks at why various ethnic groups behave the way they do, without assumptions, without guilt, without dogma, and without political correctness. This is the kind of book someone might write 500 years from now after the emotions have subsided on the subject.

This book will show you a new way of thinking about race and culture in America, with many surprising facts and concepts.

45 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful overview by an awe-inspiring mind!, December 9, 2001

By 

Kevin S. Currie (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ethnic America: A History (Paperback)

I wish all books could be like this one. To be sure, Sowell does have an ideology of sorts (being a small 'l' libertarian) but the facts are legitimately objective. One gets facts and stats first and only later the concluding opinion.
Nowadays, it is easy to label any 'compartmentalized' ethnic history as racist. After all, we are all equal right? Sowell argues albeit indirectly that equality exists in a legal sense, but that ethnic groups have undeniable differences. Sowell does not present this as a positive or negative. It just is, and as with any generalization, there are numerous exceptions.
I'm Scottish and Irish. I guess if I was a modern liberal, I would've taken offense to his historical observation that the irish are unusually hot-tempered and have not through history put a huge value on education. The problem is that history shows it to be true. The liberal mistake is to think that a generalization of any kind must be taken personally (ie: because the irish through history have been hot-tempered and because I'm irish, Mr. Sowell must be implying that I have a bad temper.) Mr. Sowell means nothing of the kind. The beauty of equality under law is that generalizations do not apply. This is the problem with liberal policy. Affirmitive action and quotas are based on generalizations (something liberals say they avoid). The generalization is that minority group A can not succeed without the quota, or that all people save for minority group A, have a predisposition against minority group A.
So the beauty of this book lies in it's objectivity. Mr. Sowell shows history as it is. No idealism. No opinion on how things ought to be, disguised as fact. Simply a real glimpse at the history of ethnic America. Hooray for America!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An America you have never seen before, November 16, 2005

By 

Marvin D. Pipher (Houston, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ethnic America: A History (Paperback)

This may well be the best book on American history which you will ever read. It doesn't delve into the politics of the times or discuss America's wars or its economics. What it does do is explore and examine the principal ethnic groups which immigrated to America and which now comprise the American scene. Each group is examined in turn and without prejudice starting with the Europeans (Irish, Germans, Jews, & Italians), going through the Asians (Chinese & Japanese) and Africans (Blacks), and concluding with the Latin Americans (Puerto Ricans & Mexicans). The history of each race or nationality is briefly outlined. The author then describes the status of the members of each group when they left for America, when they left, why they left, what their situation was upon their arrival, where they settled and why, and finally if and how they eventually managed to integrate themselves into the American way of life.

This then is the story of an America which the reader has probably never seen before. Through it the reader will likely learn much about America and its people and perhaps something about him/herself. He or she will also learn a myriad of little known facts about this great country we call home. For example: 1) that until 1651 slaves arriving in the colonies were treated as indentured servants and eventually became "free persons of color"; 2) that most intellectually prominent blacks in American history derived from this tiny group of "free persons of color;" 3) that the Irish and Chinese had a much harder time upon their arrival in America than did the slaves and were hired to perform work which was considered too dangerous for slaves (slaves were too valuable a property to put at risk); 4) that according to IRS records "slum lords" didn't make obscene profits at the expense of their tenants, but in most cases lost money (tenants often didn't pay their rent); 5) that Chinese didn't choose to go into the laundry business because they loved washing other people's dirty clothes but because no other avenues were open to them; 6) that the Japanese who were interned during WWII harbored no ill will but their grandchildren, who didn't experience the internment, did and do; 7) that Illegal alien Mexicans and some legal resident Mexicans have twice before been expatriated back to Mexico; and finally 8) that history repeats itself - only the races, religions, and ethnic groups change.

So, if you want to better understand and perhaps better appreciate your fellow Americans, here is your opportunity to walk in their shoes. I highly recommend it.