Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell

Dr. Thomas Sowell (born June 30, 1930) is an American economist, social theorist, and senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Sowell has a Ph.D in Economics from University of Chicago along with an undergraduate degree from Harvard University,

Sowell is among America's most famous African American authors. Among his many other books, A Conflict of Visions contrasts the political beliefs of the modern left and right. Sowell prefers writing for popular audiences over writing for more "academic" settings, saying that "writing for the general public enables him to address the heart of issues without the smoke and mirrors that so often accompany academic writing". Sowell wrote a well-researched book criticizing "black redneck culture" in which he points out that, "some blacks resent anything that suggests anything negative about themselves."

Early life and career

Born in North Carolina, Sowell grew up in Harlem, New York. Due to finacial issues and deteriorated home conditions, he dropped out of Stuyvesant and later served in the Marine corps during the Korean War. Upon returning to the United States, Sowell enrolled at Harvard University, graduating magma cum laude in 1958. He recieved a master's degree from Columbia University, in 1959 and earned his Doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago in 1968.

Sowell has served on the faculties of several universities including Cornell University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. He has also worked at Think tanks such as the Urban institute. Since 1980, he has worked at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University where he served as the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior fellow on Public policy. Sowell writes from a Libertarian perspective. Sowell has written more than thirty books, and his work has been widely praised. He is a National Humanities Medal recipient for innovative scholarship which incorporated history, economics, and political science.

Quotes

• The NAACP's decision to back the teachers' unions, who donate money to them, against charter schools that provide thousands of black children their only hope of a better life, means that the NAACP should no longer be considered part of the civil rights movement, but just another part of the race hustling racket.
• "Too much of what is called 'education' is little more than an expensive isolation from reality."
• "Our schools and colleges are turning out people who cannot feel fulfilled unless they are telling other people what to do."
• "Why is it that so many people who are 'pro-choice' when it comes to abortion are against choice when it comes to letting parents choose where their children go to school?"
• "We pay a lot of lip service to educational excellence. But too many institutions and individuals that have produced good educational results for minority students have not only failed to get support, but have even been undermined."
• "'Racism' is the trump card in the indictment of Republicans. But the cold fact is that the whole Jim Crow era in the South was dominated by Democrats."
• "Facts." (answering Peter Robinson's "You used to be a Marxist. What changed your mind?")
• "The welfare state is the oldest con game in the world. First you take people's money away quietly and then you give some of it back to them flamboyantly."

See also

• Black history
• Colion Noir, Alfonzo Rachel, Alex Barron, Sheriff David Clarke, Dr. Benjamin Carson, Alan Keyes, Reginald Kaigler (Demcad), Clarence Thomas, (See Black conservatives and AfricanAmericanConservatives.com)

Writings

• Some Thoughts about Writing