Ethnic America: A History

by Thomas Sowell

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465020755
• ISBN13: 9780465020751
• Release Date: February 1981
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

An America you have never seen before

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.

A Must Have Book!

This book was required reading for my undergraduate degree. It was probably one of the most interesting and informative books I read at the time and I've kept Sowell's book for more than 14 years! I found the journey for many who have immigrated to the USA facinating and I've learned so much more about their cultures from this one book. It has remained a staple on my bookshelf at work but today I noticed that it was missing (someone must have "borrowed" it). I am ordering another copy!

Wonderful overview by an awe-inspiring mind!

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!

An excellent unbiased view of the subject

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.

GLAD MINE IS IN HARDCOVER

Mr. Sowell's in depth study of immigrant groups to america (Irish, Chinese, German, Italian, Puerto Rican, Black, and others) is as entertaining as it is insightful. Mr. Sowell attributes America's love with athletics to the arrival of waves of Germans in the 19th century- and their fondness of sport. Each immigrant groups succcess is traced as well as their contributions to the defining of what it means to be American. Mexicans and Puerto Ricans are not true immigrants but migrant workers, hence no improvement in their economic station. Blacks in America only moved out their rural condition in the South during World War II, and are making progress commensurate with immigrant groups after a generation. A great read and an enlightening study