美国种族简史

by Thomas Sowell

意大利人是美国最早的“包工头”?爱尔兰人没来之前，美国人不会酿酒?犹太人如何能在逆境中从一无所有到腰缠万贯?华人能立足于美国的 优势是家庭教育?托马斯·索威尔编著的《美国种族简史》将引领你客观地认识美国的种族史，讲述一个由痛苦、自豪和成就所构成的故事。作者运用大量的史实、数字，深入浅出地讲述了各个移民种族在美国的奋斗史、文化史和融入美国社会的历程，包括爱尔兰人、德国人、意大利人、日本人、犹太人、华人、墨西哥人、黑人、波多黎各人等。众所周知，美国是个多种族的国家，不同历史时期由不同种族移民带至美国的形形色色的文化，在美国社会中交汇、融合，形成了美国今天的文化，这种多样性也对美国经济、政治、人民生活、教育、科技等的发展起到了举足轻重的作用。美国社会中的不少特殊用语、食物、音乐以及文化特点，曾一度是具有种族色彩的祖传家珍，现在却都变成美国传统的一部分。统一性和多样性的混合，不仅贯穿美目的历史，也贯穿着今目的美国社会。没有哪一个种族是完全独特的，但也没有哪两个种族群是完全相同的。通向多元化和各民族融洽相处的道路，是漫长而崎岖不平的。 今天，听到肯尼迪家族、安德鲁·卡内基、塞林格、贝聿铭、艾森豪威尔这些响亮的名字时，人们首先会想到他们是美国人，而不在乎他们来自哪个种族。在美国这个大熔炉中，种族并未消失，但无论是各个种族还是美国这个国家，都已今非昔比了。本书于1981年在美国出版，至今已过去了30多年。然而，书中翔实的数据资料、对种族特点的分析和论述，直到现在仍不过时。

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Economics, Sociology, American History, Race

337 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Thomas Sowell is an American economist, social philosopher, and political commentator. He is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. With widely published commentary and books—and as a guest on TV and radio—he became a well-known voice in the American conservative movement as a prominent black conservative. He was a recipient of the National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush in 2002.
Sowell was born in Gastonia, North Carolina and grew up in Harlem, New York City. Due to poverty and difficulties at home, he dropped out of Stuyvesant High School and worked various odd jobs, eventually serving in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War. Afterward, he took night classes at Howard University and then attended Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1958. He earned a master's degree in economics from Columbia University the next year and a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago in 1968. In his academic career, he held professorships at Cornell University, Brandeis University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. He has also worked at think tanks including the Urban Institute. Since 1977, he has worked at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he is the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy.
Sowell was an important figure to the conservative movement during the Reagan era, influencing fellow economist Walter E. Williams and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He was offered a position as Federal Trade Commissioner in the Ford administration, and was considered for posts including U.S. Secretary of Education in the Reagan administration, but declined both times.
Sowell is the author of more than 45 books (including revised and new editions) on a variety of subjects including politics, economics, education and race, and he has been a syndicated columnist in more than 150 newspapers. His views are described as conservative, especially on social issues; libertarian, especially on economics; or libertarian-conservative. He has said he may be best labeled as a libertarian, though he disagrees with the "libertarian movement" on some issues, such as national defense.

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ethnic America
By: Thomas Sowell
Narrated by: James Bundy

This book was recommended to me by someone and I am glad they did. I was able to pick the audible version up free from Audible because I have a membership and it's on the Plus catalog.

This book goes through each of the main groups of Immigrant population that has come to America. It follows the group as a whole through the years describing the difficulties, the places they moved to, jobs, education, what they contributed to America, male to female ratio, and so much more. There is invaluable information on each!

It really is astounding how thorough this book is. The only thing I disagree with in here is when he cites the IQ tests. We know now that IQ tests are often based on knowledge of the society you are familiar with. To give a test to a foreign child that has no knowledge of Western society is ridiculous.

Other than this, the book is a terrific book about each society and how it weaves together to make America, for better or worse. We can't change the past but we can change the future! There were prejudices against each of these groups. Not a shiny moment for us when every one of us, except the Native Americans, were from foreigners themselves. There is still that population that harbors hate towards minorities. Minorities made America!

[Guixin Jiang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this after I studied overseas in the United States for 2 years. Before my coming to the USA, I barely have the idea of how the concept "ethnic" could virtually impact how people behave, how they communicate, and how they like each other. After all, I live in a society (China) where I have compatriots, namely the same ethnic, for over a billion people! We speak the same language, share the same culture and civilization, have the same expectation of others' behavior and therefore, never have an explicit idea of how life will be when we are living with people of different ethnics.

When I was reading this book, I at first felt like its narrative method, which is very clear to introduce history of different ethnics. The author assigned each chapter for each different ethnic, such as American Irish, American Jewish, American Mexican and so on. Then there is a set of very detailed chronicle for each ethnic, from how their very first generation landed on the United States and their endeavor to become a concrete part of US society. But from what I read within this book, one thing became increasingly clear, which is that nearly every ethnic has actually earned their status through various efforts, and nearly every ethnics has his own history of being despised by other ethnics who had came to the US before them.

Also, through an overview of the history of each ethnic in the US, I could also see the special traits in them. For example, Chinese American and Japanese American tend to be reclusive and tacit in their participation in American society, which is due to the cultural impact of Confucius; whereas Irish American have large success in their political careers, which is because they have similar experience for campaign back in their home, Ireland.

This book really opened my mind for different ethnics: their background, their culture, and their history in America, especially for me as a Chinese, who has not much experience living with other ethnic people.

[Rob Altemare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read. How can a guy take such deep and specific technical data and weave it into a fascinating story? Thomas Sowell is one of the most brilliant men in America. Even back in 1986 (or thereabouts) when this story was written, he's already honed his unique ability to make hard data completely fascinating. Amazing!

[Nicko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each immigrant group has changed in America, and American society has changed in many ways. The most dramatic example is that today there are people sitting in Congress and on the Supreme Court whose ancestors were brought here as slaves. Among the world's leading scientific, political, and economic figures today are Americans whose immigrant ancestors were once dismissed as 'the beaten men of beaten races.' Nothing has so vindicated the untapped potential of ordinary people as the American experience.

[AJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book I should have read ages ago. Sowell tells the story of America's major ethnic groups like a Detective who worked the beat, and then retired a Librarian-Archivist. There's little to no dearth of detail, but he's an Academic (Economist) not a Dramatist (warning to those easily overwhelmed by long-winded data interpretation).

In his Ethnic America Sowell tracks the origins of each ethnic group from the circumstances and conditions that drove or forced them from their homelands through their upward mobility within the predominant Anglo American paradigm upon arrival to the United States with methodical consideration. This isn't the short and sweet Anglicized version of U.S. History I got in grade school, but a portrait that does justice to the peoples who sacrificed, endured, and are now part of the American fabric.

While these stories have been told time and again I like how Sowell brought just about everything he could under one hood. Of course Sowell's approach could no doubt be called broad, but take into account that groups were far less diverse and far more united in cultural patterns than today. Hence making a book like this possible, and valuable for understanding this past and how it shaped our present. Although he does acknowledge diversity where it occurs.

I did thoroughly enjoy this for the material, and I also feel it's an important contribution to American History. I recommend it for anyone interested in our cultural origins and legacies, whether teacher or student of social science or just researching your own familial past trying to get a picture how things were.

Unfortunately there are no citations in the Audiobook, but anyone with enough interest should be able to locate government and other primary archived sources to follow along. Those not inclined towards Sowell's political views shouldn't be deterred, this is a straight telling and it isn't until the final chapter where he provides his own thoughts on causality.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ethnic America: A History by Thomas Sowell is another excellent work by the distinguished economist that traces the history of nine major American ethnic groups -- the Irish, Germans, Jews, Italians, Chinese, Japanese, African-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans. He researched each group individually from their living conditions in their home countries to why they felt the need to come to America and details how they made the journey and adapted to their new country. This method lets us see similarities and differences in how or if these ethnic groups became proud Americans; some taking longer than others. Professor Sowell also presents many of the general immigration laws and discusses why and how they changed over many years in reaction to experiences with some of these groups. As is his usual custom, he digs to find and organize and presents the facts along with his analysis and commentary about what he has found. For each ethnic group he also explores how things changed from the first generation that chose to leave their home countries to come here and how quickly subsequent generations adapted to being fully absorbed into American culture, sometimes shocking their parents. Very well written as is commonly expected with any book by Dr. Thomas Sowell!

[Garrett Mullet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Tom Sowell makes me wish more of us could discuss and think honestly about ethnic differences more openly without the knee-jerk dismissal and cancellation of "racism."

Not all meaningful distinctions between people from various parts of the world has to do with genetics and skin color. As a matter of fact, the most meaningful distinctions have far more to do with values and priorities.

However, in the words of Kermit the Frog, sipping iced tea, "But that's none of my business," is what most of us say, at best.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

America is full of distinct ethnic groups. They have had substantially different experiences. This is a compare-and-contrast of nine such groups: The Irish, Italians, Germans, Jews, Chinese, Japanese, African-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans. He is particularly interested in the extent to which groups prospered in America, how they did it, and how their group history and cultural tendencies influenced their trajectory.

This was first published around 1980 and it shows. For one, Sowell's word choice jars a modern reader. For another, the different white ethnic groups are noticeably less distinct now than they were then. For a third, there have been important inflection points in the Black and Hispanic experience since 1980.

On the other hand, because Sowell was writing in a different era, he is much blunter about historical aspects we would today try to brush past without engaging. He spends a fair bit of time talking about cleavages within the black community, specifically the West Indian community vs the "old" northern Black community vs people whose families were enslaved until 1865. In Sowell's account these groups had shockingly little mixing down to 1980 and a wildly disproportionate part of the Black leadership was the middle group. (Sowell doesn't mention it, but his family were the last of these groups.)

Even the basic structure of the book feels alien to a 2020 reader. We have the notion that it is at best impolite, and at worst bigoted, to generalize about ethnic groups. But I think this is a notion we should push past. Culture is a real thing and ethnic history is a real thing and it's impossible to talk about either without talking about cultural traits.

There are some striking patterns and paradoxes that caught my eye.

- The Irish very quickly had a preeminent position in urban politics and the Catholic Church -- from the mid 19th century to the mid 20th, both were dominated by the Irish, even though they were a fairly small fraction of the population and even a minority of the Catholic population. Sowell attributes this to their high degree of ethnic consciousness, long experience having "shadow" institutions under British rule and cultural affinity to Anglo-American institutions.

- In 1900, American organized crime wasn't Italian. To the extent that the Italians took it over in the '20s and '30s, they had to out-compete the incumbents. Sowell points out that the Italians had the reputation of drinking less, brawling less, having tighter-knit families and clans, and responding violently when pushed too far -- all which were comparative advantages in crime.

- There is a widespread view (I often see it said today) that education is the ticket to advancement. Sowell dissents. He argues that almost every ethnic group he profiles was moving up in wealth well before its members started going to college in large numbers. Education in his view is the consequence, not the cause, of advancement. Instead he points to hard work and accumulation of capital. and particularly accumulation of social capital.

- In particular, there are a number of cases where particular industries had a pronounced ethnic tilt. The pre-made pre-sized clothing industry was (in Sowell's account) a creation of Jewish sweatshop workers. The contract gardening industry was more or less invented by Japanese Californians. And of course the American industrial brewing industry was dominated by Germans starting in the 19th century. And the Napa wine industry had a distinctly Italian bent to it.

In all these cases, the capital required is relatively small, the barriers to entry aren't very high, and there was no particular reason other groups couldn't have gotten into the business -- but they didn't. And once a particular group starts to dominate, there are network effects. People teach their cousins to do it, they have suppliers who speak their language, and so forth. Sowell hints that something similar might be happening with the Irish control of the US Catholic church.

This has important practical corollaries. It says that if you are in an ethnic group and want to promote prosperity for your group, you should be thinking about group strategies, and particularly about a sort of group "industrial policy" -- picking some economic activity where you can create and deploy social capital to create value and keep it for your people.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5? given to me by one of my regulars who grew up in Brooklyn after we were talking about how nyc has changed. felt kind of like homework but very interesting and I learned a lot. loved the data but his analysis alternated between sort of based and questionable...strong libertarian vibes

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ethnic America is a unique portrait of the great American ethic mosaic. Thomas Sowell relates the history of immigrants from Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and how this history was unique for each group. Within the larger geographic groups he identifies specific ethnic groups that include Irish, German, Chinese, Japanese, Puerto Ricans, Blacks, and others. He analyzes each group providing background context and the results of their success or lack of success in integrating and becoming a part of American culture. His perspective is eye-opening and the results provide both answers and challenges for the interested reader. As a result it has become a favorite of mine for its fascinating exploration of different ethnic groups and their story in America including their struggles and contributions.

[Haowei Chen · Rating 5 out of 5]

一直以来就对美国所谓“种族熔炉”的概念不以为然。事实上，美国社会虽然在法律层面废除了种族隔离制度，但这种深入到每个人骨髓的思维却从来没有根除。来过美国的朋友们都知道，美国城市中最典型的诸如中国城、越南城、黑人区、老墨区这类种族聚居的城市形态就不用多说了，就连白种人内部，爱尔兰裔、意大利裔、希腊裔、犹太人、波斯人、阿拉伯裔等等亚族群也通常是井水不犯河水，长期以来不通婚、不杂居，这种现象直到最近几十年才得以缓解。去年年底，有幸探访了南美，才真正见识到什么叫种族的熔炉。街头见到的人们，肤色从最白到最黑，包含期间每一个渐变色；夫妻情侣也是什么肤色组合都有。回到这本书，正如老罗为中译本作的序中所说，这是一部值得每一个来美国学习工作的同学仔细品读的经典著作。

[Sylvester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ethnic America is an examination of how well the 7 major groups of American immigrants are doing relatively. It was a nice read, particularly the chapters on the Japanese, Puerto Ricans and the Easter European Jews.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Eric C 1965 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great big book of facts. Love how Sowell doesn't spend a lot of time telling you what he thinks but rather how things are.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas Sowell's Ethnic America offers a comprehensive exploration of the rich tapestry of ethnic diversity in the United States. With meticulous research and engaging storytelling, Sowell paints a vivid portrait of America's immigrant experience, highlighting the challenges, triumphs, and enduring legacies that have shaped the United States.

This book is pretty much required reading on matters relating to the ethnic composition and history of the United States. Fascinating read, albeit niche.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

PERHAPS SOWELL’S MOST IMPORTANT “EARLY” BOOK

Thomas Sowell (born 1930) is an economist, columnist, and author who has long been associated with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

He wrote in the Introduction to this 1981 book, “The sheer magnitude of American ethnic communities makes them autonomous cultures with lives of their own---neither copies of some ‘mainstream’ model nor mere overseas branches of some other country’s culture… The massive ethnic communities that make up the mosaic of American society cannot be adequately described as ‘minorities.’ There is no ‘majority.’ The largest identifiable ethnic strain are people of British ancestry---who make up just 15 percent of the American population. They barely outnumber German Americans (13 percent) or blacks (11 percent). Millions of Americans cannot identify themselves at all ethnically due to intermixtures over the generations.” (Pg. 3-4) Later, he adds, “American pluralism was not an ideal with which people started but an accommodation to which they were eventually driven by the destructive toll of mutual intolerance in a country too large and diverse for effective dominance by any one segment of the population.” (Pg. 10)

He notes, “Rates of unemployment, crime, and fertility are all strongly influenced by age. Unemployment varies so much by age that, despite a generally higher unemployment rate among blacks than among whites, whites UNDER TWENTY have consistently had higher unemployment rates that blacks in the prime twenty-five to forty-year-old bracket. Similarly, most violent crime is committed by males under twenty-five., so that groups with a high proportion of their members in the crime-prone brackets tend to have high crime rates for this reason, even aside from other factors that may be at work. The magnitude of this effect may be suggested by the fact that, although black crime rates are several times those of whites, the black and white crime rates become very similar when people of the same age and socioeconomic status are compared.” (Pg. 8)

He observes of the Irish, “Patterns of alcoholism and fighting brought over from Ireland persisted in the United States. Over half the people arrested in New York in the 1850s were Irish---usually for drunken and disorderly behavior, rather than for serious crimes. Police vans became known as ‘Paddy wagons’ because the prisoners in them were so often Irish.” (Pg. 26)

He continues, “it is perhaps not surprising that early twentieth-century Irish youngsters in New York finished high school at a rate less than one-hundredth of that of youngsters from a German or Jewish background… Many Irish Americans rose to prominence in sports and entertainment---a pattern to be repeated by later ethnic groups living in poverty and without an intellectual or entrepreneurial tradition…. Although scholarship was not a feature of Irish traditions, the use of words has been. Even among the mass of poor and uneducated Irish… pride in the expressive use of language has been common, whether called ‘a gift of gab’… or plain ‘blarney.’ Many famous writers come from this background… The point here is … to assess the role of enduring cultural values compared to more immediate ‘objective’ conditions.” (Pg. 38-39)

He points out, “the Jews had the social patterns and values of the middle class, even when they lived in slums. Despite a voluminous literature claiming that slums shape people’s values, the Jews had their own values, and they took those values into and out of the slums. In short, the Jews as well as with many other ethnic groups, neither their successes nor their handicaps can be understood solely in terms of the American context. Many of the reasons for both reached far back into history.” (Pg. 94)

He explains, “Unlike other immigrants, Japan did not send America its tired, its poor, its huddled masses. The Japanese were perhaps unique among immigrants in the extent to which they were a highly selected sample of their homeland population… Their selectivity was not financial but in terms of human potential. The male ‘Issei’ were a group preselected in Japan by the government for their health, character, and willingness to work. They also grew up in an era when the people of Japan were predisposed to accept and emulate the American way of life… Discrimination in pay against the first Japanese immigrants eroded as Japanese Americans became farmers and employers of Japanese farm laborers…. A decade later, Japanese farm workers actually received higher wages than white farm workers due to the greater efficiency of the Japanese, which was now widely recognized.” (Pg. 164-165)

He states, “Beginning in the early twentieth century, a stream of black immigrants moved to New York’s Harlem from the islands of Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and from other parts of the British West Indies. By the 1920s, one-fourth of Harlem’s population was West Indian. Nationally, West Indians have been about 1 percent of the black population but have been disproportionately overrepresented among black professionals, businessmen, and public figures… While not racially distinct from American Negros, West Indians have had a different cultural background and have remained socially distinct from the other blacks around them… Differences between the two groups … are still reflected today in substantial socioeconomic differences. These differences provide some clues as to how much of the situation of American Negroes in general can be attributed to color prejudice by whites and how much to cultural patterns among blacks.” (Pg. 216)

He comments, “the most bitterly criticized features of slavery---callous overwork, sexual exploitation… were worse in the West Indies than in the United States. However, several other features of West Indian slavery… may help explain the greater success of West Indians in the United States… [For example] West Indian slaves were assigned land and time to raise their own food… The contrast between the West Indians and American Negroes was not so much in their occupational backgrounds as in their behavior patterns. West Indians were much more frugal, hard-working, and entrepreneurial. Their children worked harder and outperformed native black children in school. West Indians in the United States had lower fertility rates and lower crime rates than either black or white Americans… American Negroes called them ‘black Jews.’” (Pg. 218-219)

He says, “Irish immigrant children in the mid-nineteenth century were taught by Protestant Anglo-Saxon teachers. Half a century later, Jewish immigrant children were far more likely to be taught by Irish Catholics than by Jewish teachers. A generation later, Negro children in Harlem were far more likely to be taught by Jewish teachers than by black teachers. Few children of rising ethnic groups have had ‘role models’ of their own ethnicity. Some of the most successful---notably the Chinese and Japanese---almost never did.” (Pg. 279)

He asserts, “Perhaps the most striking difference among ethnic groups themselves is in their attitudes toward learning and self-improvement. Jews seized upon free schools, libraries, and settlement houses in America with a tenacity and determination unexcelled and seldom appreciated by others. They not only crowded into the public schools, but the adult night schools as well… paid to go to lectures out of their small wages, and kept the public libraries busy trying to keep them supplied with serious books.” (Pg. 280)

He argues, “The importance of human capital in an ethnic context is shown in many ways. Groups that arrived in America financially destitute have rapidly risen to affluence, when their cultures stressed the values and behavior required in an industrial and commercial economy. Even when color and racial prejudices confronted them---as in the case of the Chinese and Japanese---this proved to be an impediment but was ultimately unable to stop them… The Chinese and Japanese came as unskilled young men… but working harder and more relentlessly than anyone else… the Irish and the blacks never set up laundries, or any other businesses, with the frequency of the Chinese or Japanese… In the same way, many Jewish pushcart peddlers eventually became storeowners, and sometimes owners of whole chains of stores.” (Pg. 282-283)

He continues, “history shows new skills being rather readily acquired in a few years, as compared to the generations… required for ATITUDE changes. Groups today plagued by absenteeism, tardiness, and a need for constant supervision at work or in school are typically descendants of people with the same habits a century or more ago. The cultural inheritance can be more important than biological inheritance, although the latter stirs more controversy.” (Pg. 284)

He states, “Employer discrimination cannot… explain large income differences among various segments WITHIN a given ethnic group, if employers are unaware of these internal differences. The poverty that is as common among Hong Kong Chinese as affluence is among native-born Chinese Americans cannot be explained by the existence of racist employers, to whom Chinese ‘all look alike.’ … it is doubtful if most employers can tell a second-generation West Indian from other blacks, or would even be interested in trying.” (Pg. 291)

He concludes, “The history of American ethnic groups… is the history of a complex aggregate of complex groups and individuals. It cannot be a simple morality play. It is a story of similar patterns and profound differences, of pain and pride and achievement. It is, in one sense, the story or many very different heritages. In another sense, it is the story of the human spirit in its many guises.” (Pg. 296)

Sowell elaborated upon the themes in the book in his many later books, but this one is still very useful for its broad scope as a ‘survey’ of his ideas.

[Alex Zakharov · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great short history of immigration into America – Sowell covers all the major immigration groups including Irish, Germans, Blacks, Jews, Italians, Chinese, Japanese, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans. What I found interesting is how Sowell treats immigration almost as an evolutionary study of adaptability of various cultures to the host country. Each culture with its own unique history and set of values has its own way of integrating (or not integrating) and adapting to the new homeland. And yes, cultures are different and Sowell is careful not to label any culture as a whole as inferior or superior, but one can certainly make a judgment whether certain aspect(s) of a culture would make it easier or harder to succeed in a particular context and in this case the specific context is immigration into America/United States.

And of course, even within a given culture, there are typically multiple waves of immigration which could (and did) vary significantly in their composition, goals, and subcultures. For example the history of North vs South Italians is quite different, and their experiences in the United States are also quite different. Or consider Chinese immigration from mainland China vs Hong Kong – again the patterns of experience within United States are quite different. Another example is African vs Carribean Blacks – yet again, some pretty significant differences when it comes to their experience in Americas (and then US).

Along the way Sowell debunks a few conceptions and misconceptions about measuring/comparing performance (via income, IQ, leadership) within and among different groups whether those groups are defined by race, ethnicity, gender, age or geography. Sowell gives many examples of misapplications of statistics and it is refreshing to see a sober perspective on a number of sensitive subjects. Yes, there are differences among various groups – some of those differences fall away when you take a closer look (by factoring out noise and adjusting for age and/or geography for example) but some differences are real and quantifiable for a given snapshot in time; none of those differences have to be permanent, but various groups/cultures did differ in the speed of their progress and success in America for a slew of different reasons. Some of these reasons have to do with discrimination (which was a factor for almost every single immigrant group, although the strength of that factor differed), some of these reasons have to do with group’s values (shaped by their previous history among other things) and some of these reasons have to do with the readiness with which the group took advantage of opportunities offered to them.

Finally, the stories of journeys of various groups are still continuing, and the subject of cultural and group differences is as sensitive as ever. Employing a perspective free of both bias and political correctness would go a long way in understanding what can be done (and just as importantly what should not be done) to facilitate the continuing progress of any given cultural group.

[Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another 5 star book from Thomas Sowell.
Sowell writes about ethnic groups in America. He dedicates a chapter to the Irish, Germans, Jews Italians Chinese, Japanese, Blacks, Puerto-ricans, and Mexicans. He illuminates how differences in behavior are best explained by the cultures and values of these ethnic groups. The immediate environment which included hardships and discrimination seems to have little influence on the behavior of these groups.

Sowell's writing does not sugarcoat the issues. He explains with amazing clarity how different groups and cultures are better in some areas and worse in others. He separates cause and effect analysis from moral analysis.

It is a fascinating book.

[Zhijing Jin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book compiles many facts about different ethnic groups in the US. Very, very, very helpful.


Important facts:
1) There is no majority
15% British
13% German
11% black

2) Don't ignore the land area
- Texas is larger than France
- Colorado is larger than the UK
- Italy equals 2/3 of California

3) Large difference across groups
- Mexican & Porto Rico: average <20 years old
- Ireland & Italy: ~30 years old
- Jew: >40 years old
- Not to mention income, occupation, unemployment rate, crime rate, birth rate.

Income
- Jew: 172%
- Japanese: 132%
- Mexican: 76%
- Perto Rico: 63%
- Black: 62%
- Native Indian: 60%

[Jim B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sowell's tracing the history of assimilation of nine American ethnic groups (Irish, German, Jewish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Blacks--slave and later free, Puero Rican, and Mexican) helps the reader understand the cycle of large groups from a nationality arriving and adapting in America. Every American should read this book in order to discuss immigration or to ponder the race issue in America.

[John Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I certainly emphasize different outcomes and solutions than Sowell might, I can't deny that his coverage of significantly more sifted data- addressing comparisons leveled by age, education level, or location- is incredibly helpful when questioning my own biases. This is my third book by him so far, and I really respect his consistency in allowing nuance in his argument, presenting data as it is- often unsure with multiple stories- and not a linear narrative.

[Michael Perkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am reading this book by Hans Rosling and I now see it calls into question the accuracy of this book. Too many generalizations and the false notion that the past is prologue to more of the same.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

Also true of "The Fate of Africa" by Martin Meredith.

[Giulia Paris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, it is amazing how just every ethnic cluster mentioned in he book suffered when they first came here. I feel like the boook might have been a bit biased like against the irish, but otherwise it is very engaging and with many interesting statistics.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

“人类简史-美国版”：一本理解美国与“美国人”的入门书。

本书通过详实的史料与数据回答我们：一群来自不同种族、有着不同文化背景、宗教信仰、生活习惯的人在来到一块完全陌生的土地能否融洽相处？有哪些因素能促使他们尽快融入并向上流动？不同人群、种族之间的误会、歧视与隔阂如何才能消除？

对于一个来自汉文化占绝对多数、缺少种族观念的海外游子来说，本书帮助我理解现实和隐藏的偏见，发现我们自己的与众不同，由此在现今不断流动的全球化世界中找到立身之处。

[Emily Klooster · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half on waves of immigration was fascinating, but there were problematic assumptions in the second half.

[Feng Ouyang · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Ethnic America," published in 1975 and authored by the distinguished Black conservative Thomas Sowell, reflects his scholarly expertise as an economic historian. In it, Sowell meticulously traces the histories of diverse immigrant groups, offering a distinctive analytical framework. The book unfolds a complex and rich mosaic of immigrant histories, providing support for the views on racial relationships and discrimination that Sowell has been advocating in the following decades.

The narrative begins with European immigrants—Irish, German, Italian, and Jewish—who arrived predominantly impoverished and gradually carved out their niches in the New World. The trajectories of these diverse groups were influenced not just by their cultural backgrounds and inherent advantages but also by the circumstances of their initial settlements. Despite facing initial discrimination, they all managed to break through societal barriers, propelled by diligent work and active community participation.

Within the tapestry of European immigration, the Jewish narrative is particularly notable. Contrary to prevalent misconceptions, Jewish immigrants did not arrive in America with privileges. Western European Jews had endured long histories of discrimination and segregation, while their Eastern European counterparts arrived impoverished, lacking in education, and often ostracized even by fellow Jews. It took several decades for the Jews to translate their culture of valuing education and upward mobility into tangible economic and social gains. Yet, they forged a distinct American success story, rooted in their unique heritage and organizational strategies.

Asians, mainly Chinese and Japanese, have cultural similarities with Jewish immigrants but encountered prolonged, institutionalized discrimination in America, which only began to diminish following World War II and the subsequent civil rights movement. Like Jewish immigrants, they overcame this discrimination not through confrontation but through perseverance and industriousness. Despite stereotypes linking Asian Americans to high educational attainment and lucrative careers, these immigrants were initially laborers. Their higher educational levels today are more a reflection of their improved societal status rather than the reason for it. While Asian Americans generally earn more than the broader population, they do not necessarily have an advantage over others with comparable education, family size, and location. It's important to note that the book, published in the 1970s, doesn't address the post-1980s wave of highly skilled and educated Chinese students.

Blacks and Hispanics are often regarded as disadvantaged minorities in the United States. Yet, it's enlightening to delve into the subgroups within these broad categories. Distinct differences in experience and culture exist between Northern and Southern Blacks, for instance. Moreover, Black immigrants from South America and Africa represent a separate, distinct subgroup. Despite facing similar external societal challenges due to their indistinguishable appearance, their outcomes vary significantly due to diverse internal factors. Hispanics, too, comprise various subgroups, each with unique characteristics. While not prioritizing education to the extent of Jews and Asians, Hispanics have found considerable success in fields like sports and entertainment.

The book elucidates that race and ethnicity hold significance beyond social norms and institutions, highlighting the impact of distinct cultural heritages. Yet, it posits that societal and economic disparities are multifaceted, often overshadowed by factors like regional, professional, and other variables rather than race alone. It suggests that on the journey to success, the choices made by individuals are more determinative than their racial or ethnic identities. Intriguingly, the perspective that personal agency is paramount over racial categorizations may appear more provocative in the current era than it did in the 1970s, the time of the book's publication.

[Christopher Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by the most eloquent writer on economics I know of. This book was a bit dryer than his others but this is understandable as it was written much earlier.

It's full to the brim of interesting facts and information about various ethnic groups in America - Jews, the Irish, Italians, Germans, blacks, Puerto-Ricans and Mexicans (and probably others I've forgotten). It covers things like their attitudes toward education, family and work, the areas they excelled in and areas they were below average in, the skills they brought with them and the way all these things changed (or didn't change) over time.

It may strike some as odd or refreshing that Sowell has no obvious agenda with this book other than to show how colourful humanity is in all its variations and yet how many similarities and patterns also exist. Perhaps he is trying to make the point that substantial differences in values and behaviours can result in different outcomes without needing to turn to DISCRIMINATION as the one and only possible cause. But no, he's not making that point, the facts are. His discipline in sticking to careful and thoughtful analysis without making major speculative claims make him a rare kind of writer indeed.

Many of the facts presented here are echoed in Sowell's later work (including The Economics and Politics of Race and his Race and Culture trilogy). He's the best writer on the subject I know of (not that I'm an expert). I think it's invaluable to have some familiarity with these facts. When people say something is due to "the legacy of slavery", it sounds like a bizarre joke when you actually understand the greater context of how cultural groups have typically progressed historically. Almost all groups have endured various hardships and many groups succeed in spite of racism or fail despite having political power.

Sowell gives similar attention to every group and focuses on pointing out the patterns of behaviour without always trying to pinpoint why or push some grand theory of his.

Some interesting facts:
- Life expectancy among black slaves was about 36 compared to 19 for Irish peasants around the same time period.
- Southern Italians had less interest in education (the kids that wanted to leave school and work were considered the good ones) than their Northern Italian counterparts.
- Immigrants are often 90% male in early years (or some other high proportion), the idea being that mothers stay with the family while the father sends money back home and perhaps they reunite at some point.
- Jews scored below average in IQ scores at the time of WWI but later overtook the average, even poorer Jews placed high value on education.
- The Irish succeeded in gaining a lot of political power but were one of the slowest groups to progress economically. They also had higher rates of alcoholism and starting fights, being antagonistic with many other groups.
- Practically every ethnic group seems to have its own sub-divisions, groups which may or may not get along. The actions or reputation of one group might affect the other because people can't tell the difference, creating more tension in many cases. Eg) The Chinese and later Hong Kong immigrants, the Southern/Northern Italians, different kinds of Jews (I forget the names), West Indians and blacks, etc.

I think I'll leave it there, I can't do the book justice since there are so many interesting and surprising details. It's quite dense and could be worth multiple readings. Its very rewarding to feel a bit more informed about these kinds of things. This book really is a gem when it comes to thorough, unbiased information on the various races which co-exist in America. It's still perfectly relevant today.

[Kathryn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book first starts with the scale of America. “Today, there are more people of Irish ancestry in the United States than in Ireland, more Jews than in Israel, more blacks than in most African countries. There are more people of Polish ancestry in Detroit than in most of the leading cities in Poland, and more than twice as many people of Italian ancestry in New York as in Venice. … The United States is one of the largest cultural-linguistic units in the history of the world. From San Francisco to Boston is the same distance as from Madrid to Moscow. Yet here there is one language, one set of laws, and one economy in an area that, in Europe, is fragmented into a multitude of nations, languages, and competing military and political blocs. The size and cohesion of the American society is all the more remarkable because of the diverse origins of the people who make it up. As a unified nation, the United States is older than Germany or Italy. As for size, Texas is larger than France, Colorado is larger than Great Britain, and Italy is only two-thirds the size of California. The United States as a whole is larger than the Roman Empire at is greatest expansion.” It then goes into the immigration patterns from various regions, showing how different cultural and historical elements influenced people in terms of both affinities and aversions, as well as how each immigrant group rose up the socioeconomic ladder they became allergic to the poorer immigrants who came after them, even if they were from the same region. It shows how reviewing averages can mask important data between the generations. It debunks the myth that education is what causes upward mobility (most groups only invested in education that after they were affluent enough to afford to invest in it). The data indicate that location, location, location and age may be the most important factors in terms of earnings (urban areas and older workers tend to do better). An educational read. Would love to see an updated version which encompasses the last 40 years.

[Jeff G · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, written in 1981, is nonetheless relevant for today. In this heavily-notated work, Thomas Sowell recounts the history and progress of a number of immigrant groups that come to America. I take a number of key points from th iswork.

Later generations tend to improve (in abilities, work, economic success and acculturation) compared to earlier generations. As Sowell states, "...the most striking pattern among American ethnic groups is their general rise in economic conditions with the passage of time." (p.275)

It is a mistake to assume that a statistic or fact about a people group will remain unchanged. We live in a dynamic world and economy.

Thirdly, people immigrate to the US for a variety of reasons: some immigrants could be called refugees (they are forced to flee), others choose to leave their home country voluntarily and others are what Sowell calls 'sojourners' and may return to their birth country. Comparing the progress between immigrants with these different motives is difficult - and perhaps misleading.

To close, let me provide another quote from the book. In writing 26 years ago about emigration from Mexico, Sowell could have been speaking these words about our world today. "Employers of agricultural and other low-paid labor have pressed for a national policy of more open access to the United States form Mexico, while groups concern with crime, welfare dependency, of other social problems...have pressed for more restrictive policies. Shifts in political strength among contending groups of American are reflected in changing immigration policies and changing levels of enforcement." (p.249)

From reading this book, I have a greater appreciation for various ethnic groups and their stories in coming to America. That can help inform all of us as we consider immigration issues in our day.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable and surprisingly fresh, even though it was published in 1981 and many of the stats are from the 1970s. Economist Sowell makes the case that though the various immigrant groups to the US endured similar challenges including poverty, lack of education, and discrimination, each brought with it attitudes and behavioral patterns shaped over centuries that influenced ways in which they adapted to their new country. Thus the Irish, unified by generations of outside oppression in Ireland, mobilized to take over politically in cities across the US in the 1800s. Italian immigrants, having no similar unifying outside oppression, took much longer to exert their influence on American political life. Sowell uses stats to show that when we control for factors such as age and geography, many of the stereotypes about different groups wash out. He also makes clear that generalizations across groups can do great harm to individuals within that group, as W.E.B. Dubois well understood. The last chapter, in which Sowell discusses the benefits of looking at our history through an economic and not just moral framework, was the most inspiring. In today's emotionally and politically-charged atmosphere, it is more important than ever to base our beliefs on the best empirical data we have.