Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell was once described, with inordinate delicacy, as “an economist who happens to be black.” That is a little like calling Marlene Dietrich an entertainer who happens to be female. Though he declines to claim accredited victim status, he is matter-of-fact about, his race and its bearing on his intellectual life.

Somewhere along the line he mentioned having slept, in his youth, on a fire escape in Harlem, a datum often repeated to establish his humble origins. But the reason he brought it up was simply to prove that once upon a time, before enlightened social policies hit Harlem like a long-running hurricane, it was safe to sleep on fire escapes.

JS

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Joseph Sobran

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Thomas Sowell was once described, with inordinate delicacy, as “an economist who happens to be black.” That is a little like calling Marlene Dietrich an entertainer who happens to be female. Though he declines to claim accredited victim status, he is matter-of-fact about, his race and its bearing on his intellectual life.

Somewhere along the line he mentioned having slept, in his youth, on a fire escape in Harlem, a datum often repeated to establish his humble origins. But the reason he brought it up was simply to prove that once upon a time, before enlightened social policies hit Harlem like a long-running hurricane, it was safe to sleep on fire escapes.