Sowell on Jefferson, Washington, and slavery — 6 Comments
Excellent video, thanks for posting! The so-called “teaching” on the history of slavery, which now plagues our republic under the banner of CRT, has been formulated in our schools and in our system of higher (mis)education purely to score ideological points in a contemporary battle over politics and policy. It would probably be very difficult to find anyone in the West today who would defend an institution the immorality of which was first recognized and first eliminated only in the West, while the number of black Africans enslaved by Muslims (in the Middle East and in North Africa) and even the number of Europeans enslaved by Muslims (in Iberia, in North Africa, in the Balkans, and in the Slavic lands north of the Crimean Khanate) probably exceeded the number of black Africans brought to the New World, only a small percentage to the colonies of what became the United States. Curiously, a great scientist who wrote about slavery amongst ants (Edward Wilson) has just died.
Tom Sowell is probably the most accomplished political economist of the last 50 years who is totally ignored and whose writings are the most uncited by academic and/or mainstream economists.
His emphasis on using actual facts (geez, what a novel idea) to affirm, or not, a prevailing dogma, makes him a persona non grata within the world of academia or of the elites (which includes the self anointed elites of the media.).
The fact that he is black, just makes him even more loathsome to the liberal progressives; esp. the white liberals who are very good supporting black causes as long as it does not affect at all their lifestyles.
As the video and j e points out, the left’s motivation for its deceitful propaganda about slavery and “white supremacism” is solely to gain political power.
That said, in general there was an important distinction between Muslim slavers and the enslavers who turned over slaves bound for the New World. The West African enslavers were blacks who enslaved their fellow black “brothers and sisters” and did so for money. Muslim slavers sent those they enslaved into the Ummah. The West ended slavery in the 19th century. Islam has never formally rejected slavery and slavery is still openly practiced in some Muslim nations. Covert slavery is still practiced in some Muslim societies, such as Saudi Arabia.
I’m presently re-reading Sowell’s “Conquests and Cultures.”
It should be required reading for all World History courses. Just the history of England should be enough to answer the criticism of invaders taking over a nation or peoples. England was invaded at least three times and each invader left an impression on the land and the culture. Where are the demands for reparations for the Picts or the Celts? Very few parts of the world have not been invaded and taken over by the invaders at some time in the past. The American story is just very recent.
And the oft conquered English eventually went on to conquer and forge the world’s largest empire. It has only been since the end of WWII that invasion and conquest or colonialization have been looked at unfavorably. Why did Hitler and Tojo invade their neighbors? Because that was what strong nations did in those days. If you were strong enough.
Knowing history and how standards of conduct change over time are important to put things in perspective, as Sowell does in the case of slavery and the Founding Fathers.
I agree that the left’s criticism is primarily about destroying the capitalist system. It’s their conquest from within.
If someone knows the source for the Sowell work quoted in the video, please supply it. Here are three paragraphs along similar lines from his great speech-become-essay “‘Multicultural’ Education”:
“Many of those who talk ‘non-judgmental’ rhetoric out of one side of their mouths are quick to condemn the evils of ‘our society’ out of the other side. Worse, they condemn American society or Western civilization for sins that are the curse of the human race all across the planet. Indeed, they condemn the West for sins that are worse in many non-Western societies.
“Perhaps the classic case is slavery. The widespread revulsion which this hideous institution inspires today was largely confined to Western civilization a century ago, and a century before that was largely confined to a portion of British society. No one seems interested in the epic story of how this curse that covered the globe and endured for thousands of years was finally gotten rid of. It was gotten rid of by the West– not only in Western societies but in other societies conquered, controlled, or pressured by the West.
“The resistance put up by Africans, Asians, and Arabs was monumental in defense of slavery, and lasted for more than a century. Only the overwhelming military power of the West enabled it to prevail on this issue, and only the moral outrage of Western peoples kept their governments’ feet to the fire politically to maintain the pressure against slavery around the world. Of course, this is not the kind of story that appeals to the multiculturalists. If it had been the other way around– if Asian or African imperialists had stamped out slavery in Europe– it would still be celebrated, in story and song, on campuses across America.”
Extraordinary. Everyone is called. Many will respond. Few will stand up. Sowell is one of the few, but growing vocal minority, and growing majority. What now, indeed. The tell-tale hearts beat sooner and ever louder.
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Excellent video, thanks for posting! The so-called “teaching” on the history of slavery, which now plagues our republic under the banner of CRT, has been formulated in our schools and in our system of higher (mis)education purely to score ideological points in a contemporary battle over politics and policy. It would probably be very difficult to find anyone in the West today who would defend an institution the immorality of which was first recognized and first eliminated only in the West, while the number of black Africans enslaved by Muslims (in the Middle East and in North Africa) and even the number of Europeans enslaved by Muslims (in Iberia, in North Africa, in the Balkans, and in the Slavic lands north of the Crimean Khanate) probably exceeded the number of black Africans brought to the New World, only a small percentage to the colonies of what became the United States. Curiously, a great scientist who wrote about slavery amongst ants (Edward Wilson) has just died.
Tom Sowell is probably the most accomplished political economist of the last 50 years who is totally ignored and whose writings are the most uncited by academic and/or mainstream economists.
His emphasis on using actual facts (geez, what a novel idea) to affirm, or not, a prevailing dogma, makes him a persona non grata within the world of academia or of the elites (which includes the self anointed elites of the media.).
The fact that he is black, just makes him even more loathsome to the liberal progressives; esp. the white liberals who are very good supporting black causes as long as it does not affect at all their lifestyles.
As the video and j e points out, the left’s motivation for its deceitful propaganda about slavery and “white supremacism” is solely to gain political power.
That said, in general there was an important distinction between Muslim slavers and the enslavers who turned over slaves bound for the New World. The West African enslavers were blacks who enslaved their fellow black “brothers and sisters” and did so for money. Muslim slavers sent those they enslaved into the Ummah. The West ended slavery in the 19th century. Islam has never formally rejected slavery and slavery is still openly practiced in some Muslim nations. Covert slavery is still practiced in some Muslim societies, such as Saudi Arabia.
I’m presently re-reading Sowell’s “Conquests and Cultures.”
It should be required reading for all World History courses. Just the history of England should be enough to answer the criticism of invaders taking over a nation or peoples. England was invaded at least three times and each invader left an impression on the land and the culture. Where are the demands for reparations for the Picts or the Celts? Very few parts of the world have not been invaded and taken over by the invaders at some time in the past. The American story is just very recent.
And the oft conquered English eventually went on to conquer and forge the world’s largest empire. It has only been since the end of WWII that invasion and conquest or colonialization have been looked at unfavorably. Why did Hitler and Tojo invade their neighbors? Because that was what strong nations did in those days. If you were strong enough.
Knowing history and how standards of conduct change over time are important to put things in perspective, as Sowell does in the case of slavery and the Founding Fathers.
I agree that the left’s criticism is primarily about destroying the capitalist system. It’s their conquest from within.
If someone knows the source for the Sowell work quoted in the video, please supply it. Here are three paragraphs along similar lines from his great speech-become-essay “‘Multicultural’ Education”:
“Many of those who talk ‘non-judgmental’ rhetoric out of one side of their mouths are quick to condemn the evils of ‘our society’ out of the other side. Worse, they condemn American society or Western civilization for sins that are the curse of the human race all across the planet. Indeed, they condemn the West for sins that are worse in many non-Western societies.
“Perhaps the classic case is slavery. The widespread revulsion which this hideous institution inspires today was largely confined to Western civilization a century ago, and a century before that was largely confined to a portion of British society. No one seems interested in the epic story of how this curse that covered the globe and endured for thousands of years was finally gotten rid of. It was gotten rid of by the West– not only in Western societies but in other societies conquered, controlled, or pressured by the West.
“The resistance put up by Africans, Asians, and Arabs was monumental in defense of slavery, and lasted for more than a century. Only the overwhelming military power of the West enabled it to prevail on this issue, and only the moral outrage of Western peoples kept their governments’ feet to the fire politically to maintain the pressure against slavery around the world. Of course, this is not the kind of story that appeals to the multiculturalists. If it had been the other way around– if Asian or African imperialists had stamped out slavery in Europe– it would still be celebrated, in story and song, on campuses across America.”
Source: https://tsowell.com/spmultic.html , the greatest three-minute essay you’ll ever read …
Extraordinary. Everyone is called. Many will respond. Few will stand up. Sowell is one of the few, but growing vocal minority, and growing majority. What now, indeed. The tell-tale hearts beat sooner and ever louder.