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34-400: The title essay states Sowell's thesis about the origins of the "black ghetto" culture. Sowell argues that the black ghetto culture originates in the dysfunctional white southern redneck culture which was prominent in the antebellum South . That culture came, in turn, from the " cracker culture" of Welsh, Highland Scots, Ulster Scots, and border English or "North Britons," who emigrated from

68-485: A more accommodating position, at times secretly funded and supported efforts to end Jim Crow laws. The final essay features Sowell's criticism of the advantages that multiculturalism is supposed to confer to the society in which it is present. Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other In

102-708: A pivotal confrontation. The West Virginia Mine Wars Museum commemorates their struggle for fair wages. A monument in front of the George Buckley Community Center in Marmet, WV, part of the "Courage in the Hollers Project" of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum depicts the silhouettes of four mine workers cut from steel plate, wearing bright red bandanas around their necks or holding them in their hands. By

136-411: A poor, dirty, uneducated, and racist Southern white man." The term originally characterized farmers that had a red neck , caused by sunburn from long hours working in the fields . A citation from 1893 provides a definition as "poorer inhabitants of the rural districts ... men who work in the field, as a matter of course, generally have their skin stained red and burnt by the sun, and especially

170-522: A professor at Loyola College, Schaub taught at a series of lectures and seminars designed for high school teachers, held at Ashland University . The conference was titled, “Race and Rights in American History” and was funded by a Teaching American History grant from the U.S. Department of Education. From 2001–2007 Schaub served as the chair of the political science department at Loyola College, which became Loyola University Maryland , where she

204-854: A review for National Review , Jay Nordlinger writes: "What a surprise, Thomas Sowell has written another brilliant book." He adds: "Sowell takes on no issue that is easy, always going for the hard stuff. He is a scholar and writer who chews nails. You may not agree with him — but you must reckon with him." Washington Post columnist William Raspberry wrote: "If you've followed the writings of Sowell for as long as I have, you'll know that he's not saying anything as simple as racism accounts for today's black poverty. He's saying something much more complex and, to my mind, far more intriguing." Raspberry recommended that Sowell's analysis be read alongside Michael Eric Dyson 's book Is Bill Cosby Right? and ended his review by stating "[o]ne thing seems beyond dispute: Maybe we haven't laid racism to rest, but we have reached

238-588: A self-identifier. In Scotland in the 1640s, the Covenanters rejected rule by bishops, often signing manifestos using their own blood. Some wore red cloth around their neck to signify their position, and were called rednecks by the Scottish ruling class to denote that they were the rebels in what came to be known as The Bishop's War that preceded the rise of Cromwell . Eventually, the term began to mean simply " Presbyterian ", especially in communities along

272-400: A strong overlay of Southern segregationist sentiment". Writer William Safire observed that it is often used to attack white Southern conservatives , and more broadly to degrade working class and rural whites that are perceived by urban progressives to be insufficiently progressive. At the same time, some white Southerners have reappropriated the word, using it with pride and defiance as

306-511: A wide range of issues in political philosophy and American political thought. Schaub was also a member of The President's Council on Bioethics . After graduating summa cum laude from Kenyon College , Schaub began her career as an assistant managing editor for the conservative magazine, The National Interest in 1985. She then served as a professor of political science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn . In 2003–2005, while serving as

340-506: Is evident for both racial groups in the south, and is also apparent outside of the southern region." Redneck (stereotype) Redneck is a derogatory term mainly, but not exclusively, applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the Southern United States . Its meaning possibly stems from the sunburn found on farmers' necks dating back to

374-638: Is now a professor. Schaub has co-edited or written three books: What So Proudly We Hail: America’s Soul in Story, Speech, and Song , Erotic Liberalism: Women and Revolution in Montesquieu’s "Persian Letters" , and His Greatest Speeches: How Lincoln Moved the Nation . Schaub has contributed chapters to several books, including “From Hearth-Fires to Hell-Fires: Hawthorne and the Cartesian Project,” in

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408-469: Is the economic activity (and the misunderstanding of that activity as "parasitic"), rather than the mere fact of ethnic or religious differences, that provokes the hostility and violence against middleman minorities...The writings of Thomas Sowell, with their honesty and contrarian untimeliness, are a lesson for all of us." A review in Publishers Weekly stated: "Many of Sowell's arguments-that

442-407: Is this true of the back of their necks". Hats were usually worn and they protected that wearer's head from the sun, but also provided psychological protection by shading the face from close scrutiny. The back of the neck however was more exposed to the sun and allowed closer scrutiny about the person's background in the same way callused working hands could not be easily covered. By 1900, "rednecks"

476-407: Is used as a disparaging term for English South Africans , in reference to their supposed naïveté as later arrivals in the region in failing to protect themselves from the sun. Diana Schaub Diana J. Schaub (born 1959) is professor of political science at Loyola University Maryland . Schaub received both her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago . She teaches and writes on

510-515: The British in the 19th century, against opposition in Africa and Asia, where it was considered normal. The economic effects of slavery are also misunderstood since slaves were often a luxury item whose upkeep was a drain on the rich, and the availability of cheap slave labor nowhere resulted in wealthy societies. The fourth essay features Sowell's argument that Germany should not be defined solely by

544-663: The Mississippi Democratic Party politician James K. Vardaman —chiefly poor white farmers—began to describe themselves proudly as "rednecks", even to the point of wearing red neckerchiefs to political rallies and picnics. Linguist Sterling Eisiminger, based on the testimony of informants from the Southern United States, speculated that the prevalence of pellagra in the region during the Great Depression may have contributed to

578-407: The "rednecks" will be there. And the "Yaller-heels" will be there, also. And the "hayseeds" and "gray dillers", they'll be there, too. And the "subordinates" and "subalterns" will be there to rebuke their slanderers and traducers. And the men who pay ten, twenty, thirty, etc. etc. per cent on borrowed money will be on hand, and they'll remember it, too. By 1910 , the political supporters of

612-491: The 12-year regime of Adolf Hitler from 1933 to 1945. Sowell further argues that Hitler was highly inconsistent in his views toward a unified Germany since he strenuously argued for annexation of the German-dominated Sudetenland , but German-dominated portions of Italy such as Tyrol were ignored in preference for an alliance with Benito Mussolini . The fifth essay features Sowell's discussion of

646-408: The 1970s, the term had become offensive slang, its meaning expanded to include racism, loutishness, and opposition to modern ways. Patrick Huber, in his monograph A Short History of Redneck: The Fashioning of a Southern White Masculine Identity , emphasized the theme of masculinity in the 20th-century expansion of the term, noting: "The redneck has been stereotyped in the media and popular culture as

680-688: The 20th-century resegregation of Northern cities was a response to the uncouthness of black rednecks migrating from the South, or that segregated black schools often succeeded by suppressing redneckism with civilized New England puritanism-will arouse controversy, but these vigorously argued essays present a stimulating challenge to the conventional wisdom." In a review for The Journal of African American History , economist James B. Stewart criticizes Black Rednecks and Sowell's prior similar works as continuing to "explore ways to pour new wine into old bottles"; Stewart also writes that "Sowell's sloppy treatment of

714-595: The Scottish border. Because of the large number of Scottish immigrants in the pre-revolutionary American South, some historians have suggested that this may be the origin of the term in the United States. Dictionaries document the earliest American citation of the term's use for Presbyterians in 1830 , as "a name bestowed upon the Presbyterians of Fayetteville (North Carolina)". An Afrikaans term which translates literally as "redneck", rooinek ,

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748-690: The book, Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver: Honoring the Work of Leon R. Kass ISBN   978-0739141595 and “Captain Kirk and the Art of Rule,” in the book Faith, Reason, and Political Life Today ISBN   978-0739102237 . Schaub has also been published in many academic journals and newspapers including National Affairs , The Baltimore Sun , and The Public Interest . Schaub has received numerous awards and fellowships throughout her career. Schaub

782-587: The early days of Dunbar High School in Washington, DC, and its eventual deterioration from its place of prominence in early black education, which Sowell argues to be a direct consequence of the famed Brown v. Board of Education decision of the US Supreme Court . Also, Sowell argues that though W. E. B. Du Bois was more activist in his attempts to end Jim Crow laws and other forms of legal discrimination, Booker T. Washington , despite holding

816-539: The late 19th century. Its modern usage is similar in meaning to cracker (especially regarding Texas, Georgia, and Florida), hillbilly (especially regarding Appalachia and the Ozarks ), and white trash (but without the last term's suggestions of immorality). In Britain, the Cambridge Dictionary definition states: "A poor, white person without education, esp. one living in the countryside in

850-402: The middlemen provide, as it is not easily observable. In the collection's third essay, Sowell reviews the history of slavery. Contrary to popular impression, which blames Western society and white people as the culprits, Sowell argues that slavery was a universal institution accepted and embraced by nearly all human societies. The world's trade in slaves and then slavery itself, was abolished by

884-420: The more lawless border regions of Britain in the eighteenth century. In the collection's second essay, Sowell explores the origins of anti-Semitism among those harboring jealousy toward Jews for their financial and entrepreneurial successes. Among other historically-persecuted " middlemen minorities " were Lebanese and Chinese immigrant merchants. The resentment is from a perceived "lack of added value" that

918-559: The nature of cultural exchanges leads him to obvious contradictions". A 2009 study published in Deviant Behavior by sociologists Matthew R. Lee , Shaun A. Thomas, and Graham C. Ousey examined and extended the Cracker Culture/ Black Redneck thesis and found that, "When counties are divided into south and non-south sub-samples, the results are also consistent: a cracker=black redneck culture effect

952-419: The point where what we do matters more than what is done to us. That's great, good news." Diana Schaub , a professor of political science, referred to the book as a "tour de force" and wrote that "Sowell shows that it is illogical to posit racism as the cause of slavery. The enslavement of vulnerable populations...existed for centuries before the advent of racist ideologies...Sowell makes a powerful case that it

986-462: The rise in popularity of the term; red, inflamed skin is one of the first symptoms of that disorder to appear. The term "redneck" in the early 20th century was occasionally used in reference to American coal miner union members who wore red bandanas for solidarity. The sense of "a union man" dates at least to the 1910s and was especially popular during the 1920s and 1930s in the coal-producing regions of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. It

1020-509: The southern US, who is believed to have prejudiced ideas and beliefs. This word is usually considered offensive." People from the white South sometimes jocularly call themselves "rednecks" as insider humor. An alternative origin story is that during the West Virginia Mine Wars of the early 1920s, workers organizing for labor rights donned red bandanas , worn tied around their necks, as they marched up Blair Mountain in

1054-467: The term as "at the very least, insensitive". However, many Southerners have proudly embraced the term as a self-identifier . Similarly to Earth First!'s use, the self-described "anti-racist, pro-gun, pro-labor" group Redneck Revolt have used the term to signal its roots in the rural white working-class and celebration of what member Max Neely described as "redneck culture". According to Chapman and Kipfer in their "Dictionary of American Slang", by 1975

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1088-519: The term had expanded in meaning beyond the poor Southerner to refer to "a bigoted and conventional person, a loutish ultra-conservative". For example, in 1960 John Bartlow Martin expressed Senator John F. Kennedy should not enter the Indiana Democratic presidential primary because the state was "redneck conservative country". Indiana, he told Kennedy, was a state "suspicious of foreign entanglements, conservative in fiscal policy, and with

1122-496: Was also used by union strikers to describe poor white strikebreakers . Writers Edward Abbey and Dave Foreman also use "redneck" as a political call to mobilize poor rural white Southerners. "In Defense of the Redneck" was a popular essay by Ed Abbey. One popular early Earth First! bumper sticker was "Rednecks for Wilderness". Murray Bookchin , an urban leftist and social ecologist , objected strongly to Earth First!'s use of

1156-581: Was in common use to designate the political factions inside the Democratic Party comprising poor white farmers in the South. The same group was also often called the "wool hat boys" (for they opposed the rich men, who wore expensive silk hats). A newspaper notice in Mississippi in August 1891 called on rednecks to rally at the polls at the upcoming primary election: Primary on the 25th. And

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