Discrimination and Disparities

by Thomas Sowell

Nothing is easier to find than sins among human beings, but to automatically make those sins the sole, or even primary, cause of different outcomes among different peoples is to ignore many other reasons for those disparities.

The mere omission of one crucial fact can turn accurate statistics into traps that lead to conclusions that would be demonstrably false if the full facts were known.

our concern is for the fate of flesh-and-blood human beings, not the fate of abstract statistical categories.

There has never been a shortage of people eager to draw up blueprints for running other people’s lives.

utter ignorance of relevant facts seldom seems to inhibit sweeping and passionate conclusions.

Being “understanding” or “non-judgmental” toward a young person from a culturally limited background may seem humane, but it can be the kiss of death, as far as that individual’s future is concerned.

killing the goose that lays the golden egg is a viable strategy from a purely political standpoint, provided the goose does not die before the next election.

Because human beings can make choices only among options actually available, events in the past can be understood and judged only within the inherent constraints of their particular times and places.