In Discrimination and Disparities, released earlier this year, Sowell rebuts common misconceptions regarding socioeconomic differences among individuals, groups, and nations, and demonstrates that disparities are often explained by economics.
Sowell begins by noting there are different types of discrimination.
Discrimination I he defines as "An ability to discern differences in the qualities of people and things, and choosing accordingly"-in other words, "Making fact-based distinctions." Discrimination II he defines as "Treating people negatively, based on arbitrary assumptions or aversions concerning individuals of a particular race or sex, for example"-in other words, what most people mean today when they talk of "Discrimination."
The cost of Discrimination I-judging the person as an individual-may be prohibitively high in some cases, as when you approach a shadowy figure in a dark alley.
We can call the ideal version Discrimination Ia, and the less than ideal version Discrimination Ib. But both are different from unsubstantiated notions or animosities.
In other words, discrimination based on factual generalizations is not the same as discrimination based on personal aversions to race, sex, etc.
To take an extreme example of Discrimination Ib, for the sake of illustration, if 40 percent of the people in Group X are alcoholics and 1 percent of the people in Group Y are alcoholics, an employer may well prefer to hire only people from Group Y for work where an alcoholic would be not only ineffective but dangerous.
http://thefederalist.com/2018/12/07/thomas-sowell-explains-the-economics-of-discrimination/
Sowell begins by noting there are different types of discrimination.
Discrimination I he defines as "An ability to discern differences in the qualities of people and things, and choosing accordingly"-in other words, "Making fact-based distinctions." Discrimination II he defines as "Treating people negatively, based on arbitrary assumptions or aversions concerning individuals of a particular race or sex, for example"-in other words, what most people mean today when they talk of "Discrimination."
The cost of Discrimination I-judging the person as an individual-may be prohibitively high in some cases, as when you approach a shadowy figure in a dark alley.
We can call the ideal version Discrimination Ia, and the less than ideal version Discrimination Ib. But both are different from unsubstantiated notions or animosities.
In other words, discrimination based on factual generalizations is not the same as discrimination based on personal aversions to race, sex, etc.
To take an extreme example of Discrimination Ib, for the sake of illustration, if 40 percent of the people in Group X are alcoholics and 1 percent of the people in Group Y are alcoholics, an employer may well prefer to hire only people from Group Y for work where an alcoholic would be not only ineffective but dangerous.
http://thefederalist.com/2018/12/07/thomas-sowell-explains-the-economics-of-discrimination/
No comments:
Post a Comment