Thomas Sowell and the Black Community

For years, every time I have had a discussion with a black person, and the topic has turned to economics , I have asked them if they have ever heard of Thomas Sowell. I have yet to run into anyone answering the question in the affirmative.

Last night, I ran into some MBA students from Howard University, Sowell attended Howard and later taught there. (He is currently a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he holds a fellowship named after Rose and Milton Friedman.) I asked these MBA students if they have ever heard of him. Same answer as always, "No". To their credit, they seemed very curious and they both pulled out their Blackberrys and posted notes to themselves to check out Sowell.

For the record, Thomas Sowell is probably the most prolific black writer in the field of economics, some of his early work such as Knowledge and Decisions is near Nobel Prize winning quality. His books on race, culture and ethnicity are incredibly enlightening. At least one, anyone, of his race, culture and ethnicity books should be required reading for every college student--and yet none have heard of him. Not even at Howard.