Racial Diversity...oh no he didn't!

Thomas Sowell is concerned with a "mentality that turns statistical differences into grievances." He says, "The time is long overdue to throw this race card out of the deck and start seeing it for the gross fallacy that it is." Sowell is responding to an article which appeared in the New York Times earlier this week. The suggestion was that a statistical disparity in the skin-color of third-base coaches vs. first-base coaches reveals lingering racism in Major League Baseball.

Sowell disagrees that there is any cause for concern as the NYT writers are making a mistake with a misguided notion "that nobody can demonstrate is taken as a norm, and any deviation from that norm is somebody’s fault!"

Anyone reading the NYT article without a critical eye might be tempted to buy what the writers are selling. And as Sowell points out, "as long as we keep buying it, they'll keep selling it."

But with the aid of an opposing article, who can argue with Sowell's observation about the unreliability of these sorts of statistical disparities? "Anyone who has watched football over the years has probably seen at least a hundred black players score touchdowns-and not one black player kick the extra point. Is this because of some twisted racist who doesn’t mind black players scoring touchdowns but hates to see them kicking the extra points?"

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette ran Sowell's column yesterday. The title was "Bean Counters and Baloney" for those of you reaching for your hard copy.

Here is an online copy of "Bean Counters and Baloney" (CLICK HERE)

Here is an online copy of the original New York Times article (CLICK HERE)

Here is Thomas Sowell's homepage (CLICK HERE)