Guest Post by Thomas Sowell
Walter Williams loved teaching. Unlike too many other teachers today, he made it a point never to impose his opinions on his students. Those who read his syndicated newspaper columns know that he expressed his opinions boldly and unequivocally there. But not in the classroom.
Walter once said he hoped that, on the day he died, he would have taught a class that day. And that is just the way it was, when he died on Wednesday, December 2, 2020.
He was my best friend for half a century. There was no one I trusted more or whose integrity I respected more. Since he was younger than me, I chose him to be my literary executor, to take control of my books after I was gone.
But his death is a reminder that no one really has anything to say about such things.
As an economist, Walter Williams never got the credit he deserved. His book “Race and Economics” is a must-read introduction to the subject. Amazon has it ranked 5th in sales among civil rights books, 9 years after it was published.
Another book of his, on the effects of economics under the white supremacist apartheid regime in South Africa, was titled “South Africa’s War Against Capitalism.” He went to South Africa to study the situation directly. Many of the things he brought out have implications for racial discrimination in other places around the world.
I have had many occasions to cite Walter Williams’ research in my own books. Most of what others say about higher prices in low income neighborhoods today has not yet caught up to what Walter said in his doctoral dissertation decades ago.
Despite his opposition to the welfare state, as something doing more harm than good, Walter was privately very generous with both his money and his time in helping others.
He figured he had a right to do whatever he wanted to with his own money, but that politicians had no right to take his money to give away, in order to get votes.
In a letter dated March 3, 1975, Walter said: “Sometimes it is a very lonely struggle trying to help our people, particularly the ones who do not realize that help is needed.”
In the same letter, he mentioned a certain hospital which “has an all but written policy of prohibiting the flunking of black medical students.”
Not long after this, a professor at a prestigious medical school revealed that black students there were given passing grades without having met the standards applied to other students. He warned that trusting patients would pay — some with their lives — for such irresponsible double standards. That has in fact happened.
As a person, Walter Williams was unique. I have heard of no one else being described as being “like Walter Williams.”
Holding a black belt in karate, Walter was a tough customer. One night three men jumped him — and two of those men ended up in a hospital.
The other side of Walter came out in relation to his wife, Connie. She helped put him through graduate school — and after he received his Ph.D., she never had to work again, not even to fix his breakfast.
Walter liked to go to his job at 4:30 AM. He was the only person who had no problem finding a parking space on the street in downtown Washington. Around 9 o’clock or so, Connie — now awake — would phone Walter and they would greet each other tenderly for the day.
We may not see his like again. And that is our loss.
Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
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……not even to fix his breakfast” It brought a tear to my eye.
Walter E. Williams. A treasure. I grieve this loss. But will remain inspired by his wisdom and the wealth of his shared knowledge and enlightenment.
I was saddened to hear of Dr. Williams death. I first heard him on the Rush Limbaugh show as a fill in. I have read several of his books (and yours, Dr. Sowell). I was trained in Medicine in Chicago on the South side, my degree from The Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. I did an Internship at the University of Chicago HOspitals and Clinics and Lying-In Hospital and a Residency in OB/Gyne at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center. I can, proudly, consider myself a “token White” in my neighborhood on the South Side, just South of 67th St. My patients were from the local neighborhoods and impressed me as being “People”, with all the plusses and short comings of All People, no more and no less. You and Dr. Williams are a Beacon in a very large darkened area that will, hopefully, light the way for many of my neighbors from years past. God Bless Dr. Williams.
Should black leaders ever really want to improve the plight of blacks they profess to serve they would heed the words of these 2 giants.
With much respect for Mr. Williams, I’m sorry for the loss of this great man.
Think of the great suffering that could have been avoided had black people heeded the works of these two spectacular men. It’s so damn sad.
This from Tom DiLorenzo:
“When Walter was drafted into the army, on induction day he checked off the box asking him what race he was as “white.” When the officer looked at him and asked him why he checked off “white” he said, “Because everyone knows the white guys get all the better jobs in the army.” So you can see why the army eventually sent him home.
When Walter was ordered to paint one of those green army trucks as some kind of disciplinary action he dutifully compied, painting windows and all.”
I read on Lew Rockwell that he had been courts martialed and found not guilty. He was considering pressing charges against the officer that charged him and before he could do that he was sent to Korea where he checked the box as white. He wasn’t afraid of voicing his opinion, even writing to President JFK.
I was hooked on his writing when I read his article he wrote about a couple on minimum wage both working could purchase a house for themselves and live a middle class lifestyle.
I always considered him Thomas Sowell’s ideological and intellectual twin. I’ve read a lot of Walter Williams’ columns over the years and “Race and Economics” is on my very long to-read-list (a list which I hope to get through as I get through my 50s and 60s).
If the black American community as a whole gave men like Williams the due attention he deserved, American society’s black people would have far fewer problems.
Who’s going to fill those shoes?
RIP Dr. Williams.
Thirty years ago I became familiar with the writings of Sowell, Williams, and Shelby Steele, and thought they would usher in a generation of black intellectuals who were intelligent, or at least not hucksters, poseurs, or lapdogs of the liberal elite. Nope.
He spoke common sense in a world desperately short of it. He’ll be missed.
R.I.P. Mr Williams. You and the author of your obituary as posted here have served as an inspiration for many.May you continue to be for many years to come.
A fine tribute to an exceptional man. R.I.P.
Thanks for posting this.
I am so sorry that Walter is gone. He was a wonderful writer and wrote about exactly what is wrong with black America. I also love Thomas Sowell, another great man. When both of these two men are gone, who will tell the truth?
Maybe that large black woman in Georgia?
Great man!
How do I change my mailbox address here? I have been [email protected], but now
[email protected]
Thanks.
SamFox
God bless.
I met Dr. Williams in Harrisburg PA when he addressed the PA Libertarian Party in the early 2000’s. We did not know how we could afford his fee. He told us us that his fee for us would be to pay for his hotel room and a bottle of Mrs. Williams favorite wine. Needless to say, we readily agreed. I was DJ’ing the event and after the dinner and his address there was a party. He asked me to play a few of his favorite songs from the 1960’s which he was surprised that I not only knew but had in my collection. What a wonderful man……and a great memory for me. I will miss his contributions.