Voices | Dec. 17-24
On the night of December 1st, renowned economist and public intellectual Walter E. Williams taught a microeconomics class at George Mason University’s Arlington campus.
It would be the last class of his long and prolific life. The libertarian-conservative luminary was found dead in his car a few hours after the class ended. He was 84 years old.
Walter Williams (1936-2020) grew up in both West and North Philadelphia, and always in the poor areas of the city, roots he never forgot as he saw his career rise. His father left home when he was 3, leaving Williams and his sister in the hands of their mother. After graduating from Benjamin Franklin High School, he drove a taxi for work. Later, in the late 1950s, he served as a private in the United States Army and “waged a one man battle against Jim Crow from inside the army.” He was so forceful in challenging the status quo that a higher-up filed a court-martial against him, and Williams was transferred to Korea