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Black conservatism is a political and social philosophy rooted in communities of African descent that aligns largely with the conservative ideology around the world. Since the Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968), the African American community has often identified politically with liberals. Black conservatives, then, became an oxymoron that often emphasizes traditionalism, patriotism, self-sufficiency, free market capitalism, and strong cultural and social conservatism within the context of the black church. In the United States it is often, but not exclusively, associated with the Republican Party. Melissa Harris-Lacewell (now Melissa Harris-Perry) defines black conservatism as "advocating the idea that African Americans must be entirely self-sufficient, and demanding no official recognition of or redress for any historical or contemporary inequalities stemming from racial discrimination."
Contents
- Overview
- Black conservatism in the United Kingdom
- Black conservatism in Canada
- Black conservatism in the United States
- Black Conservatism in Africa
- Color blind America
- Individualism
- Christian Evangelism
- Black Conservatives in the Media
- Notable Black Conservatives in Politics
- Organization Links
- Blogs
- Black Libertarian Blogs
- Documentary
- Speakers
- Journalist
- References
The Great Depression, and the subsequent Reconstruction era, began the greatest shift of conservative African Americans in American politics in modern history. During the Reconstruction era, black voters began to align themselves more with the Republican party and its conservative ideologies. Under Roosevelt's administration, during his first two terms, there was not a single piece of civil rights legislation that was made into law and in the following election the black vote became more split. In 1964, the Kennedy-Johnson campaign promoted civil rights as a central issue and during their administration, they passed anti-discrimination legislation, gaining the black vote. Since then, the Democratic Party has held a majority of the black votes in America.
Overview
Black conservatism is highly criticized for seemingly being an oxymoron. Russian anarchist Pyotr Kropotkin brought many questions of the possibility of being Black and being conservative when he mocked their ability to be genuine. He explained his belief that conservatism has underlying themes of racism so black conservatives are "a freak of nature" and those who take advantage of conservatism for their own personal gain are opportunists and complicit in the oppression of their own people.
Black conservatism is particularly difficult to define because it will either not be representative of all black conservatives or it will be something that can be said of other conservatives outside of the black community. One of the main characteristics of black conservatism is its emphasis on personal responsibility and traditionalism. Black conservatives may find common ground with Black Nationalists through their common belief in black empowerment and the theory that black people have been duped by the Welfare state. For many black conservatives, the singular objective is to bring social redemption and economic success to the black community.
Black conservatism in the United Kingdom
While there was an early link in the 18th century between Black Britons, mainly former slaves, and the abolitionist conservatives who successfully sought the end of the slave trade in 1807 many Black Britons have not traditionally supported conservative policies. This in some part emerged from the hostility of the Conservative Party to immigration from the Commonwealth during the 1950s and 1960s, culminating in the infamous speech by a leading Conservative Enoch Powell, in which he predicted mass immigration would lead to "a river of blood". Despite this, there has long been a small number of conservative blacks. In recent years the Conservatives have attempted to undo the long-standing conservative prejudices, by attacking racism and trying to cultivate more of a following amongst the black community. Compared to the United States, the racial divide in the United Kingdom is not a party divide due to the difference in racial relations.
Increasingly more black and ethnic minority figures are being appointed and elected to positions within the Conservative Party. Notable black Conservatives in the United Kingdom include Lord Taylor of Warwick, Adam Afriyie MP, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, James Cleverly (a member of the London Assembly), and solicitor and businesswoman Helen Grant. Boxer Frank Bruno has also been a vocal supporter of the Conservative Party.
Black conservatism in Canada
Notable black conservatives in Canada include Senator Anne Cools and Senator Donald Oliver, both of whom serve in the Senate of Canada. Senator Oliver is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, while Cools is a non-aligned Senator recognized as voting mainly with the Conservative caucus. Lincoln Alexander was Canada's first black MP, and served as a Federal Member of Parliament between 1968 and 1980 in the riding of Hamilton West. Former Alberta MLA Lindsay Blackett is a member of the Conservative Party.
Black conservatism in the United States
Black conservatism in the United States is a political and social movement that aligns largely with the American conservative movement. During slavery, there was a divide between free blacks and slaves. As black people became released from slavery, they assimilated to white American culture in order to maintain a place in the social order. This is where characteristics of contemporary black conservatism began to develop. The argument behind this was the idea that if black people follow the rules of White America, then there will be no choice but to accept them into the social system. Since the Civil Rights Movement in the latter 20th Century, the African-American community has generally swung to the left of the right-wing conservative movement, and has predominantly favored itself on the side of liberalism. Black conservatism emphasizes traditionalism, strong patriotism, capitalism, free markets, and opposition to abortion and gay marriage in the context of the black church.
In the post civil rights-era there was a push for continuous assimilation and, as a result, some black individuals aligned themselves with the conservative movement and accepted the idea of a color-blind society. In his book, The Content of Our Character," Shelby Steele offers an interpretation of the color-blind society ideology and why people should accept it. He claims that during slavery, black individuals were forced to cling to their black identities in order to build community and have since mistakenly clung to that same rhetoric under the impression that it is still the most valuable tool to excel. He argues that this is dangerous because it frames black individuals as victims and “pulls [blacks] into war-like defensiveness at a time where there is more opportunity for development than ever before." The idea was that if black individuals ceased to see themselves as victims of oppressive forces, then they could be seen as equals to their white counterparts. It should be noted though that the color-blind argument has not yet been proven by empirical data and fails to reconcile institutionalized racism. For example, it has not taken into account how practices such as having two equally qualified individuals apply for a job and having one be chosen for the position or paid more for the job as a result of their racial identity fit into the conceptual argument.
Some elected black conservatives include Florida representative Allen West, U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, former Oklahoma representative J.C. Watts, and former Connecticut representative Gary Franks. Other notable black conservatives include economist Thomas Sowell, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, perennial political candidate Alan Keyes, and Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas. In 2009, Michael Steele became the first black man to chair the Republican National Committee. In 2011, Herman Cain was considered the leading Republican presidential nominee for a period of time. In addition there are a number of up and coming voices in the arena of political talks shows, and guest analysts such as Dr. Carol Swain, professor of political science from Vanderbilt University with multiple appearances on CNN, Fox News, PBS, C-SPAN, and ABC Headline News.
Black Conservatism in Africa
In the Post–Cold War era, a number of avowedly-conservative parties have developed in most African countries. In countries where the population is divided by religion (i.e., Nigeria), conservative parties are often formed and constituted to target specific religions in their areas of greatest political dominance.Tracing black conservatism back to African culture is a difficult process. In fact, the pillars of conservatism, such as individualism, tend to be incompatible with African culture.
Color-blind America
The colorblind America argument is one that often comes up in conservative discourse. It is the idea the decisions and legislation are made without regard to racial identity (cite). Black conservatives assert that, because there has been a post-civil rights era push in the conservative movement to rally behind this colorblind conservative ideology, that it actually hinders the black community’s progress to oppose it. They claim that by refusing to recognize this discourse, black individuals are not focusing on racial development. This partially explains the opposition to affirmative action amongst black conservatives. They claim that this type of government intervention in black mobility actually does more to question the ability of black individuals to succeed more than it does provide well-earned opportunity that would otherwise be inaccessible.
Individualism
Individualism is where individuals are personally responsible for pursuing success in their own self-interest. Black conservatives are in favor of individualism and oppose government interventions such as affirmative action because they do not want it to raise the question of whether or not they deserve the successes they have achieved or if they took part in what some refer to as "reverse racism." Black conservatives oppose policies such as Affirmative Action that were created with the intention of creating opportunity for minorities who have been historically oppressed in the United States. Black conservatives justify this because they are opposed to any policy that may be perceived by Whites as an unearned benefit or a handout. Clarence Thomas described affirmative action as problematic because it reinforces stereotypes of black individuals being inferior. He claimed it leads to personal doubt and stifles individuality.
Christian Evangelism
Conservatives seek to preserve institutions like the Church, monarchy and the social hierarchy, as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others, called reactionaries, oppose modernism and seek a return to "the way things were." Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, "the rule of law and the Christian religion," and a defense of "Western civilization from the challenges of modernist culture and totalitarian governments." Black conservatives are motivated by two of the values of general conservative thought, for the love of God and country. The black church specifically is linked to Christian evangelism and a dependence on God and his plans. These plans are part of what allow Black conservatives to get behind the ideas of individualism that conservatism is built on. Though it may seem antithetical to reconcile the history of slavery and segregation with the ideas of complete American freedom and equality, it is actually the hope of reaching that goal without having to depend on their oppressors that makes individualism appealing to some people in the black community.
Black Conservatives in the Media
There tends to generally be a negative perception of Black conservatives in the media. Within the Black community they are sometimes even regarded as racial traitors. Justice Clarence Thomas once said that, "to be Black, one had to espouse leftist ideas and Democratic politics. Any Black who deviated from the ideological litany of requisites was an oddity and was to be cut from the herd and attacked." There are few African-Americans who are outwardly conservative because many in the media struggle to reconcile Black conservatives within some conservative ideology that may seem inherently racist. For example, film director Spike Lee once called the Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas a "handkerchief head, a chicken, and a biscuit-eating Uncle Tom" for his conservative views.
Though Black conservatives are a minority of a minority, backlash against them often goes unreported. A billboard of Florida's Fifth District Gloreatha Scurry-Smith was vandalized and her face had been spray-painted white. Smith was hesitant to even go public with the event for fear of steering the conversation away from the district's issues. Even then, the media did not seem to want to feature it and the incident really only reached local news outlets.
Former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele was pelted with Oreo cookies at a 2002 debate held at Morgan State University. Members of the clean up crew at the event claimed to having never seen the Oreos or cleaned any off of the stage.The incident did not much coverage at the time, but was revisited when he decided to run for a U.S. Senate position years later.