Black conservatism
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Black Conservatism is a political and social movement within African American culture that aligns largely with the American Right, emphasizing patriotism, independence and self-help, free markets and within some circles Christian Right values. Contemporary black conservatives find common ground with American conservatives of other races, which sometimes put them at odds with the largely "left" majority of African American voters.
[edit] Overview
The perspective held by many Black conservatives is typically in conflict with some of the key points in the common social, economic, and political positions that a high percentage of African-Americans favor, particularly regarding reparations for slavery, affirmative action and Black nationalism. While most African-Americans have a neutral stance on Black nationalism and integration (as long as there is an even playing field), Black conservatives are clearly in favor of African-American integration with mainstream America.
For many Black conservatives, in their own point of view, the key mission is to bring repair to the Black community by applying the following fundamental principles: the pursuit of educational excellence as a means of advancement within the society; policies that promote safety and security in the community beyond the typical casting of a criminal as a "victim" of societal racism; and local economic development rather than looking to the federal government for assistance.
Black conservative politicians, in this regard, are more inclined to support GOP economic policies (i.e., globalization, free-trade agreements, tax cuts), militarism, regional interventions, or other agendas that the vast majority of Blacks oppose. They are therefore sometimes viewed as being promoted to high positions in government due to their supporting views/actions.
A fundamental breaking point between the Black Liberal and the Black Conservative is focused around the balance between a perception of the impact that historical slavery and oppression has on Black people living today versus the power and consequences of personal choices that a person makes in determining his ultimate fate. The Black conservative is more inclined to advance the notion that individual choices toward success and a commitment toward changing one's individual behavior will allow the individual to advance in society with respect to the rights that Blacks have been afforded due to the Civil Rights Movement. The Black liberal counters that collective success in which the least among them are focused upon and brought up to standard is worthy of consideration. Black Conservatives find common ground with Black Nationalists to the extent that they both believe that the black masses have been duped by the politics of condescending white liberals vis a vis the maintenance of the Welfare state.
Black conservatives also tend to be culturally conservative and put a priority on maintaining strong ties to black cultural and family traditions. This would include preferences to Jazz and Gospel music over Hip-hop and so-called Urban Contemporary music. Black conservatives favor traditional nuclear family arrangements and oppose Gay Marriage. They are particularly strong critics of out of wedlock births.
In the tradition of African American politics and intellectual life, black conservatives tend to side with Booker T. Washington as contrasted with W.E.B. DuBois.
[edit] Criticisms and mis-conceptions of Black conservatism: A historical context
Within the African American community the issue of Blacks exploiting other Blacks for personal gain is an extremely sensitive issue because of the history and impact of some Blacks sympathizing with and directly participating with the racist faction of Whites in the oppression of Blacks. For instance, during the days of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade some Africans were sold or traded by other Africans to European slave catchers. When the African was enslaved in America some Blacks worked on the behalf of the slave master to keep the captured Africans in slavery by exposing to the slave master escape and rebellion plans. For instance, Denmark Vesey planned what would have been a large slave rebellion had word of the plans not been leaked by Blacks who sympathized with racist Whites. These Blacks who worked on behalf of racist Whites and the slave masters were deeply despised by other Blacks for their actions. On the plantations of United States slave owners created a system that allowed some slaves to work in the house who were referred to at the time as "house Negroes". The "house Negro" worked in his masters home performing domestic household activities while other slaves or "field Negroes" worked the in the harsh outdoor conditions in the fields.
The term "house nigger" is a slur sometimes used by liberals as a metaphor to describe the perceived thought process of a Black conservative. This division of labor between the Blacks who worked in the house and those that worked in field created a rift between Blacks which in the estimation of some people, still impacts the African American community today. Black conservatives tend to be labeled by a segment of African Americans as "Uncle Toms" or other slurs as an an insult. The use of the term Uncle Tom has two variations; Version A is the Black person who is a docile, loyal, religious, contented servant who accommodates himself to a lowly status. Version B is the ambitious Black person who subordinates himself in order to achieve a more favorable status within the dominant society. In both instances, the person is believed to overly identify with Whites, in Version A because of fear, in Version B because of opportunism. Version B is more commonly used today when referring to a Black conservative.
[edit] Black conservatives and Black Republicans
The relationship between Black conservatives and Black Republicans in modern times is close enough for them to often be deemed identical. That said even now "Black conservative" does not always mean "Black Republican." According to a 2004 study 13.7% of blacks identified as "Conservative" or "Extremely Conservative"[1] with another 14.4 identifying as slightly conservative. However the same study indicated less than ten percent identified as Republican or Republican leaning in any fashion. Likewise a recent Pew Research Center survey showed that 19% of blacks identify as Religious Right[2]. In 2004 the Pew Research Center indicated only 7% of blacks identify as Republican.[3] Hence a certain percentage of noted Black conservatives (such as Harold Ford Jr.) are likely connected to the Blue Dog Democrats or Democrats for Life of America movements.
Added to this from Reconstruction up until the New Deal the black population tended to vote Republican as the Republican Party, particularly in the US South, was seen as more racially liberal than the Democratic Party. (See Dixiecrats for more on this)
Another case study of differences between Black conservatives and Black Republicans is an emphasis on personal empowerment versus theological. While the media often confuses black Republicans with black social conservatives most black Republicans are moderate. Black Republicans like Colin Powell hold to the social ideas articulated by the early Radical Republicans like Frederick Douglass while at the same time supporting the self-empowerment message of Booker T. Washington. Many social conservatives who are black and Republican hold to a biblically based empowerment. Conservatives like the Texas bases minister T. D. Jakes are evangelical African American's who support policies more in common but not totally in line with white Evangelicals.
[edit] Black conservatives and The Black Church
The African American church has traditionally been an important element to social and political movements in the community. In general these have been identified by figures of the Left or liberalism, like Jesse Jackson, but this is not consistently true. On issues concerning homosexuality Black Protestants are more socially conservative than other groups exempting White Evangelicals.[4] Their view on the issue of homosexual teachers changed less than any other segment based on religion or race.
- 1954 - President Dwight Eisenhower appoints J. Ernest Wilkins as Assistant Secretary of Labor.
- 1960 - Jackie Robinson, the first black Major League Baseball player, endorses Richard Nixon for President
- 1966 - Edward W. Brooke (R-MA) is the first African-American elected to U.S. Senate by popular vote.
- 1968 - Arthur A. Fletcher is appointed Assistant Secretary of Labor; he will be a candidate for Chairman of the Republican National Committee in '76 and appointed Chairman of the US Commission on Civil Rights in '90.
- 1975 - President Gerald Ford appoints William T. Coleman Secretary of Transportation. James B. Parsons is named Chief Judge of the US District Court in Chicago, the first African-American to hold such a position.
- 1980 - NAACP President Benjamin Hooks is invited to address the Republican National Convention
- 1981 - President Ronald Reagan appoints Clarence Pendleton, Jr. as Chairman of the US Civil Rights Commission
- 1982 - President Reagan appoints Clarence Thomas as Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
- 1989 - President George H.W. Bush appoints Louis Sullivan as Secretary of Health and Human Services, General Colin L. Powell as Chair of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Condoleezza Rice as Director of the National Security Council.
- 1990 - Gary Franks is elected to US Congress (CT)
- 1991 - President Bush appoints Clarence Thomas to U.S. Supreme Court
- 1998 - U.S. House of Representatives elects J. C. Watts (R-OK) to be Chairman of the House Republican Conference.
- 2001 - President George W. Bush appoints General Colin L. Powell as the Secretary of State; Roderick R. Paige as the Secretary of Education; Condoleezza Rice as Advisor of the National Security Council; Alphonso Jackson as the Deputy Secretary to Housing and Urban Development; Claude Allen as the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services; Leo S. Mackay, Jr. as the Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs; Larry D. Thompson as the Deputy Attorney General; and Stephen A. Perry as Administrator of General Services Administration
[edit] Notable Black Conservatives
[edit] United States Politicians
- Ken Blackwell, former Secretary of State of Ohio, former Ohio gubernatorial candidate
- Keith Butler, minister, former Detroit councilman, former candidate for U.S. Senate from Michigan
- Wallace Jefferson, chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court
- Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, senior fellow at the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution
- Rod Paige, former Secretary of Education
- Colin Powell, former United States Secretary of State
- Michael Powell, former FCC chairman
- Condoleezza Rice, United States Secretary of State, former National Security Advisor
- Janice Rogers Brown, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- Winsome Sears, former member of Virginia House of Delegates, former candidate for U.S. House
- Michael S. Steele, former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, former candidate for U.S. Senate from Maryland
- Thomas Stith, town councilman of Durham, NC, former candidate for Lt. Gov. of NC
- Clarence Thomas, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission chairman
- J.C. Watts, former U.S. Representative from Oklahoma
[edit] Canadian Politicians
- Anne Cools, Conservative Senator from Ontario
- Donald Oliver, Conservative Senator from Nova Scotia
[edit] Talk show hosts
- Alan Keyes, radio host, U.N. Ambassador, presidential candidate, author
- Jesse Lee Peterson, president of The Brotherhood Organization, television and radio host
- Armstrong Williams, author of "Beyond blame", TV host of On Point
- Larry Elder, author of "10 things you can't say in America", Radio show host
[edit] Columnists
- La Shawn Barber, columnist, blogger
- Stephen L. Carter, Christianity Today columnist, author of "The Culture of Disbelief"
- Ken Hamblin, Denver Post columnist
- Deroy Murdock, National Review columnist
- Star Parker, president of the Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education, columnist, author
- Thomas Sowell, Hoover Institute fellow, economist, author of "Basic economics"
- Walter E. Williams, economist, columnist, author of "More liberty means less government"
[edit] Athletes and Entertainers
- Yaphet Kotto, actor
- Karl Malone, basketball player, two-time Olympic gold medalist
- Joseph C. Phillips, actor, commentator
- Lynn Swann, football player, Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate
- Jimmie Walker, actor, comedian
[edit] Other
- Herman Cain, President of Godfather's Pizza
- Ward Connerly, University of California regent, activist and businessman
- Ezola Foster, president of Americans for Family Values, author of "What's right for all Americans"
- Robert A. George, journalist, pundit and blogger.
- Niger Innis, director of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
- Roy Innis, Hudson Institute fellow, chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality
- T.D Jakes, televangelist
- Don King, boxing promoter
- Michael King, National Advisory Board Member of Project 21, former radio talk show host
- John McWhorter, author of "Losing the race" and Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute
- James Meredith, former civil rights activist
- Deroy Murdock, Wall Street Journal Opinon Contributor, Cato Institute Scholar
- Gerald A. Reynolds, president of the Center for New Black Leadership, member of Project 21
- Vernon Robinson, Air Force intelligence officer, business professor
- George Schuyler, journalist, novelist
- Shelby Steele, Hoover Institute fellow, author of "The content of our character"
[edit] Fictional Black conservatives
[edit] See also
[edit] Black Conservative Organizations
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- Alliance of Black Republicans
- National Black Republican Association
- United Black Republican Coalition
- Republicans for Black Empowerment
- African American Republican Leadership Council
- The New Coalition for Economic and Social Change
- Black Conservative Think Tank
- Conservative Minority Institute
- Black America's PAC
- Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education
- Congress of Racial Equality
- Project 21
- The Lincoln Review
- National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise
- Black Republican Caucus
- Howard County African American Republican Club
- The Conservative Brotherhood
- California Black Republicans
- Colorado African American Republicans
- African American Republican Council of Illinois
- Black Republicans of Texas
- American Civil Rights Institute
[edit] Notable black conservative blogs
- Lashawn Barber's Blog (redirects links from Wikipedia)
[edit] External links
[edit] Related Articles
- http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/counties/philadelphia_county/philadelphia/13247020.htm
- http://gadflyer.com/articles/?ArticleID=111
- http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,131048,00.html
- http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0033,noel,17337,1.html
- http://www.theconnection.org/shows/2004/06/20040602_a_main.asp
- http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports.asp?Page=\SpecialReports\archive\200508\SPE20050808a.html
- http://hiphoprepublican.com/2005/11/uncle-tom-negro.html
