Conservatism And Racism And Why In America They Are The Same

Systematically illustrates the inescapable racism of American conservatism.

Providing an expansive view of the making and meaning of African American conservatism, this volume examines the phenomenon in four spheres: the political realm, the academic world, the black church, and grass-roots activism movements. In his analysis of their activities in these realms, Louis Prisock examines the challenges African American conservatives face as they operate within the context of (largely white) conservatism. At the same time that African American conservatives challenge the white conservative movement’s principle of “color blindness,” they are accused of being “racial mascots,” or “tokens” from those outside of it. Prisock unwinds the intricacies of black conservatives’ relationships to both the wider conservative movement and the everyday life experiences of black Americans, showing that they are as vulnerable to the “inescability of race” as any other individual in a racialized America.

What exactly is a black conservative, and why would anyone choose to be one? This question, deemed largely irrelevant in years past, is one that liberals can no longer afford to leave unanswered. While the 2006 midterm elections buoyed liberals, Democrats have in fact been losing ground with their African American base. In 1972, fewer than 10 percent of African Americans identified themselves as conservative; today nearly 30 percent-11.2 million-do. By contrast, the number of blacks who self-identify as liberal continues to decline, reaching a low of 13 percent in 2004. In this groundbreaking book, Bracey explains black conservatism's growing appeal and traces its hidden and underappreciated history. Though black conservatives are becoming the most visible voices within African American politics and culture, few realize that the black conservative tradition predates the Civil War and is an intellectual movement with deep historical roots. Bracey takes his readers on a remarkable journey, tracing the evolution of black conservative thought from its origins in antebellum Christian evangelism and petty entrepreneurialism to its contemporary expression in policy debates over affirmative action, law enforcement practices, and the corrosive effects of urban African American artistic and cultural expression. Bracey examines black neoconservatives like Shelby Steele and John McWhorter and reveals the philosophies of prominent political conservatives such as Clarence Thomas, Colin Powell, and Condoleezza Rice. With a revealing chapter on the infotainment effect of Bill Cosby, Chris Rock, pundits, and bloggers, Bracey analyzes the tradeoffs made by conservatives-many of which raise serious questions about whether conservatives today are effectively protecting the interests of blacks. Original and penetrating, Saviors or Sellouts is the first account of why conservatism remains a coherent and compelling alternative for African Americans today. "This marvelous book is required reading for all who want to understand the phenomenon of conservatism in the most progressive group of Americans-Black people." -Cornel West, author of Race Matters "This important and fascinating engagement with the growing black conservative movement illuminates one of the most vexing political trends of our time. Written by a leading African American liberal, it powerfully traces the intellectual character and practical appeal of this growing movement, and offers a realistic and empathetic, yet sharply critical, appraisal." -Ira Katznelson, author of When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America and Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History, Columbia University "Bold and provocative, Saviors or Sellouts challenges us to rethink longstanding political labels as part of larger quest for social justice and black community empowerment in the 21st century. -Peniel E. Joseph, author of Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America "In seeking to chart the topography of black conservatism, Bracey undertakes a task not only necessary to the new millenium's politics of blackness but also brave. Neither black liberals nor conservatives have a monopoly on the truth, nor does either group have an innate right to the hearts and minds of the community; it is only by respecting each other enough to engage in a respectful debate that blacks can heal themselves and fight for their preferences in the body politic. This work will aid immeasurably in achieving that goal. It is long overdue." -Debra J. Dickerson, author of The End of Blackness: Returning the Souls of Black Folk to their Rightful Owners "Saviors or Sellouts is a must read-not only to identify black conservatives but, indeed, to understand them." -Mary Fra

Warning that the Trump presidency presages America’s decline, the political commentator recounts his extraordinary journey from lifelong Republican to vehement Trump opponent. As nativism, xenophobia, vile racism, and assaults on the rule of law threaten the very fabric of our nation, The Corrosion of Conservatism presents an urgent defense of American democracy. Pronouncing Mexican immigrants to be “rapists,” Donald Trump announced his 2015 presidential bid, causing Max Boot to think he was watching a dystopian science-fiction movie. The respected conservative historian couldn’t fathom that the party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Reagan could endorse such an unqualified reality-TV star. Yet the Twilight Zone episode that Boot believed he was watching created an ideological dislocation so shattering that Boot’s transformation from Republican foreign policy adviser to celebrated anti-Trump columnist becomes the dramatic story of The Corrosion of Conservatism. No longer a Republican, but also not a Democrat, Boot here records his ideological journey from a “movement” conservative to a man without a party, beginning with his political coming-of-age as a young émigré from the Soviet Union, enthralled with the National Review and the conservative intellectual tradition of Russell Kirk and F. A. Hayek. Against this personal odyssey, Boot simultaneously traces the evolution of modern American conservatism, jump-started by Barry Goldwater’s canonical The Conscience of a Conservative, to the rise of Trumpism and its gradual corrosion of what was once the Republican Party. While 90 percent of his fellow Republicans became political “toadies” in the aftermath of the 2016 election, Boot stood his ground, enduring the vitriol of his erstwhile conservative colleagues, trolled on Twitter by a white supremacist who depicted his “execution” in a gas chamber by a smiling, Nazi-clad Trump. And yet, Boot nevertheless remains a villain to some partisan circles for his enduring commitment to conservative fiscal and national security principles. It is from this isolated position, then, that Boot launches this bold declaration of dissent and its urgent plea for true, bipartisan cooperation. With uncompromising insights, The Corrosion of Conservatism evokes both a president who has traduced every norm and the rise of a nascent centrist movement to counter Trump’s assault on democracy.

The story of modern conservatism through the lives of six leading figures The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism tells the gripping story of perhaps the most significant political force of our time through the lives and careers of six leading figures at the heart of the movement. David Farber traces the history of modern conservatism from its revolt against New Deal liberalism, to its breathtaking resurgence under Ronald Reagan, to its spectacular defeat with the election of Barack Obama. Farber paints vivid portraits of Robert Taft, William F. Buckley Jr., Barry Goldwater, Phyllis Schlafly, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush. He shows how these outspoken, charismatic, and frequently controversial conservative leaders were united by a shared insistence on the primacy of social order, national security, and economic liberty. Farber demonstrates how they built a versatile movement capable of gaining and holding power, from Taft's opposition to the New Deal to Buckley's founding of the National Review as the intellectual standard-bearer of modern conservatism; from Goldwater's crusade against leftist politics and his failed 1964 bid for the presidency to Schlafly's rejection of feminism in favor of traditional gender roles and family values; and from Reagan's city upon a hill to conservatism's downfall with Bush's ambitious presidency. The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism provides rare insight into how conservatives captured the American political imagination by claiming moral superiority, downplaying economic inequality, relishing bellicosity, and embracing nationalism. This concise and accessible history reveals how these conservative leaders discovered a winning formula that enabled them to forge a powerful and formidable political majority.

First Published in 1988. The author's arguments are a response to five recent and controversial books: Thomas Sowell's Markets and Minorities and Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality?, Walter Williams's State Against Blacks, George Gilder's Wealth and Poverty, and William J. Wilson's Declining Significance of Race. These authors insist that racial discrimination can no longer explain the disadvantaged position of blacks in American society; indeed, while sociologists argue that class has become more important than race, conservative economists insist that disparities in earnings are a fair reflection of racial differences in education, skills, and similar measures of productivity. Free markets, they contend, are anathemas to racial discrimination. Dr Boston demonstrates that these views lack empirical support and explains how discrimination persists in labor markets. While acknowledging that class position is increasingly important he nevertheless illustrates how black class stratification itself uniquely reflects racial subjugation. But in the author's own words, 'These findings will not be received comfortably by conservatives because they are just another chapter in the continuing saga of why their revolution has failed so miserably. Flawed theory creates failed policies'. Yet his book is of major importance in understanding the current position of black people in society and the reality that has to be addressed in contemporary public policy. More than this he provides a solution to the riddle of race and class which has eluded social investigators for decades.

The American political scene today is poisonously divided, and the vast majority of white evangelicals play a strikingly unified, powerful role in the disunion. These evangelicals raise a starkly consequential question for electoral politics: Why do they claim morality while supporting politicians who act immorally by most Christian measures? In this clear-eyed, hard-hitting chronicle of American religion and politics, Anthea Butler answers that racism is at the core of conservative evangelical activism and power. Butler reveals how evangelical racism, propelled by the benefits of whiteness, has since the nation's founding played a provocative role in severely fracturing the electorate. During the buildup to the Civil War, white evangelicals used scripture to defend slavery and nurture the Confederacy. During Reconstruction, they used it to deny the vote to newly emancipated blacks. In the twentieth century, they sided with segregationists in avidly opposing movements for racial equality and civil rights. Most recently, evangelicals supported the Tea Party, a Muslim ban, and border policies allowing family separation. White evangelicals today, cloaked in a vision of Christian patriarchy and nationhood, form a staunch voting bloc in support of white leadership. Evangelicalism's racial history festers, splits America, and needs a reckoning now.