Black and Right: The Bold New Voice of Black Conservatives in America

by J. G. Conti

Overview

Black conservatism is no oxymoron. Recent polls have indicated that an increasing number of black Americans identified themselves as conservatives, favoring smaller government, lower taxes, tougher crime laws, welfare reform, and personal initiative. While applauding the moral and legal victories of the Civil Rights Movement, the conservative spokespeople in this dynamic new collection reject the claims of inequities and what they consider to be the self-serving agenda of the present civil rights establishment. National leaders such as Justice Clarence Thomas and former Representative Gary Franks and writers such as Shelby Steele and Glenn Loury appear either as contributors or as subjects in this volume. They emphasize the grassroots aspects of black conservatism with a reliance on common sense and common humanity.

The strength of the black conservative voice lies in the growth of its numbers and social influence. As more African-Americans shift to the right and embrace conservative ideology, they are signalling what may be one of the most politically significant trends in American public life as the 20th century draws to a close. This provocative collection of essays shatters the myth that black Americans are uniformly left of center and that conservatism is an ideology with a white face. Unique in its personal and political portrait of black conservatives in America, this book shows the remarkable diversity of ideas from one of the most talked-about political movements to emerge in recent years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313023507
Publisher:	ABC-CLIO, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/22/1997
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	322 KB

About the Author

STAN FARYNA is Director of Research of the New Coalition for Economic and Social Change, a Chicago-based think tank, and a research associate of The David Institute, a social research group in California.

BRAD STETSON is Director of Studies at The David Institute and lecturer in Religious Studies at California State University, Long Beach. He is author of Pluralism and Particularity in Religious Belief (Praeger, 1993), Human Dignity and Contemporary Liberalism (forthcoming from Praeger), coauthor (with Joseph G. Conti) of Challenging the Civil Rights Establishment (Praeger, 1993), and editor of The Silent Subject (Praeger, 1996).

JOSEPH G. CONTI is a Research Associate at The David Institute and a Lecturer in philosophy at Kansas Community College. He is coauthor (with Brad Stetson) of Challenging the Civil Rights Establishment (Praeger, 1993).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Perspectives on Personal Experience
No Room at the Inn: The Loneliness of the Black Conservative by Clarence Thomas
Notes of a Non-Native Son: The Third Vision by Robert A. George
You Look Like A Democrat by Kathleen M. Bravo
Young, Black, and Republican by Stuart De Veaux
What "Black Conservative" Means to Me by Lee Walker
Perspectives on Politics
Two Visions of Black Leadership by Brian W. Jones
Black Convervatives: The Undercounted by Willie and Gwen Richardson
No Need for a Government Handout by Telly Lovelace
Educational Devlopment in the Black Community by Mazhar Ali Awan
The Prescription of Black Conservatives by Gary Franks
Perspectives on Racism
Are You Really a Racist? A Commonsense Quiz by Joseph G. Conti and Brad Stetson
My Experience with the California Civil Rights Initiative by Errol Smith
Race Confab: An Exercise in Futility by Jesse Peterson
Racial Rage: The Response to Jesse Peterson by Marivic Francis
Are America's Juries Race-Obsessed? by Deroy Murdock
Perspectives on Morals
The Moral Vacuum in Black American Must Be Filled by Joseph Brown
The Black Family and Parental Licensure by Diann Ellen Cameron
A Setback is a Setup for a Comeback by Steven Craft
Family Values vs. Homosexual Rights: Tradition Collides with an Elite Social Tide by Joseph E. Broadus
A Black Conservative Looks at Abortion by Peter Kirsanow
Is This the Work of God? Reflections on the Black Church by Jesse Peterson
Black Diamonds: Discovering the Lessons of Freedom in Black Conservative Thought by Stan Faryna
Perspectives on America
A Conversation with Shelby Steele by Joseph G. Conti and Brad Stetson
An Interview with Ezola Foster by Joseph G. Conti
"The Sage of South-Central": An Interview with Larry Elder by Brad Stetson
Appendix: Media and Organizational Resources for the Study of Black Conservatism
Bibliography
About the Editors and Contributors
Index