Conservatives, Black

Historical Black Conservatism

Despite the apparent liberalism of most African Americans, there have long been conservative voices in the black community. The pioneering black sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois used a classic conservative argument when he suggested that the best way to reduce racial tension in the United States was to eliminate “immorality, crime, and laziness among Negroes themselves.” George Schuyler, a long-time columnist for the Pittsburgh Courier, authored a well-known 1966 autobiography titled Black and Conservative. Another prominent conservative African American was the writer Zora Neale Hurston, a prominent author associated with the Harlem Renaissance, who supported various conservative Republican Party politics.

Black conservatives began to gain greater prominence beginning in the 1970s. In 1975, African American economist Thomas Sowell published Race and Economics, which criticized the liberal black political leadership in the United States. Since then, a wide variety of black conservative voices have gained prominence. Many come from the world of academia, such as Walter Williams, a professor of economics at George Mason University, and Shelby Steele, an English professor at San Jose State University.

In the 1990s, Ward Connerly, a member of the University of California Board of Regents, gained notoriety for his opposition to affirmative action policies, a frequent target of conservatives around the nation. Other black conservatives, such as radio commentators Ken Hamblin (“The Black Avenger”) and Tony Brown, have established a highly visible presence in the media.

Some of the most well-known and influential black conservatives at the present time are political figures. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and former State Department official and Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes are two of the more prominent black conservative politicians. Even some former leaders in the civil rights movement have adopted a conservative creed. In 1989, James Meredith, the first black student at the University of Mississippi, became the first professional black staffer for Senator Jesse Helms, one of the most conservative members of the U.S. Senate.

A variety of institutions and publications have arisen to offer support for black conservatives and their ideas. Perhaps the most well-established black conservative organization is the Lincoln Institute for Research and Education. Founded in Washington, D.C., in 1978, the Lincoln Institute was a strong supporter of right-wing governments in Africa and Latin America. The institute publishes its own journal, The Lincoln Review, which comments on foreign and domestic policy issues from a conservative viewpoint. The Review has taken editorial stands in favor of the death penalty, mandatory school prayer, and increased defense spending and against abortion rights, affirmative action, and the establishment of a national holiday for Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Other conservative black publications include the quarterly journal Issues and Views (founded in 1985) and Destiny magazine.

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