An exploration of conservative ideology in African American political thought, attitudes, and behavior

This research focuses on the re-emergence of conservative ideology and the impact on political attitudes and behavior of African Americans. The main questions posed in this research include: How has conservatism been defined within the context of African American political thought and politics in the past? Are conservative attitudes expressed by some prominent scholars a reflection of growing ideological conservatism among African Americans? If so, will an increase in identification with conservative ideas lead to an increase in support for conservative candidates and initiatives?The present day debate about how to solve the problem of continuing economic and social inequities is at its core about the continuing viability of group based politics to achieve group goals. African American conservatives argue that race based politics have attained maximum benefits and further progress is dependent on individual achievement. While it is acknowledged that racism is a factor in the lives of African Americans, conservatives do not believe that racism alone causes inequities.This research is an exploration of the salience of these and other ideas among African Americans. The framework for this research begins with an historical overview of conservative ideology followed by a review of ideas of Black political scholars from the past. The ideas of contemporary conservative philosophers are placed in three categories---Economic conservatism, Social/moral conservatism, and Black Nationalism. An analysis of current opinions and attitudes of African Americans has been accomplished using data from the 1994 National Black Politics Study (NPBS). Statistical analyses were used to measure the differences between conservatives and nonconservatives and among three conservatives subgroups, relative to party identification, religion, racial identity, strength of agreement with traditional conservative viewpoints, and selected demographic variables.The results confirm that one in four African Americans identified as conservative. This represents a substantial increase in conservatism since 1980 and is consistent with the increase in conservatism among White Americans. Moral issues seem to have the greatest appeal to African American conservatives, followed by economic issues. Nationalist issues also found broad acceptance among African American conservatives and there was significant overlap between Black Nationalism and self-identified conservatism.