An eye-opening collection of thoughtful essays from a broad
spectrum of young African-Americans whose economic and
sociopolitical positions go against the grain of conventional
liberal wisdom. Even more remarkable, there are contributions from
precious few of the older guard; the exceptions: Associate Supreme
Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who weighs in with a rueful 1991
piece published in Policy Review and Shelby Steele (The Content of
Our Character, 1990), the subject of a wide-ranging interview he
granted two of the editors. In large measure, most of the more than
two dozen entries represent original efforts by young academics,
attorneys, business people, journalists, and legislative aides,
staking out right-of-center stands on a host of issues. Cases in
point range from crackdowns on crime through an end to affirmative
action, lower taxes, personal initiative, religious observance,
self-reliance, smaller government, and welfare reform. Without
gainsaying the achievements of civil-rights leaders like Martin
Luther King Jr., these Young Turks do not shy from taking on
today's establishment and what they consider to be its insistence
on entitlements, victimhood status, and the debilitating effects of
institutionalized bigotry. Not too surprisingly, several
contributors are at pains to link the conservative canon to the
family values and sense of community that sustained
African-Americans during their extended time of trial. Nor are at
least two correspondents reluctant to challenge progressive
positions on abortion and homosexuality. In brief, then, the
editors (all affiliated with the David Institute, a
California-based social-research group) offer a provocative
compilation of fresh new voices that effectively puts paid to any
notion that all blacks are in the ideological camps of either Louis
Farrakhan or Jesse Jackson. (Kirkus Reviews)
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.
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