Conservation and Racism, and Why in America They Are the Same

Smith (political science, San Francisco State U.) argues that, in the United States, conservatism has been hostile to the aspirations of African Americans in ideology and in practice; that conservatism and racism are essentially the same. He first traces the roots of the ideology to the classical liberal philosophy of John Locke and his influence on the US constitution and contrasts it with the potential antiracism found in Roussean liberalism. He also considers the unique role of the American South in the conservative tradition and the political thought of African Americans, arguing that African Americans have always been the most left, liberal, radical component of the population because for the most part they had nothing to conserve and that most black conservatives, such as Booker T. Washington or George Schuyler, were really just accommodationists, cowards, or opportunists. In the remainder of the work, he traces the role of race in the development of conservatism from the 1950s onwards and the legacy of President Ronald Reagan before concluding with a look at Bill Clinton's "Reaganizing of the Democratic Party." Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Robert C. Smith is Professor of Political Science at San Francisco State University. He is the author of several books, including African American Leadership; We Have No Leaders: African Americans in the Post–Civil Rights Era; and Racism in the Post–Civil Rights Era: Now You See It, Now You Don’t, all published by SUNY Press.