David Schraub thinks so. Here's how he defines Black Conservatism:
Black Conservatism essentially operates off the premise that racism is an ingrained and potentially permanent part of White-dominated institutions. As a result, Black Conservatives essentially tell Blacks they can only rely on themselves to get ahead in America -- counting on White people to be moral or "do the right thing" is a waste of time. Politically, this means building tight-knit communities that emphasize the patronizing of identifiably Black institutions, with the end result being social independence from White America. In this, it mixes at least partial voluntary self-segregation with a significant aversion to external dependency, with Whites and White institutions being defined as outsiders who can't be trusted. Every dollar that flows out of the Black community and into the hands of White America is a dollar that is in the control of a group that, at best, has a unique set of interests that can't be counted on to converge with those of Black people. Contained within this school are thinkers as far-ranging as Derrick Bell, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Clarence Thomas, Huey P. Newton, and Malcolm X. Black groups and leaders who were/are not Black Conservatives include W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King, the NAACP, Thurgood Marshall, and yes, Barack Obama.Black Conservatism holds obvious parallels with traditional paleo-conservatism (hence the name): the mistrust of outsiders, looking out for one's own people first (and concurrently, self-reliance over dependency), lack of faith in high-minded moralism and ideology. But since African-Americans are a minority people in the United States, some other qualities are grafted on which are less familiar to majoritarian conservatism: most notably, the nation is considered to be an outsider, making the ideology significantly less inclined towards patriotism than the average White conservative.
Schraub says Black Conservatives are a kind of paleocon. Not sure what to make of this. I can go a long way with this, but I find it difficult to say that Black Conservatism's requirement that blacks make racial discrimination a cornerstone of self-help ideology with the idea that it's wrong for whites to patronize only white-owned businesses, to keep money in the hands of white people. It's framing the issue of communal self-reliance in explicitly racial terms that's hard to deal with. If Wright is willing to grant black folks the moral right (and even give them the responsibility) to make this kind of choice, on what grounds is he going to deny it to people of other races?
Thoughts?
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
But when that identity is built around racist mythology and around the idea that "the other" is the enemy rather than the idea that "the other" is a potential brother or sister, then that separate identity becomes dangerous.
I like this.
Aaron wrote: "Why the home-school movement? You afraid of the fundies, or the secular atheists? I guarantee you, if my wife and I ever have kid(s), one of us will quit the work force and raise/home-school the child(ren) and I will support just about anyone else who makes that decision regardless of religious or political persuasion."
to Aaron --
I am afraid of neither. I think an intellectual monoculture is a bad thing, so I can and do listen with interest to atheists, fundies, and the broad swathe in between. And I did stay at home to raise my kids.
It's hard to cover much ground in comment boxes, but briefly: I grew up in rural New England, and my family are small town New Englanders. I believe in the town meeting and high school football games and volunteer firefighters and all that . . . not sure if this makes me a crunchy con, or not.
When local people participate in their local institutions, that strengthens the community as a whole, and a strong local community is a bulwark against larger cultural forces, just as a strong family or a strong church is a bulwark. One of the few places where communities have traditionally come together, outside of their ethnic or religious groups, is through the public schools, in the shared interest of raising their children. In part because of my involvement in my community (including the schools) I know my neighborhood, and my neighbors know my kids and me, and that has proven over the years to be a good thing.
I know several homeschoolers from my church, and it's their choice. But I don't celebrate that choice. I have to say, it strikes me as another symptom of separatism, or individualism, or whatever you want to call it. The public schools would benefit from their presence and involvement. I think pulling out contributes to community breakdown and fragmentation.
But that horse is probably out of the barn already . . .
I wonder if this has any implication for the very-crunchy concept of localism? I live in Louisiana and am encouraged by my state government and also by personal preference to "buy Louisianan" when I can. I certainly buy American as often as possible (which is ever less possible). My happiest exchanges are even more local---sharing game and garden veggies with my neighbors. In each, the principle is the same: support your own.
Is conservative black encouragement to "buy black" simply a form of localism, and if so, why shouldn't we get behind it?
One good reason, off the top of my head, is that skin color of the producer is no garauntee of quality in produce, in products (or in people). You can get screwed without regard to race. The better predictor of quality is your knowledge of the producer and the product, knowledge that is boosted by proximity and familiarity and shared responsibility. This is the whole point of localism.
So, if I'm black and want to "support my own," I would do better supporting local black businesses with which I have experience and trust. If I support some multi-national black corporation based 1,000 miles away, how much does the skin color of the seller ensure my satisfaction?
I think not much. I think no matter what your color, you're better off knowing your producers personally, no matter their color (or creed, or sex). You're best off not just to know them but to like them, to live near them, to let their children play with yours, to share meals with them. You can't get more local than your neighbors!
Thanks, Aaron and Anti Dhimmi.
As an black women, I have gotten very weary with these conversations, I also feel that people are being reckless with our cultures, traditions and identities. People are making assertions about things they know nothing about. It can get offensive at times. I will warn you that trying to understand something that you have no context for and very little history behind is not easy and as usual, people will not get it. Please stop trying to understand black cultures and traditions through a white understanding. I know that it is hard but if you do then you will not get it.
I will agree with David. However some of you do not get that a celebration of oneself and the pride are not seperatism. I am for the most part a black conservative. I believe that yes America will for the most part have issues with race relations. I believe that certain things are very deeply engrained. While our society has made progress in race relations, which I am happy about, we still have a long way to go I feel that more energy needs to go heal and empower our community rather than fighting racism and particular ideologies that at times seems endemic.
I admire Wright and I like his church. A friend of mine from Chicago used to attend. I would be considered a liberal black conservative. I left my parents home in Chappaqua (Hillary and Bill Clinton's town in NY) and moved to Brooklyn. I am against suburban life. I have given back to my community through volunteering, community programs, organizing and activism. I also attend Columbia University. I admire MLK but I have always leaned more towards Malcolm X. I also believe in W.E.B. DuBois' talented tenth which is contrary to that of Booker T.Washington who is considered a black conservative which is odd, I guess. I believe that it is the job of the talented tenth to help the rest of the community in healing and empowerment. I value the individual but believe in collectivism.
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.