African Americans in Conservative Movements

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

   PDF

2. Introduction—Race: The Achilles Heel of a Movement

   • Louis G. Prisock

   Pages 1-7

3. Beginnings: The Subtleties of Race in Conservative Politics

   • Louis G. Prisock

   Pages 9-46

4. The New “Color Blind” Conservatism: Creating an Intellectual Infrastructure

   • Louis G. Prisock

   Pages 47-93

5. Stop the Genocide! Save the Race: The Anti-abortion Movement Within the African American Community

   • Louis G. Prisock

   Pages 95-143

6. Fight Against the “Special Rights” Movement and End the Mis-education of Black Children: Support School Vouchers!

   • Louis G. Prisock

   Pages 145-171

7. Chasing Fools Gold: African Americans and the Party of Lincoln

   • Louis G. Prisock

   Pages 173-250

8. The Creation of the Black Conservative Intelligentsia and Its Impact on Black America

   • Louis G. Prisock

   Pages 251-296

9. Rolling Rightward: The African American Religious Right

   • Louis G. Prisock

   Pages 297-337

10. Epilogue—Looking Back, Looking Forward: The Future of Black Conservatism in the Twenty-First Century

    • Louis G. Prisock

    Pages 339-348

11. Back Matter

    Pages 349-391

    PDF

Providing an expansive view of the making and meaning of African American conservatism, this volume examines the phenomenon in four spheres: the political realm, the academic world, the black church, and grass-roots activism movements. In his analysis of their activities in these realms, Louis Prisock examines the challenges African American conservatives face as they operate within the context of (largely white) conservatism. At the same time that African American conservatives challenge the white conservative movement’s principle of “color blindness,” they are accused of being “racial mascots,” or “tokens” from those outside of it. Prisock unwinds the intricacies of black conservatives’ relationships to both the wider conservative movement and the everyday life experiences of black Americans, showing that they are as vulnerable to the “inescability of race” as any other individual in a racialized America. 

• conservative politics
• colorblind
• black intellectualism
• black conservatives
• religious right
• African American politics
• African American religion
• us politics

“This volume is the best study on black conservatism in contemporary US politics. Period. This study delineates and explores the fascinating and underappreciated genesis of black conservatism in relation to the reorganization of the US Right in the 1970s. By so doing, the author identifies a recurring tension that emerges when a sub-set of conservative black political thinkers and operatives claim to represent “black interests”—inside and outside conservative movement networks—but consistently oppose the well-established preferences of a black Americans who continue to support government intervention to protect workers’ rights, combat labor and housing market discrimination, expand educational opportunities and access, and generally sees health care as a right. Ultimate, as Prisock shows, black conservatism is buoyed by the well-oiled machinery of the American Right, not by any meaningful connection to black civic organizations.” (Dean Robinson, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA)

“Prisock draws on a rich variety of empirical data to offer an important and necessary contribution to the study of both conservative politics and black political behavior. The book traces the expansion of color blind ideology within conservative politics and illustrates how this development impacts organizing and activism among African American conservatives. Though framed as a way to make the conservative movement appear less racist, the book shows how color blind ideology actually works to marginalize African Americans who engage with the conservative movement. With African Americans in Conservative Movements, Priscock offers a well-written and compellingly argued account that will be of interest to anyone concerned about racial politics in the conservative movement.” (Corey D. Fields, Associate Professor of Sociology, Georgetown University, USA)

• Rutgers University, Piscataway, USA

  Louis G. Prisock

Louis Prisock is Assistant Professor of Africana and American Studies at Rutgers University, USA. He has published on political sociology, urban sociology, race and ethnicity, and economic sociology in Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society, The Journal of African American Studies, Critical Sociology, Social Forces, and other venues.

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