Black conservatism

Black conservatism is a political and social philosophy rooted in communities of African descent that aligns largely with the conservative ideology around the world.

[3][better source needed] Under Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, during his first two terms, civil rights legislation was not passed, however, New Deal programs led to the black vote becoming more split.

[4] In 1960, the Kennedy-Johnson campaign promoted civil rights as a central issue and during their administration, they passed anti-discrimination legislation, gaining the black vote.

In countries where the population is divided by religion (i.e., Nigeria), conservative parties are often formed and constituted to target specific religions in their areas of greatest political dominance, although some have argued that many African political parties lack the same kind of ideological conflict that is common in Western countries.

During the Cold War, some African political parties which adhered to Marxism-Leninism or Maoism when participating in anti-colonial activities later adopted economic, social and culturally conservative policies upon their country gaining independence and as democracy in African states crystallized, as well as in response to growing factional opposition to communism.

An example of a formerly left-wing and now conservative party is UNITA in Angola, which under the leadership of Jonas Savimbi began as a far-left, Maoist inspired movement before embracing a right-wing platform and aligning itself with the West in the 1980s.

Lincoln Alexander was Canada's first black MP, and served as a Federal Member of Parliament between 1968 and 1980 in the riding of Hamilton West.

In 2018, 3 black members of Coalition Avenir Québec were elected to the National Assembly of Quebec; Nadine Girault, Samuel Poulin and Christopher Skeete.

[20] In Western Europe, a number of black figures have become visible in centre-right and right-wing conservative parties in official roles or as elected representatives in recent years.

[22] In Belgium, journalist and social activist Assita Kanko was elected to the European Parliament for the conservative and Flemish nationalist N-VA party in 2019.

[27] Although black communities in the UK had traditionally supported Labour, in part due to anti-immigration rhetoric used by the Tories, the Conservatives began to actively circulate advertisements aimed at black voters under Margaret Thatcher ahead of the 1983 United Kingdom general election, with themes revolving around equal opportunities, better representation in the police and economic prosperity.

In 2019, the Conservatives changed tactics to focus on promoting candidates based on talent rather than race to avoid accusations of tokenism.

serving in the House of Commons are Adam Afriyie,[29] Kwasi Kwarteng, James Cleverly,[30] Kemi Badenoch,[31] Darren Henry, Bim Afolami and solicitor and businesswoman Helen Grant.

[28] Ahead of the 2021 London mayoral election, the Conservatives selected former youth worker and journalist Shaun Bailey as their candidate.

The eurosceptic UK Independence Party has selected a number of ethnic minority and black candidates to stand for office including Winston McKenzie, London Assembly member David Kurten,[36] and MEP Steven Woolfe.

[7] The argument behind this was the idea that if black people follow the rules of White America, then there will be no choice but to accept them into the social system.

In the post civil rights-era, there was a push for continuous assimilation and, as a result, some black individuals aligned themselves with the conservative movement and accepted the idea of a color-blind society.

In his book, The Content of Our Character, Shelby Steele offers an interpretation of the color-blind society ideology and why people should accept it.

"[44] Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell were also two prominent politicians of the Republican Party, serving as the highest-ranking members of the federal Executive Branch and becoming the first African-American Secretaries of State.

In his 1996 retirement speech before the Republican National Convention, General Colin Powell stated that, "My sister and I were taught to believe in ourselves.

[48] Kanye West, a critically acclaimed African-American rapper, songwriter and ex-husband of fellow celebrity Kim Kardashian, has on several occasions publicly expressed support for President Trump,[49] stating once that had he voted he would have voted for Trump in the election;[50] he also expressed his approval of millennial conservative commentator Candace Owens.

[citation needed] Both question institutional racism, which McWhorter calls a religion, and believe that African American leaders should embrace personal responsibility to a greater extent than they are currently.

[56] Black conservatives are in favor of individualism and oppose government interventions such as affirmative action because they do not want it to raise the question of whether or not they deserve the successes they have achieved or if they took part in what some refer to as "reverse racism".

Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and a defense of "Western civilization from the challenges of modernist culture and totalitarian governments.

Though it may seem antithetical to reconcile the history of slavery and segregation with the ideas of complete American freedom and equality, it is actually the hope of reaching that goal without having to depend on their oppressors that makes individualism appealing to some people in the black community.

[62] In another Pew poll conducted around the same time, black Protestants are also sharply divided on the issue of abortion, with a slight majority of 55% saying it should be legal in most or all cases, and 44% believing it should be illegal.