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BLACK NEOCONSERVATISM in the POST-CIVIL RIGHTS ERA a Thesis

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INCITING THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION: BLACK NEOCONSERVATISM IN THE POST-CIVIL RIGHTS ERA A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Professional Studies by La TaSha Beatrice Levy January 2007 ©2007 La TaSha Beatrice Levy ABSTRACT Black neoconservatism is one of the most contested political ideologies of the Post-Civil Rights era. As a challenge to mainstream Black political thought, Black neoconservatism enjoys a particular celebrity as the “bold new voice” in American racial discourse. This thesis critically analyzes Black neoconservative ideology as a counter-discourse: a direct opposition to the liberalism of the 1960s and the legacy of the Civil Rights and Black Power eras. The emergence of Black neoconservatives as a significant collective in the Post-Civil Rights era correlates with the rise of the New Right in American politics since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. The New Right has forcefully disputed the philosophy and strategy of civil rights legislation and the traditional quest for racial equality and justice. Black neoconservatives play an increasingly significant ideological role in conservative politics and public debate in the Post-Civil Rights period. Furthermore, their racial identity lends credence to the New Right’s attack on social policy that disproportionately benefits Black people in general and the Black poor particularly. Black neoconservatives dissent from the prevailing convention that racism and White supremacy have become subtle, but nevertheless remain formidable. They insist that civil rights legislation, government intervention and liberal programs have created a pathological dependency among African Americans. Black neoconservatives contend that this dependency is the true cause for the debilitating conditions of the Black underclass and the slow progress among African Americans. Essentially, Black neoconservatives blame the Black Power era for instilling a sense of entitlement among African Americans, and they charge civil rights leaders with profiting from the manipulation of racism. The core of Black neoconservative critiques is their presumption that African Americans subscribe to a victim-oriented identity that exaggerates the saliency of racism in order to evoke “white guilt.” They argue that welfare and affirmative action are two bankrupt policies that perpetuate victimization and dependency among African Americans and impede racial progress. As such, Black neoconservatives maintain that self-help and personal responsibility are the only solutions to the nation’s enduring race problems. Black neoconservatives are presumed to be marginal voices among the vast majority of African Americans. Nonetheless, they are gaining wider currency in the American racial discourse to ultimately shape racial attitudes and change public policy. Furthermore, this thesis posits that Black neoconservatives have taken a political posture that negates the legacy of Black liberation struggles in the United States, which is grounded in an emphasis on Black identity and opposition to racism. Although Black neoconservatives claim their ideology is rooted in the philosophy of Booker T. Washington, this thesis explores the ideology of archconservative George S. Schuyler as a prototypical progenitor of Black neoconservatism. The thesis details the political positions of Black neoconservatives by examining the works of Thomas Sowell, John McWhorter, Shelby Steele, Star Parker, Stephen Carter, Ward Connerly and Glenn Loury. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH La TaSha Levy was born in Washington D.C. on May 29, 1978 to Tanya C. Levy and William Parran. Raised by her mother, La TaSha enjoyed the spoils of being “the baby;” her sister La Shonne is eleven years her senior. Unfortunately, both of La TaSha’s parents have since passed on, but their emphasis on education, their love, encouragement and memory provide everlasting guidance and comfort in her life. As a pre-teen, adverse circumstances prompted La TaSha’s mother to move to Alexandria, VA. The transition from “Chocolate City” to a predominantly White one peaked La TaSha’s interest in studying Black history and culture because of its omission in her school’s curriculum. At the age of 13, she enrolled in a Saturday program called Know Your History, sponsored by the Alexandria-Fairfax Alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Know Your History grounded its students in the legacy of African people in order to instill a sense of purpose, responsibility and a positive self-concept among young people during the crucial years of their development. La TaSha thrived in Know Your History and subsequently in school, as she applied her Saturday lessons to other areas in her life, especially in the classroom. In high school, she was the president of the Black Cultural Alliance and organized the school’s Black History Month program for three consecutive years. La TaSha attended Hampton University for two years before transferring to the University of Virginia where she was afforded the opportunity to major in African and African American Studies. Upon graduating in the year 2000, La TaSha returned to Washington, DC to teach English and Social Studies at Maya Angelou Public Charter School. In 2001, she was honored with the opportunity to serve the University of iii Virginia community as the Assistant Dean of the Office of African-American Affairs and Director of the Luther P. Jackson Black Cultural Center. After three years, La TaSha decided to pursue graduate study in the field she holds dear and enrolled in the Africana Studies and Research Center in 2004. In the fall of 2006, La TaSha will join the first cohort of Northwestern’s Ph.D. program in African American Studies. iv This thesis is dedicated to Sowande Tichawonna and Jeffrey Reid, The founders of Know Your History. Thank you for planting the seed. “I am because you are.” v ACKNOWLEGEMENTS I thank the Creator for strength and courage and for the many blessings bestowed upon me. Thank you Creator for surrounding me with extraordinary people, young and old, near and far who sustain me and make me whole, especially given the loss of my parents. Thank you Creator for blessing me with the memory of a phenomenal mother and woman. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to become close to my father and grow to love, trust and adore him. I thank my parents, Tanya C. Levy and William Parran, for being just good old-fashioned folks, for their support, encouragement and sacrifice. Being at Cornell was excruciating without you because I wish you two were here to share my accomplishments. Although you are not with me physically, I feel your presence and exalt your memory. I miss you immensely. There are so many people who have contributed to my success and sanity. I want to thank my sister La Shonne for your support, and for trying to make room for me when I come home to visit. I especially want to thank my Aunt Carolyn for sending me cards and calling me almost every week to check on me, I truly appreciate it. I thank my surrogate mother, Shirley Holbrook for your unwavering love and support. I miss you. Thank you Aunt Sondra for all of the trinkets and gifts you always give to me. I always enjoy our visits. I am also very grateful for the love and support of my Uncle Wilson and Aunt Debbie. I don’t know how I would have managed without you. Thank you Uncle Teddy for your encouragement and support, I really appreciate you for being there for me. Family is so important to me, and I thank all of my cousins, my godmother Beverly, Mr. Holbrook, Uncle David, Lee, Dickie—and so many others. I love you and appreciate all that you all have given and vi done for me during the various stages of my life. Rest in peace Aunt Janice, Aunt Berthalene, Andre, Grandma, Ernie, and Aunt Kathleen. I am the luckiest person in the world because my best-good-friend is an Angel—Thank you Tammy for holding a sister down! Whether it was listening to me struggle or helping to brainstorm ideas for papers, you are such a tremendous source of comfort and inspiration. I am forever grateful for the numerous occasions you put some “change” in my account and my pocket, without me having to ask. Your support meant so much to me. Thank you for taking care of me. For some reason, being in Ithaca made me a little more distant than I needed to be. My friends mean the world to me, and even though I did not call as often, you all are always in my heart, on my mind and in my prayers. I am thankful for my best friend Erica, my “partner in struggle.” One of these days, we are going to get our lives in order! Thank you for laughing at me. I love your smile. I want to also thank my beautiful friend Shirelle for making me laugh!! I truly appreciate your warmth and for opening your home to me when being in Shonne or Damian’s bed was getting to be a little too much. I also thank Shirelle and my “big sister” Nataki for partying with me when I came into town. I appreciate my “lil sister” Lisa and Sharmaine for also being wonderful friends to me. Thank you Sharmaine for being the ONLY person to visit me in Ithaca. Lisa and Erica know they wouldn’t have made it here if you didn’t suggest the trip and drive. In addition, I want to thank “Brien from Atlanta.” I can’t begin to express how grateful I am for your kindness and compassion. Thank you for always being there for me. To all of my dear friends who helped to prep me before I arrived in Ithaca—among them is Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, thank you so much for your support! I especially want to thank Arkee Hodges for your guidance during the beginning stages of this journey.
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