The phenomenon known as Neo-Conservatism has begun to make significant inroads within the African American political arena. Clarence Thomas and Ward Connelly have long been the poster children for the Black conservative movement. African Americans such as J. Kenneth Blackwell, Michael Steele, and Lynn Swann proudly wear the conservative banner and although they all lost their respective races, they were serious and legitimate contenders; as opposed to the usual Allen Keyesian, Black token republican candidate.
The Black conservative movement is primarily defined by and through the Republican Party platform and is filtered and communicated through a Christian "southern confederatzi", right wing conservative perspective. Its focus is on returning America to some mythical state of existence where ethnic, religious, sexual, and cultural diversity is frowned upon and everyone is of the same religious, moral, and social mindset; i.e., the proverbial Borg Collective.
In this writer's opinion, traditional post-modern conservatism is anathema to all progressives. But it is especially toxic to African Americans. The roots of post-modern conservatism can be found within the Jim Crow movement. and just as Jim Crow sought to destroy cultural diversity, post-modern conservatism seeks to promote that same result. Post-modern conservatism seeks to limit access and the flow of capital to the poor and disenfranchised just as Jim Crow sought to limit the flow of capital to and disenfranchise African Americans. And just like Jim Crow promoted a narrow view of what constitutes American society, post-modern conservatism seeks to do the same.
The post-modern conservative movement embraces a platform that promotes policies, laws, and actions that stifle economic freedom, social liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is not only detrimental to the African American Community, it is detrimental to the entire global human family. African Americans that assimilate into and embrace the above-defined conservative movement can offer nothing of value to the African American community and it appears that in most cases they are comfortable with that position. Consequently if one embraces a movement that is defined as harmful, then one should be judged accordingly.
The Progressive movement seeks to create an infrastructure that supports the values that will allow the poor and disenfranchised to rebuild their communities and heal the fractured familial, cultural, and social relationships that are essential for a nation to thrive and grow economically, as well as culturally. This movement has room at the table for diversity which naturally facilitates a positive exchange and embracing of ideas that can move people to work towards a better America.
It is a movement where society is defined by what its constituents bring to the arena of ideas and values, and not by the narrow viewpoints of symbiotic provocateurs and pontificators. It not only encourages us to pull ourselves up and over by our bootstraps, it teaches us how to do so and creates the environment that will afford us the opportunity to teach others as well. and that's a good thing!
I embrace this movement wholeheartedly and I will encourage others within my circle of influence to do the same. What happened Tuesday night brought real hope back to millions of disenfranchised Americans. As a late forty-something African American male, I've lived long enough to have witnessed the good and the bad of the modern American experience. However, Tuesday night was the first time I felt that we actually won something of substance. We beat hatred, narrow-mindedness, cowardice, bigotry, and sleaze and we will continue to take the fight to them every time they raise their ugly heads from betwixt their wretched and foul smelling posteriated orifices.