George S. Schuyler, Black and Conservative

Authors

Helen Lock

Orginal Publication Date

2009

Journal Title

Ethnic Studies Review

Volume

32

Issue

esr/vol32/iss2

First Page

79

Last Page

91

Comments

Ambivalence of Origins

Abstract

When George S. Schuyler published his autobiography Black and Conservative in 1966, its title was intended to be paradoxical, underscoring how the two adjectives were rarely used together, particularly in an era that had recently seen the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965. When it came to political affiliation, the general assumption was that African Americans, more or less by definition, were not likely to be conservatives; rather, conservatism meant a desire to preserve the pre-existing status quo, making very little sense in Civil Rights era for a majority of African Americans to take a conservative stance.

Rights

​Copyright ©ESR, The National Association for Ethnic Studies, 2009