cover image Black and Right: The Bold New Voice of Black Conservatives in America

Black and Right: The Bold New Voice of Black Conservatives in America

. Praeger Publishers, $28.95 (216pp) ISBN 978-0-275-95342-3

Rather than focus on major figures in black conservatism as in Challenging the Civil Rights Establishment, which Conti and Stetson edited in 1993, this book concentrates on ""the grassroots aspects of black conservatism."" Unfortunately, the very brief essays do not add up to an argument for a comprehensive policy program, but they do illustrate a counterpoint to the liberal and Afro-centric voices that too often subject black conservatives to ad hominem attacks. The pieces are not rigorous; in an otherwise interesting article contrasting the latter-day heirs of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois, Brian W. Jones uncritically describes Chief Justice Thomas as ""a man of Horatio Alger-like ascendancy."" Conti and Stetson offer a useful argument against such stock beliefs as that only whites can be racist. The book concludes with Q&As by Shelby Steele, Ezola Foster and Larry Elder. The editors are affiliated with the David Institute, a southern California think tank that supports black conservative politics. (June)