An Analysis of Black Heterodox Thought

Among the numerous currents of which contemporary American political life consists, few have been met with the curiosity that so-called "black conservatism" has succeeded in eliciting from its observers. Yet while there has been considerable talk over a so-called "black conservatism," there has been nothing like a sustained philosophical attempt to determine the character of this orientation, or whether it even is a unitary phenomenon at all. I show that while those to whom the label "black conservatism" is characteristically ascribed do indeed share in common a rejection of the conventional thinking on contemporary race-related issues, this is about all that they share, for what is commonly referred to as "black conservatism" is actually a heterogeneous assortment of distinct and, in some instances, mutually incompatible political philosophical impulses. Classical conservatism is one such impulse, but it co-exists with both libertarianism or classical liberalism and neoconservatism. In delineating each of these traditions, I focus on the thought of specific black thinkers with whom I identify them: George Schuyler and Thomas Sowell I associate with classical conservatism; Walter E. Williams I show is a classical liberal; and Alan Keyes I squarely locate within the neoconservative tradition.