[Blackwatch]

So far, the responses have been very thought provoaking and insightful. I just wonder though, people have talked about why they are not liberals as opposed to why they are conservatives. Like there's an either/or scenario in this debate. I do not think there is nor should there be a zero sum gain in this discussion.

To me, conservatism represents an interesting conundrum in the African American community because you are talking about a people with a history of a tremendous religious and moral resolve, and yet out of this resolve came liberal politics. Conservatism is a political stance more so than a moral or religious one, just as liberalism is. Many people will say that these stances come out of moral traditions and ideas about political issues, but too often the religion and morality being preached by either side is merely a medium through which the political agendas are expressed.

Political conservatism is characterised by a desire to keep things the way they are, don't change too much or allow for too much government control. Many conservatives go on to cite that America is great because if you work hard, you can succeed. The converse of this maxim indicates that those who haven't succeeded haven't because they haven't worked hard enough, or have some moral defect (made bad choices, not disciplined, etc.). This presupposes that the society is just, and everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed. With a cursory glance at rates of incarceration, home ownership, educational achievement, etc. one can see that Blacks fall on the short end of these indices far too often. From these numbers, one would have to conclude that either:

-Blacks are just not equipped to compete in a society based on a market economy (conservatism)
or
-There is something in the society that causes blacks to come up short disproportionately in many areas therefore, we must change the political economy of the society (liberalism).

Political conservatives are often aligned with the religious right. But a reading of the Old Testament prophets and Jesus' teachings would lead you to believe that the Christian faith calls for a transformation (liberal) of society and to not be not satisfied with inequality and dehumanization. Too often political conservatives blame Black folks for inequalitites that they did not create. Conservatives to try to appeal to the religious and moral resolve of blacks by commenting on the liberal stances on certain moral issues (homosexuality and abortion) and trying to equate them with affirming these practices. It's funny because most conservatives (thinking back to the 2000 republican presidential primary debates) would be against any law that protected pro-choice agendas, yet if their family members had gotten pregnant unexpectedly, they wouldn't stop them from having one (Bush and McCain both voiced this sentiment). Which leads me to my critical point about political conservatism, at is core IT IS ABOUT CLASS PRIVILEDGE. When the government gets involved with certain aspects of our lives, then class status of individuals becomes less important, because the government is charged to protect the rights of all citizens. Conservatism is about allowing the rich to get richer and have certain priviledges that others don't, simply to affirm their class status. This works well in our society, that hopes that all in the society agree that the rich deserve their money, and the poor deserve their poverty. This allows for there to be such disparity in our society, and things be justified in the name of "desservedness". While yes, the best way to fight the oppression is to overcome it through empowering ourselves to fight (making better decisions, educating ourselves, practicing discipline, etc.) It doesn't mean that our society is just, and that we should be happy with the status quo, as many conservatives would have us to believe.

I have critiques of liberalism as well, but that is another thread altogether.

Blackwatch!!!!!!