Black conservatism in the United States is a political and social movement rooted in African-American communities that aligns largely with the American conservative movement and is part of black conservatism around the world. It is often associated with the Christian right (per 2007 data). Black conservatism often emphasizes social conservatism, traditionalism, patriotism, capitalism, and free markets.
During the Reconstruction era, many black voters supported the Republican Party, which at the time was seen as a more racially progressive party due to their role in the Civil War, and the Democratic Party's continued support for a pro-segregation wing of their party. Booker T. Washington had a more conservative approach to politics in the United States while W. E. B. DuBois called for more radical change.https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/debate-w-e-b-du-bois-and-booker-t-washington/ Some African Americans supported Democrat Woodrow Wilson's first presidential campaign and were betrayed by his policies once in office.https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/chicago-defender/422583/ Under Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, during his first two terms, civil rights legislation was not passed, however, New Deal programs led to the black vote becoming more split. In 1960, the Kennedy-Johnson campaign promoted civil rights as a central issue and during their administration, they passed anti-discrimination legislation, gaining the black vote. Since then, the Democratic Party has held a majority of the black votes in America, although Pew Research Center polling has found that the percentage of African-Americans who identify as Democratic has declined in recent years, from 75% during Barack Obama's presidency to 67% in 2020. A 2017 sample size of 10,245 voters concluded that just 8% of African-Americans identify as Republican.
Influential black Republicans in the early 21st century who have held public office include U.S. Senator Tim Scott, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, and Cabinet secretaries Ben Carson, Condoleezza Rice, and Colin Powell. Political commentators Candace Owens, Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, Armstrong Williams, Larry Elder, Walter Williams, and Jason L. Riley are influential figures in black conservatism.
Overview
Elections Alan Keyes became the first African-American candidate to run in the Republican presidential primaries in 1996, but he did not win any state's primary or caucus. Keyes ran for president again in 2000 and in 2008.
"Tea Party" Republican Herman Cain staged a run for the presidency in 2012. He received a brief surge of attention and popularity but withdrew before any primaries were held.
Neurosurgeon Ben Carson ran for the Republican nomination in the 2016 election. He polled well for a time in late 2015, but withdrew after the first Super Tuesday. Carson received 857,039 votes during the Republican primaries; this total represented 2.75% of the votes cast. He was supported by seven delegates at the Republican National Convention.
African-American Republicans have not always been successful in winning elected office, including in states that are traditionally considered Republican strongholds: Herschel Walker lost the 2022 United States Senate election in Georgia, Daniel Cameron lost the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election, Mark Robinson lost the 2024 North Carolina gubernatorial election and Winsome Earle-Sears lost in the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election.
Beliefs One of the main characteristics of black conservatism is its emphasis on personal choice and responsibilities above socioeconomic status and institutional racism.For an overview of these themes, see Stan Faryna, Brad Stetson, and Joseph G. Conti, Eds., Black and Right: The Bold New Voice of Black Conservatives in America, (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1997) Black conservatives typically support do-for-self, self reliance, and personal responsibility. Black conservatives tend to be self-critical of aspects of African-American culture that they believe have created poverty and dependency. John McWhorter's 2000 book Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America and Bill Cosby's 2004 "Pound Cake speech" exemplified this critique, though their authors did not strictly come from the Black conservative movement.
A 2007 Pew Research Center survey showed that 19% of Black Americans identified as Religious Right.Pew Forum: Many Americans Uneasy with Mix of Religion and Politics In 2004, though, the Pew Research Center indicated only 7% of Black Americans identified as Republican.Part 1: Party Affiliation: The 2004 Political Landscape
A National Election Pool poll showed that support for California Proposition 8 (2008) (a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as an opposite-sex union) was strong among African-American voters; 70% of those interviewed in the exit poll—a higher percentage than any other racial group—stated that they voted in favor of Proposition 8. Polls by both the Associated Press and CNN mirrored this data, reporting support among Black voters to be at 70% and 75%, respectively. African-American support was considered crucial to the Proposition's passage because African Americans made up an unusually large percentage of voters in 2008; the presence of African-American presidential candidate Barack Obama on the ballot was believed to have increased African-American voter turnout.
Historical basis From Reconstruction up until the New Deal, the black population tended to vote Republican. During that period, the Republican Party—particularly in the Southern United States—was seen as more racially progressive than the Democratic Party, primarily because of the role of the Southern wing of the Democratic Party as the party of racial segregation and the Republican Party's roots in the abolitionist movement (see Dixiecrats).
Among Truman Administration officials, the publication of Henry Lee Moon's Balance of Power spurred Democratic partisan support for African-American constituencies. This shift was also influenced by Herbert Hoover's practice of firing loyal African-Americans from positions within the Republican Party, in order to increase his appeal to Southern white voters. This can be considered an early example of a set of Republican Party methods that were later termed the Southern Strategy.
Blacks started to shift in significant numbers to the Democrats with the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt and continued with the election of John F. Kennedy. Following the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Democrats further consolidated their black support and since then, the Democratic Party has held a majority of the black votes in America. Pew Research Center polling has found that the percentage of African-Americans who identify as Democratic has declined in recent years, from 75% during Barack Obama's presidency to 67% in 2020. A 2017 sample size of 10,245 voters concluded that just 8% of African-Americans identify as Republican.
Timeline of events - National African American Conservatives
This is a timeline of significant events in African-American history that have shaped the conservative movement in the United States.
1950s 1954 – President Dwight Eisenhower appoints the following: Archie Alexander as Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands J. Ernest Wilkins Sr. as Undersecretary of Labor for International Labor Affairs E. Frederic Morrow as Administrative Officer for Special Projects 1960s Melvin H. Evans is elected Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands 1970s 1975 – President Gerald Ford appoints the following: William T. Coleman as Secretary of Transportation James B. Parsons is named Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court in Chicago 1978 – Melvin H. Evans is elected to U.S. Congress (Virgin Islands) Jean L. Harris is appointed Virginia Secretary of Human Resources 1979 – Ethel D. Allen is appointed Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 1980s 1980 – NAACP President Benjamin Hooks is invited to address the Republican National Convention 1981 – President Ronald Reagan appoints the following: Clarence M. Pendleton Jr. as Chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission Samuel Pierce as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 1982 – President Reagan appoints Clarence Thomas as Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 1985 – President Reagan appoints Alan Keyes the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs. 1987 – President Reagan appoints Colin L. Powell the National Security Advisor. 1989 – President George H. W. Bush appoints the following: Louis Wade Sullivan as United States Secretary of Health and Human Services General Colin L. Powell as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Condoleezza Rice as Senior Director of the National Security Council for Soviet and East European Affairs Constance Berry Newman as Director of United States Office of Personnel Management Vernon Parker as Special Assistant to the President on the White House Staff 1990s 1990 – Arthur Fletcher is appointed as the Chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights 1990 – President George H. W. Bush appoints George W. Haley chairman of the Postal Rate Commission 1990 – Gary Franks (CT) is elected to U.S. Congress 1991 – President George H. W. Bush appoints Clarence Thomas to U.S. Supreme Court 1993 – President George H. W. Bush appoints John W. Shannon as United States Under Secretary of the Army 1994 – Victoria Buckley elected as Secretary of State of Colorado Lonna Hooks appointed as Secretary of State of New Jersey 1994 – J. C. Watts (OK) elected to U.S. Congress 1998 – U.S. House of Representatives elects J. C. Watts (R-OK) to be Chairman of the House Republican Conference. 1998 – DeForest Soaries appointed as Secretary of State of New Jersey 1998 – Ken Blackwell elected as the Ohio Secretary of State 1998 – Joe Rogers elected as the Lieutenant Governor of Colorado 1999 - Russell M. Perry appointed as Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce Michael L. Williams appointed as Railroad Commissioner of Texas 2000s 2001 – President George W. Bush appoints the following: General Colin Powell as the United States Secretary of State Roderick R. Paige as the United States Secretary of Education Condoleezza Rice as Advisor of the National Security Council Alphonso Jackson as the Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Claude Allen as the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Leo S. Mackay Jr. as the Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Larry D. Thompson as the United States Deputy Attorney General Michael Powell as the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Stephen A. Perry as Administrator of General Services Administration Kay Coles James as Director of United States Office of Personnel Management Charles E. James, Sr. as Director of Federal Contract Compliance Ruth A. Davis as Director General of the Foreign Service Reginald J. Brown as Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) Brigadier General Francis X. Taylor as Coordinator for Counterterrorism Eric M. Bost as Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services Brian C. Roseboro as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Markets Dr. Eric Motley as Deputy Associate Director, Office of Presidential Personnel Pierre-Richard Prosper as United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Andrea Barthwell as deputy director for Demand Reduction at the Office of National Drug Control Policy 2001 – Randy Daniels, Secretary of State of New York joins the GOP. 2002 – President George W. Bush appoints the following: Major General Claude M. Bolton Jr. as United States Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology Lynn Swann as Chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports