In this provocative, wide-ranging study, Robert C. Smith contends that ideological conservatism and racism are and always have been equivalent in the United States. In this carefully constructed and thoroughly documented philosophical, historical, and empirical inquiry, Smith analyzes conservative ideas from John Locke to William F. Buckley, Jr., as well as the parallels between the rise and decline of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1970s and the ascendancy of the conservative movement to national power in 1980. Using archival material from the Reagan library, the book includes detailed analysis of the Reagan presidency and race, focusing on affirmative action, the Voting Rights act, the Grove City case, welfare reform, South Africa policy, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Conservatism and Racism, and Why in America They are the Same goes beyond a focus on the right wing, concluding with an analysis of the enduring impact of the conservative movement and the Reagan presidency on liberalism, race, and the Democratic Party.
| ISBN: | 9781438432335 |
| Publication date: | 15th September 2010 |
| Author: | Robert C Smith |
| Publisher: | SUNY Press an imprint of State University of New York Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 273 pages |
| Series: | SUNY Series in African American Studies |
| Genres: |
Social discrimination and social justice Ethnic studies Centrist democratic ideologies Right-of-centre democratic ideologies Political parties and party platforms History of the Americas Political science and theory |