Black conservatives are the ‘tragic mulattos’ of American politics



Ben Shapiro’s recent video arguing President Trump should pardon Derek Chauvin elicited passionate responses on social media. Some conservative commentators thought it was a bad idea that would cost the president precious political capital. Others believed Trump should do it despite the guaranteed outrage it would incite on the left.

For black conservatism to survive, it must aspire to more than just policing the excesses of the progressive left or the fringe right.

The response from Xaviaer DuRousseau, in particular, caught my attention because the popular influencer and commentator jokingly raised an issue that a particular subset of conservatives rarely expresses openly.

Being a black conservative and maintaining your cookout credentials is getting soooo hard.

He ended his post with four crying emojis that made his point crystal clear: Issues that are racially coded and politically charged are hard for black conservatives to navigate.

A unique challenge

Many black conservatives experience this identity crisis — one characterized far more by the “tragic mulatto” trope from 19th- and 20th-century literature than the “Uncle Tom” epithet that is synonymous with racial self-hatred. The tragic mulatto stereotype arose in a culture governed by racial hierarchy. It was associated with mixed-race people who struggled with feelings of alienation in a world that did not accept them as either wholly black or white.

Black liberals are quick to label their conservative brethren “sellouts” for rejecting progressive politics. White liberals, likewise, have no problem questioning the racial bona fides of blacks who don’t vote for Democrats. A growing chorus of white conservatives also blame Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement for diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as Black Lives Matter, critical race theory, and LGBT radicalism.

Black conservatism, in many ways, faces a unique challenge. It exists as a racial subgenre within a broader political movement that has traditionally emphasized color blindness and minimized the impact of racism on the current outcomes of black Americans. The only notable exceptions occur when accusations of bias and discrimination are directed at white liberals or at failed progressive policies.

Anyone paying attention to conservative public discourse in the age of social media, however, can see that the right’s approach to race is rapidly evolving. Conservative commentators are increasingly vocal about what they view as anti-white bias in criminal prosecutions, professional sports, media representation, and the job market. This emerging race consciousness is evident in heated online debates about American identity and culture. It also serves as an underlying theme in policy fights over immigration.

A new generation of ‘reconstructionists’

Race is the most visible source of the black conservative identity crisis, but the movement’s mission is equally important to its long-term survival. Today, the most visible black conservatives in America seem focused on increasing Republican representation in politics and growing their brands as right-wing commentators.

The conservative ecosystem certainly makes room for political operatives and culture warriors. But when black conservatism focuses primarily on boosting voter turnout and participation in elections, it fails to fulfill its core mission.

Donald Trump maintained roughly the same support from black voters as in 2020 — about 13% overall and 20% of men. In fact, he lost black conservatives to Kamala Harris by an 11-point margin. Investing financial, political, and social capital to attract black voters has yielded poor returns. But this does not spell the death of black conservatism.

The movement needs a new generation of “reconstructionists” focused on strengthening local institutions and individuals rather than politicos and media personalities fixated on national elections. The most crucial task ahead is restoring the traditional family structure that prevailed from the end of the Civil War through the Civil Rights movement.

From 1890 to 1950, black men and women were more likely than their white counterparts to be married by age 35. In the 1930s, 65% of black women were married before having their first child. The 1960 Census showed that two-thirds of black children lived in two-parent households. Today, only 33% of black adults are married, 70% of black children are born to unmarried parents, and 45% live with a single mother. These outcomes are worse for blacks than for any other group.

The most valuable contribution

Although the family is the most important institution, it is not the only one. The poor educational outcomes in many urban districts should motivate a new generation of black conservative scholars, educators, and activists to take action.

Many have already risen to the occasion.

Ian Rowe, an educator who has spent his career teaching children in the Bronx, opened Vertex Partnership Academies in 2022. This high school’s mission is guided by the four cardinal virtues: courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom. Denisha Allen founded Black Minds Matter, an organization that promotes school choice and empowers black educators working to improve outcomes in their communities.

These leaders demonstrate that black conservatives need not feel conflicted between their ethnic identity and political ideology, especially when both are grounded in a Christian worldview of human dignity.

For black conservatism to survive, it must aspire to more than just policing the excesses of the progressive left or the fringe right.

The movement should also avoid the trap of believing that electoral politics alone can drive social progress. The most valuable contribution black conservatives can make today is to leverage their cultural competency, experience, relationships, and expertise to build institutions that can radically improve social and economic outcomes in the cities and communities they care about most.

Despite Dem Voter-Suppression Efforts, Helene-Stricken Western N.C. Cast Even More Trump Votes In 2024

Some in the region hit by Helene were still without basic necessities, but helped deliver the state's 16 electoral votes for Trump.

Will Hurricane Helene aftermath prove to be the difference in North Carolina?



Just 21 days before the start of early voting, Hurricane Helene delivered biblical-level destruction to the hills, hollows, and mountains of North Carolina. The massive storm brought devastating floods that killed 232 people — half of them in this state — and buried entire riverside communities in rivers of mud.

Now, residents struggle for basic supplies. More than 2,500 families are homeless. Crowded shelters are well above capacity. Hundreds of road and bridge closures are disrupting transportation and the delivery of crucial aid.

One-fifth of the state’s 7.3 million registered voters reside in the disaster area. Are candidate visits and pledges of support resonating with voters?

Two days after the storm, Gov. Roy Cooper requested a major disaster declaration from the federal government in order to surge assistance to state and local agencies and provide immediate relief to suffering North Carolinians. FEMA claimed in a news release that it sent 25 trailer loads of food and 60 trailer loads of water to North Carolina. But Hendersonville resident Andrea Corn says she has not seen a state or federal worker yet.

After the storm, Corn — a 55-year-old accountant who is more accustomed to preparing tax forms for local businesses than organizing relief missions — formed an ATV group to rescue elderly victims in Henderson County. Most roads and bridges had crumbled or washed away, and many folks could be reached only by going off-road.

Andrea and her husband, a volunteer fireman, brought supplies to victims stranded in remote “hollers.” Many residents were without power for more than a month following Helene’s visit. Samaritan’s Purse, a nondenominational evangelical Christian charity, distributed solar-powered lights to light the dark nights.

Abandoned by the state

Well before the storm hit, these Western North Carolina mountain towns were imbued with a culture of self-reliance. Residents call it “WNC Strong.” But in the wake of Helene, residents needed critical help that only government can supply: large-scale search and rescue operations, power and water restoration, and infrastructure repair.

Today, many of these residents feel abandoned by state and federal government officials. One question looming over the recovery efforts is whether it will impact voting behavior in Tuesday’s elections. “They are supposed to stand up for us, and we feel forgotten,” Corn said. “We’re going to need lots of money to recover, and our government is sending it to Ukraine.”

Chuck Edwards, Republican congressman representing Western North Carolina, said state emergency officials cannot account for the whereabouts of 400 pallets of FEMA-supplied food and water meant for hurricane relief. He has requested 1,180 FEMA trailers to house thousands of displaced people.

In Buncombe County, local artist and photographer Anna Hitrova said that volunteers — not government workers — brought her necessary supplies after the storm. “The only people I’ve seen on the ground in Buncombe,” she said, “are churches and Samaritan’s Purse.”

Hitrova said she had a “black-pilled moment” when she drove through neighboring Swannanoa. She saw families camping on the lots where their homes once stood. They were without generators, phones, or anything else. “It was a shock; I was crying,” she explained. “It hit me how bad it was to be cut off from the world. The government waited to respond while people were dying.”

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has reported that most of the state’s deaths were in Buncombe County, home of Asheville and Swannanoa. “When I found out that FEMA had used money for housing illegal migrants and saw our government giving billions to Ukraine while families were getting $750, I was furious,” said Hitrova.

Some assistance came from unlikely sources. Billionaire Elon Musk, for instance, stepped up to help. The SpaceX CEO donated 500 Starlink internet receivers to groups across the devastated area. Musk’s donation came after the urging of local state Rep. Danny Britt and former President Donald Trump.

“Here, people had lost their homes and had nothing, but they had painted signs that read ‘God Bless Elon,’” Hitrova said. “I realized that Elon gave these people a lifeline that the government could not.”

Election Day implications

North Carolina is a key battleground state with 16 electoral votes. Trump won the state narrowly in 2016 and by an even smaller margin in 2020. The current RCP average has the former president leading by only 1.5 points. Both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have visited the storm-ravaged region while campaigning.

During her Oct. 5 visit, Harris met with Asheville’s mayor and leaders of progressive groups such as NC Counts. After attending a local FEMA briefing, the vice president praised state and federal workers for the “nobility of their work and their calling.”

Two weeks later, Trump appeared at an Asheville recovery site flanked by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, an area native, and numerous North Carolina politicians and local business owners.

The former president said the American people were the real heroes of the recovery efforts and that the state and local governments had let storm victims down. Trump said he had come to express a simple message to the region: “I’m with you, and the American people are with you all the way.”

One-fifth of the state’s 7.3 million registered voters reside in the disaster area. Are the visits and pledges of support resonating with voters? In Henderson, a predominantly red county, it appears so. “I was shocked to see the level of highly motivated people out here voting this year despite their difficulties,” said Henderson County GOP Chair Brett Calloway.

Andrea Corn said that access to voting was the number-one concern for Helene victims. “Some folks needed food, others had lost their home, and the first thing they were asking about was voting,” she said. “It was truly all that mattered for them.” Some residents told her they hadn't voted in two decades.

Corn recently closed her accounting office so that her employees could help staff election sites. Calloway also says people are eager to help in the election campaign. A week after the storm, a man came into the GOP office to ask about volunteering. “I’ll have to do it around my wife’s funeral,” the teary-eyed man said. “My country needs me.”

As of Friday, nearly 58% of registered voters in the county had cast their vote. Turnout this year is 19% higher than in 2020. “Many of the voters we’re seeing are on the inactive voter rolls,” says Calloway. “Only 7% of our voters are Election Day voters, so there is no danger of Election Day votes being cannibalized,” he said.

By Friday morning, 3.7 million North Carolinians had voted, surpassing the 2020 early voting total. Later, the State Board of Elections reported over 4 million votes cast in 2024, with over half of registered voters participating.

“This year, voting is a symbolic act for me,” declared Anna Hitrova. A onetime Democrat who now publicly identifies as a conservative activist, she says she has “given up” on the current government. “I am going to vote, I am going to vote for Trump, and I am going to do it on the first day of early voting in the progressive city of Asheville.”

Editor’s note:This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.

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