The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power

by Leah Wright Rigueur

The story of black conservatives in the Republican Party from the New Deal to Ronald Reagan

Covering more than four decades of American social and political history, The Loneliness of the Black Republican examines the ideas and actions of black Republican activists, officials, and politicians, from the era of the New Deal to Ronald Reagan's presidential ascent in 1980. Their unique stories reveal African Americans fighting for an alternative economic and civil rights movement―even as the Republican Party appeared increasingly hostile to that very idea. Black party members attempted to influence the direction of conservatism―not to destroy it, but rather to expand the ideology to include black needs and interests.

As racial minorities in their political party and as political minorities within their community, black Republicans occupied an irreconcilable position―they were shunned by African American communities and subordinated by the GOP. In response, black Republicans vocally, and at times viciously, critiqued members of their race and party, in an effort to shape the attitudes and public images of black citizens and the GOP. And yet, there was also a measure of irony to black Republicans' "loneliness": at various points, factions of the Republican Party, such as the Nixon administration, instituted some of the policies and programs offered by black party members. What's more, black Republican initiatives, such as the fair housing legislation of senator Edward Brooke, sometimes garnered support from outside the Republican Party, especially among the black press, Democratic officials, and constituents of all races. Moving beyond traditional liberalism and conservatism, black Republicans sought to address African American racial experiences in a distinctly Republican way.

The Loneliness of the Black Republican provides a new understanding of the interaction between African Americans and the Republican Party, and the seemingly incongruous intersection of civil rights and American conservatism.

Genres: History, Politics, Race, Nonfiction, American History, Political Science, American

432 pages, Paperback

First published December 22, 2014

About the author

Leah Wright Rigueur is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the author of The Loneliness of the Black Republican. Her research, writing, and commentary has been featured in numerous outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The New Republic, The Root, NPR, CBS, CNN, PBS, MSNBC, Salon, The Daily Beast, and Polity.

Reviews

[Vonetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

America may be the most complex country ever to have existed in the course of human history. I know that's crazy to say, but I think it might be true. Wright Rigueur brings an obscure history to light, and she does it well, covering the middle 40-ish years of the 20th century. I will say that her decision to stop in ~1980 annoyed me at first, but after having read the book, I understand: history tells you a lot about the present. I appreciate that she wrote this book, partly because she gives an element of Black history that's usually ignored and partly because it inspired me to continue giving a damn (i.e., voting). Her prose is a little wordy and academic, but the content is solid. To sum up the premise: Blacks have had great ideas that could have been very additive to the GOP, but politicians instead chose to pander to racist white voters because there were more of them, leaving Black republicans in the cold, over and over and over again, while these Black GOPers were also ridiculed by their own people, who didn't always understand what was happening behind the scenes. Same thing goes on today. As frustrating and circular as it was, I'm glad I read it.

[Arion Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A reviewer named Vonetta summed the book up masterfully. I found the scenarios to be so repetitive, meaning, the question of how republicans could win the black vote was being asked over and over again and not even differently. However, the tools to answer the question differed only in spoken message. For the better part of four decades, Blacks within the GOP have been trying, with measured attempts, to fight the battle of creating policy for the betterment of Black people from the inside and hoping to sway the majority (white men) in the party. At the same time, falling out of favor with the people of their community because they weren't radical enough. Lose-Lose scenario almost.

Contextually, I can understand how you can't be a worker/laborer and be a republican. The writer made it expressly clear that the Black Republicans all came from opportunistic backgrounds which lent credence to their mantra of self-help, self-respect, capitalism, and economic equality while also making the case for more purposeful civil rights legislation. It's like a mixed message. On the one hand, black republicans are saying to the black working class, work hard and strive to do better. Good things will come. On the other, they are trying to enact policies that will ENABLE black to reap good things if they are willing to work for them.

I felt heavy after reading. Almost to the point of thinking that people of color weren't necessarily meant to participate in the traditional 2-party political system. At the end of the day, both republicans and democrats need to put forth policies that promote economic/social/class uplift for all people of color IN ADDITION TO developing innovative ways to root out institutional racism. To think otherwise feels like falling down the rabbit hole of being "colorblind."

[Katie Hanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing read. Not quite as much fun as some of my other school texts this semester, but I still learned a lot.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Inevitably, the GOP finds itself divided, roughly split between those who believe the minority vote is unwinnable and those who endorse a more inclusive outreach strategy, aimed not only at disaffected white voters but also at African American and Latino voters. [...] Exclusively focusing on white voters, while ignoring racial minorities, is an unsustainable strategy; likewise, symbolic short-term outreach efforts to these marginalized racial groups will not work because such appeals feel disingenuous given the contradictory positions of the GOP's mainstream coupled with the reactionary and extremist behaviors of the party's fringe." (309)

It will never cease to amaze me with how cyclical American history is, this quote regarding Republican efforts to 'play both sides' and woo Black voters while also the white working class could have been written today;"The GOP's multiplicity did not last, for within the decade-as Bunche rightly warned-the continued pursuit of both the 'lily-white' vote and the black vote alienated the majority of the black electorate, a division exacerbated by the civil rights activism of the presidential administration of Harry S. Truman" (25). As further proof, look at the incredible quote I opened this review with, it could easily be applied to both political parties. Democrats are essentially having the same battle with certain strategists and professors urging them to abandon 'identity politics' while the rest of us understand how crucial those are to GOTV efforts/effective policy.

I can generally power through all kinds of non fiction as long as the topic is one that I'm interested in, this book was the first exception. Black Republicans have always intrigued me so I was drawn to the premise of the book but unfortunately it's not written in the most engaging manner. I think this only bothered me because it took me MONTHS to finish this book and I've read some really strong non fiction over the last year that has been both captivating and brimming with detail. I also wish more time had been spent on Black Republican women, they are mentioned and given brief backgrounds (and featured on the cover which I do LOVE) but they didn't seem as central to the story which I'm sure is not an omission on the author's part due to the sexism of the day but it would have been nice to see them pushed forward a bit more.

"In short, the NBRC encouraged African Americans to join the GOP because there were fewer blacks in the party and thus fewer obstacles in the assuming political power" (214), this struck me as particularly hilarious because when I first told my parents I wanted to work in politics they joked the quickest way for me to move up would be to identify as a Republican. It's both amusing and sad that this was a tactic actually used to encourage party membership and I suspect (especially after reading this book) this idea is still in the back of a few Black Republicans' minds. I also find this tidbit about Obama fairly mind-blowing in its straightforwardness, the author quotes his (much beleaguered in some circles) 2013 Morehouse speech and notes; "Here was a vision of American meritocracy that subtly touched on institutional discrimination but suggested that it was up to the individual<.i> to overcome inequality-through economic uplift-with measured help from the government; certainly, the president's talk offered a position that blended liberal and conservative elements, while both emphasizing and decentralizing the significance of race, an argument that undoubtedly looks familiar to the reader, by this point in the study" (308). I haven't read many books yet that cover Obama's presidency in full but this simple way of explaining some of his appeal has really stuck with me over the last few days.

This seems to me to be one of the most comprehensive, if not THE, essential unbiased read on the history of Black GOP support combined with insights based on historical analysis of what the Republican needs to do (and has known it needs to do since at least the '40s) to capture more of the Black vote. I wish it had been less of a dry read but it is remarkably thorough which makes it a wonderful resource. The partisan Democrat in me does not want Republicans to read the book, but the Black woman in me, believes this is a helpful read so that Democrats know to stay on their toes and continue to ramp up Black outreach efforts. And most of the quotes and memos can still be applied to our current political situation. This quote from Arthur Fletcher is damning and still stings to this day in the age of Trump, "A black Republican campaigning in a predominantly black district is campaigning before people who were not surprised at all by...Watergate [...] They have been the victims of all kinds of political shenanigans...on the other hand, the white candidate is confronted with it because Watergate seems to have embarrassed the kind of idealism that much of white America has allowed itself to believed existed in our political system." (205)

[Andre Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

It goes in depth about the reasons many black people left the Republican party. Important book, as many people oversimplify the reasons, or say that everything happened in the 60's.

[Steven Thedford · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Loneliness of the Black Republican by Leah Wright Rigueur explores the seeming enigma in the African American community from 1930 to 1980, a Black Republican. I think many African Americans would be surprised that most Black people were Republicans before 1930. After this time, African Americans left the Republican Party because of the New Deal. One of the reasons Black Republicans aligned with the Democrats is because, by the 1930s, the Republican Party had begun to take the Black vote for granted—an argument that Black Republicans make of the Democratic Party in the twenty-first century. More importantly, as I read The Loneliness of the Black Republican, I wrestled with this question: Is being a Black conservative synonymous with being a member of the Republican Party?
The Republican Party is often called the “party of Lincoln,” and I think Blacks aligned themselves with the party after the Civil War because he freed the slaves. However, the Emancipation Proclamation did not grant freedom to all slaves, only to slaves in “regions that were rebelling against the union.” During Reconstruction, the Republican Party was considered a progressive party. For instance, in the antebellum period, ninety percent of enslaved Africans were not able to read or write, but by the end of the nineteenth century, this figure had reduced to fifty percent because of the influx of carpetbaggers—northern Republicans—who taught Black people how to read and write in public schools. More about this era can be found in The Wars of Reconstruction: The Brief, Violent History of America’s Most Progressive Era by Douglas R. Egerton. The election of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876 marked the end of the Reconstruction era and the Republican Party’s the progressive policies that attracted African Americans and kept them loyal to the party until the 1930s. It is this historical period where The Loneliness of the Black Republicans begins.
Rigueur describes the Democratic Party in 1932 as a racist party and also notes that the Republican Party had been taking African Americans for granted for a few generations. By this point in American history, African Americans were seeking an opportunity to become first-class citizens; many Black people saw the New Deal as a chance to achieve this objective. However, African Americans did not simply abandon the Republican Party in the 1930s. Rather, it was the Republican Party’s decades-long failure to be fully committed to helping Black people achieve their goals that led them to follow the Democratic Party.
The Nixon administration promoted “Black capitalism” to encourage African American business ownership. This program did grant loans to Black businesses that helped them start new enterprises, and it excited many Black Republicans such as Jim Brown, who started several businesses under Black capitalism. A small group of dedicated Black Republicans thought this was the beginning of a partnership that would lead to Black self-determination. However, they were soon disappointed because, according to Rigueur’s examination of Black capitalism, Nixon did not stay committed to the ideas of the initiative and allotted only a small budget for it. Thus, African Americans have not returned to the Republican Party because it lacked the total commitment to Black Americans required to ensure them an opportunity to achieve first-class citizenship in America.
I read The Loneliness of the Black Republicans because I wanted to know what Black Republicans believed. After reading, I learned that they believe in free-market enterprise and capitalism, self-help and personal responsibility, limited government intervention, and a respect for authority and traditions—these are the stated values of the Republican Party. Yet, “the loneliness” of the Black Republican refers to what Gunnar Myrdal’s concluded in his book An American Dilemma, what’s true in America and what people say is true are two different things. Likewise, “what Black Republicans say they believe and what The National Republican Party believes are two different things.”
After reading Professor Rigueur’s well-researched book, readers will conclude that being a Black conservative and Black Republican are not the same. In fact, most African Americans are conservative by nature, but most are not members of the Republican party. Jackie Robinson clearly states the reason for this in The Loneliness of the Black Republican: “We are truly fed up with the brand of Republican which wants Negro loyalty and, at the same time, hopes to avoid offending the South.”

[De'Andre Crenshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a well-detailed book on Black Americans' struggle from the Great Depression through Reagan, and changing political dynamics within the community. She chronicles how Black voters shift to Democrats (the face of the Klan and Dixiecrats) from Republicans (the party of personal freedom, and Lincoln) and how the shift changes the incentives of the parties. The efforts to keep both parties responsive to Black voters was an early aim of civil rights leaders, and Black politicians and their efforts are received differently at times. Sometimes it's effective enough to build bipartisan consensus on civil rights other times it is. The key breaking points appear to be The New Deal policies helping the Black Economically, Truman pushing Civil rights, JFK, LBJ, and Carter doing the same, Republicans diversifying state-level candidates, Republicans pushing their civil rights, and economic initiatives, then their move to race-neutral policies. The real disappointments seem to be that race-neutral policies win out allowing neoliberalism to spread. The end of the Carter administration when Reagan wins is based on a polished southern strategy that isn't as explicit but also similar to what Trump did to Clinton. He engages in a two-pronged attack on Carter. Reagan not only depresses Black voters by painting Carter a failure who is focused on symbolism but actively engages them in their community saying their communities are worse off gives him a chance. The result is a dismantling of the civil rights gains, lead by Black conservatives in the Regan administration as the positive Black leaders that tried to keep two-party competition lost out. This is a must-read, with a lot of unsung heroes, and some familiar characters. Didn't expect Rumsfield to pop up so much.

[Cm · Rating 4 out of 5]

30 Rock satire about Black Republicans

"If you have a problem figurin' out if you're for me or Trump, then you ain't Black. "- Joe Biden, 2020

How are African Americans supposed to thrive in a two-party system when one party has given up on them and the other takes them for granted? Has it always been this way? Who are the people who have worked for change, and what have they tried?

The Loneliness of the Black Republican tackles these questions (at least from one side) with a rich and nuanced history of Black Republicanism from the 1930s-1980. I learned a lot more about the civil rights movement, and the book directly challenged a lot of my misconceptions about recent history, teaching me that the lines between Democrats and Republicans have historically been much blurrier than they are today.

I struggled to make progress for two reasons:
1. The subject was so fascinating that I could barely get through 2 pages without stopping to talk about what I was learning.
2. The text was far more academic than I expected and reading went slowly. There is not a wasted word.

H/t to Proof podcast for putting this book on my radar. I highly recommend the Brady Keys episode, especially as Keys only got a passing mention in the book.

[Sheldon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very detailed and engrossing history of the evolving and degrading relationship of African Americans and the Republican Party through the 1930s thru the 1980s. Rigueur does an excellent job of humanizing the people in her historical retelling, but the book is not heavily focused on the characters as much as the organizational structures around the party and their outreach to Black communities. Throughout the book, I think what struck me most was the accumulated impact of missteps and misreads that eroded the relationship between Blacks and the Republican Party over time. Rather than look at the partisan switch as a one-time event, as many historians do when focusing on the pivotal outreach of Kennedy to Martin Luther King Jr and family, Rigueur highlights the history of tensions and calculated choices that placed African Americans on the periphery of the Republican Party. Rigueur also makes an interesting point about how the traditionally republican arguments made by Black Republicans have had some influence over modern Black Liberal thought. I particularly enjoyed how this book complicated a story of partisan realignment in interesting and insightful ways and while I don't think I would recommend it broadly, I definitely would recommend it to folks who want to deepen their understanding of this unique historical period.

[Pamala · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dense, scholarly work that is nevertheless an engaging and compelling read. It's a rigorously detailed history, but grounded in rich qualitative analysis of Black Republicans' philosophies, strategies, power struggles, ambitions, blind spots, hopes, and fears.

Viewing local and national elections from 1932 - 1980 purely through the lens of the Black electorate was a fascinating experience, like flipping a Mercator map; it illuminates many of the unconscious biases of white-framed history of the 20th century.

The conclusion pivots to discussing Black conservatism's impact on modern Black neo-liberalism, another fascinating connection seldom discussed in white-frame social analysis.

This took me five weeks to read — it's dense, it's scholarly, and the font is really really small — but I feel like these ideas will continue unfolding in my understanding of American political power for the rest of my life.

[Patrice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm dancing the can can in my seat! I've been reading this book longer than anything ever. I started in 2015 and tapped out. I tried to finish it in 2016 and 2 other times in 2017 but this time I am victorious!

Excellent book. Well researched and documented. The problem is that it is clear the Republican party has had their answer on how to fix their problem with Black voters but refuse to. The history is fascinating and if you have ever questioned how any Black person could be a Republican read this book. My entire family would be Republicans if they didn't use so many anti-Black appeals, so I get it.

[Justin Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

A question of immense debate in American politics has been, “Why do Black Americans vote overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party?” Especially given that on average, Black Americans tend to be more moderate than other demographics of the Democratic base. The Loneliness of the Black Republican explores this question. Written by Leah Wright Rigeur, this book analyses the history of Republican outreach to Black Americans through the lenses of its Black members from the 1930s to the 1980s. What makes this book a fascinating read is the limitations the author places on herself. She tries to avoid focusing on well-known Black or White Republicans except when the historical context necessitates their inclusion. Furthermore, she tries to avoid focusing on the Democratic Party and its evolution. These limitations help focus the historical analysis onto the lesser-known Black Republican individuals and groups that tend to be ignored. And while Rigeur is critical, she is never unfair in her assessments and will often explore the prevailing thought of the day, but also analyses it to show where it was flawed. All in all, this makes for a very analytical and interesting text.

[Cory Wallace · Rating 2 out of 5]

This read appears to be one-sided in my opinion. Politicians do a great job influencing decisions that the voters make. I wish people could critically think more and vote on the policy of their choice.

[Matthew Rohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't have big thoughts here but it's really good and will both deepen and broaden the way you think about 20th century US politics and is super engaging

[Daeny · Rating 4 out of 5]

not me reading this after the reading group ended! really liked this tho

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reads kinda like a textbook. It was very informative though

[Katherine Hsu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly eye opening!

[alexa koe · Rating 2 out of 5]

tldr: no one in the republican party listens to their black political advisors and then they wonder why they don't get the black vote