Conservative Movement Thesis

In Chapter 1, Alexander provides a brief history of race and racism in America. For those readers less familiar with the narrative of American history, this tour through slavery, Bacon’s Rebellion, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Populism, the end of Jim Crow through Board, and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s is very instructive. Even if this narrative sounds familiar though, what comes next is probably less so. The backlash to the Civil Rights Movement manifested itself in the Southern Strategy and the first construction of stereotypes such as lazy “welfare cheats” and black criminals. “Law and order” rhetoric became a popular way to stoke hostility towards blacks; it was carried out by conservatives to win votes among poor whites.

The term conservative is used to describe someone or something that favors traditional views and values, and tends to oppose change (Dictionary.com: Conservative). Unlike the historians like Hicks and Parrington, others, such as John Chamberlain and Richard Hofstadter believed that the Progressive Movement was that of a conservative one. Instead of seeing progressivism as a movement to correct American society, John Chamberlain saw it as a complete and abysmal failure, nothing but a bunch of people who "were motivated by an escapist desire to return to a golden past where honesty and virtue had dominated over egoism and evil" (The Progressive Movement: Liberal or Conservative). If the Progressive Movement is looked at as a conservative movement, one can concur that it was just a cover up for a moral crusade. During the latter part of the nineteenth century people of high status such as lawyers, professors, and clergymen were being ousted out of power. In response, these people went on a moral crusade to restore individualistic values based on the idea that only men of character should rule. (Richard Hofstadter in The Progressive Movement: Liberal or Conservative). According to George E. Mowry, progressivism was nothing but a "movement by a particular class aimed at reasserting its declining position of leadership" (George E.

People’s views on a wide range of issues are influenced or determined by the kind of foundational belief systems they hold. Therefore, the difference in the nature of opinions among individuals or groups of people alludes to the existence of distinct belief systems. In the course of history, the distinction between Liberalism and Conservatism has become more vivid particularly in the political arena where various players have expressed opposing points of view regarding the nation’s future. It is indeed undisputable that the foundational beliefs of Liberalism are diametrically opposed to those of Conservatism. This essay will give a definition of each term and describe how the two oppose each other.

Liberalism, in general, was an ideological movement that emerged out of the ideas of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century. It embraced the ideas of individualism which were established in the Renaissance and Reformation era. The Renaissance period sparked a belief in the importance of the individual in society. It helped promote the beliefs of classical liberalism which gradually formed into the liberal ideology of the 19th century. Individuals that were waiting to get their individual rights and freedoms were allowed to finally gain liberty and power through this period of time. Classical liberalism developed

As the documentary continues, Republican strategist, Lee Atwater outlines the idea of the Southern Strategy. The Southern Strategy is a political strategy used by conservatives in which Republican politicians choose their language wisely to “speak in a kind of racial code designed to turn white working class voters against government programs (Wise, 2007).” According to John H. Bracey, this type of racism indirectly hurts the interests and well-being of working-class whites too. When aid is in question for whites, it also means that blacks would benefit from it as well and since some white people are so racist, they refuse the aid all together. For example, in Mississippi, there are people who won’t expand Medicare because they have such a dysfunctional political system that they would rather turn down aid for white people because the same aid would also help black people.

Thesis Statement: In this paper, I’m going to explore how the Civil Rights Movement first started, and the brutal events and forms of protest during this monumental moment in history. Looking at first-hand accounts from pivotal figures such as the leaders of the social movement organizations, I can properly recount the conditions and struggles in the fight for equality for African Americans. Covering these topics, I can properly describe the effects that came from each movement and the change that subsequently followed. Brown v. Board:

I want to pursue my graduate studies on history at Cal State Los Angeles. I gained an interest in history as a career. I’m going to become one of the children from my family to pursue this endeavor. I see history as important information which teaches to not repeat past errors for society in the 21st century. Furthermore I want to see what jobs I can do in my current condition, after being diagnosed for multiple schelrosis and asperger’s syndrome.

Racial superiority of whites was an ideology deeply ingrained, but the Democratic Party understood that it would be crucial to their campaign to “fan [the ember of bigotry] to full flame” (6). The major theme of the campaign became a mission to save white supremacy from “Negro domination.” Black men are portrayed as heinous and savage creatures that target the pure image of white women.

The dramatic “Stand in the Door” was all for show of course. Wallace stood aside, allowing three black students to register for classes later that day, but the effects of the speech would have wide repercussions. Wallace received nearly 100,000 telegrams in response to his speech from all across the country, an almost unheard of number for a lowly Southern governor. More shocking still was that nearly all of them, about 95%, were praising his bravery. (Lopez, 15) “They all hate black people, all of them.” Wallace reportedly exclaimed, “They’re all afraid, all of them Great God! That’s it! They’re all Southern. The whole US is Southern!” (Lopez, 15)

Devinatz focuses the article on the similarities between the new president elect, Donald J. Trump and the 1968 election of George Wallace. Devinatz informs the reader that while Donald Trump’ presidency was an event that took the nation by surprise, mostly white union members voted for Trump just like they voted for Wallace because their campaign strategy was similar. Devinatz exclaims that Wallace used comparable rhetoric to Trump’s to get the crowd on his side at rallies, the rhetoric they both used was racial rhetoric. Wallace and Trump used the racial fears that immigrants and people of color would take the white Americans jobs to get the votes and gain political power. The overall argument Devinatz is making is that presidential canidates

Filene defines a movement as a “collectivity acting with some continuity to promote or resist a change in the society…one can then analyze its internal characteristics along four dimensions: program, the values which underlie this program, membership and supporters” (20-21). Filene finds the program of a social movement the most important part, for without a program the movement will be unable to sustain itself. His most convincing point is that on so many issues, the Progressives, supposedly a defined and cohesive movement, had numerous splits within their group. For example, “The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 created, according to Arthur Link, a conflict between ‘uncompromising’ and ‘middle-of-the-road’ progressives.” The most convincing example concerns women’s suffrage, “a cause that has generally been attributed to the progressive movement.” However, as Filene points out, progressive Presidents Roosevelt and Taft were unwilling to appease feminists with suffrage, and stayed far from the idea for as long as possible. Indeed, if a list of 400 so-called progressives is carefully researched, it may be noted that they are divided almost exactly down the center for and against a woman’s right to vote (22-23). In this way, it is clear that

The United States has a longstanding history of racism and discriminatory policy, stemming from the colonial era. Generally, those who weren’t considered true White Americans faced blatant ethnicity-based discrimination and adversity in matters of education, human rights, immigration, land ownership, and politics. Specific racial institutions, characteristic of the 17th to 20th centuries, included slavery, wars against the Native Americans, exclusion from civil life, and segregation. It wasn’t until the mid-20th century that formal racial discrimination was banned, and majority attitudes began to see racism as socially unacceptable. However, our relatively recent racialized history has left an unfortunate impact on present society. The legacy of historical racism still continues to be echoed through socioeconomic inequality, and racial politics still remain a major phenomenon. Many argue that our government systems have shifted from means of overt racism to more symbolic, covert racism, and that this is reflected in our societal institutions, such as employment, housing, education, economics, and government.

Nixon’s people saw an opening, they would appeal not to his party but to his heart: Earl Warren. Nixon set up a trap and worked, he would never win Warren’s friendship but nonetheless won his help and that’s what was most important. “It matters little what terrain you are competing on; the key to winning over allies is to focus on their sensitive points”.

The conservative movement has played a crucial role in American politics in the post war era. Ronald Story and Bruce Laurie indentify various elements of the American conservatism. These elements include challenging authoritarian governments and modernist culture, upholding tradition, Christian religion and the rule of law, defending western civilization, and supporting republicanism. American conservatism has been characterized by competing ideologies and tension throughout history. The Americans who are politically liberal and economically conservative favor free trade, minimal state intervention, low taxes, and a small government. On the other hand, conservatives hold the view that American traditional values are normally undermined by

In a more recent example is the infamous Willie Horton ad. In 1988 Republican presidential candidate George H.W. Bush found himself trailing in the polls compared to his opponent. Therefore, in order to energize his dispirited followers Bush deployed the famous Willie Horton ad. The ad introduces Willie Horton, a black convicted murderer who was allowed to leave prison as part of a weekend furlough program. However, during this time Horton failed to return and instead robbed and assaulted a white coupled and raped the man’s fiancée. The campaigns goal with the ad was to create fear among whites especially the fact that white women were being sexually assaulted by a black man. It also linked being soft on crime with race, as the face invariably