Left Conservative Book Of The Day #1

By Dylan Hales

For the next few weeks I plan on tossing out a book of the day that I feel neatly fits within the left conservative canon. Since this could be a potentially large project, I'll hold off on the obvious choices for now and instead start with something a bit more controversial.

Another Day At The Front Of The Race War by Ishmael Reed

Ishmael Reed is most well known as the author of "Mumbo Jumbo" and other novels that explore obscure cultural themes in African American life. He is generally considered to be one of the godfathers of the somewhat controversial "Black Arts Movement" (the other most well known figure, being the poet Amiri Baraka) and has edited several volumes of "multicultural" poems. Given the widespread assumption that multiculturalism has been one of the key fixtures of political polarization in American life, Reed seems like an odd figure for a left conservative to endorse. Indeed he is an odd figure, though not necessarily for the reasons one might immediately assume. Instead Reed is odd because in spite of some of his fiery rhetoric, he is a somewhat closeted traditionalist and localist, who shows no fear about smashing the taboos of the governing elite.

While Reed is clearly not shy about his belief that racism still permeates nearly every facet of white American life, he is shockingly candid about the dangerous role forced integration has played in this process. He argues rather effectively that a degree of black separatism for purposes of preservation is a moral imperative. In fact at various times Reed comes close to arguing for a black secessionist movement, if not politically at least culturally. While this will not find much sympathy with certain white nationalist groups on the right, Reeds call for community control and black self-empowerment is something all decentralist should endorse without qualification.

Reed also takes a huge shot at the dangerous, man-hating tendency in modern feminism. Though I myself am about to be wed to a self-identified feminist, it is no secret to serious observes that today’s feminist movement is as much about playing the martyr card as it is about achieving any substantive gains for women. Reed documents numerous lies and smears feminists have used to assail black men and points to this as a key contributor to the breakdown of black social institutions. Another taboo smashed to bits by the alleged "multiculuralist" Reed.

Finally, and this is the BEST reason to tout the book, Reed offers up a very interesting interpretation of the black historical figures Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. For years Du Bois has been considered an untouchable saint by most black (and white) intellectuals and leftist, while Washington has been widely denounced as an Uncle Tom. Reed however argues that Du Bois was the ultimate elitist, whose calls for a "talented tenth" among America’s blacks, would inevitably leave blacks behind. Furthermore he points out that Washingtons calls for creating wealth and opportunity within black communities by using tangible resources and skills would have left American blacks in a far better position integration or no integration then they are now. While Reed does not denounce Du Bois wholesale, it is clear that he is suspicious of the motivations of the "intellectual", especially compared to those of Washington the "agrarian". This analysis of Du Bois as the elitist, ass kiss to power v. Washington, as the populist, quasi-black nationalist is a fresh one that deserves serious consideration.

Reeds book is not perfect. There is a lot to cringe at, and some of his conclusions will not look favorable to non-dogmatic leftists. But by writing a book that openly and viciously assaults the elitists of modern feminism, the states social engineering, and the man often pointed to as the godfather of African-American civil rights, he has delivered a solidly revisionist attack on the managerial elite. Left conservatives should always endorse such efforts.