Eno Crabtree is a Black man who attends a predominantly White campus at the University of Houston, but he feels like he’s by himself even among his Black peers when expressing his conservative social/political viewpoints.
When attending student NAACP meetings, Crabtree said he’s sometimes called “an Uncle Tom” and a “walking contradiction.”
In the same city and at HBCU’s Texas Southern University, recent graduate Reginald Grant expressed similar views when debating, discussing and delivering information to his fellow classmates on what it means to be a young Black conservative.
Both voted for Republican candidate Mitt Romney in last month’s presidential election. Both are against raising taxes when the national debt exceeds $16 trillion. Both are optimistic about the future of Black conservatism.
“It is not just a political ideology, but a way of life,” said Grant, 25, who graduated Dec. 15 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and was president of the eight-person Young Conservatives club at Texas Southern. “It’s about having a say in what and where we spend our money. Having a strong work ethic and being able to enjoy the fruits of our labor; having a faith in God and our country. Things will change for the better.”
However, Grant and Crabtree are in the minority among Blacks who voted for President Obama and sent him to a second term. According to national exit polls, Obama received more than 90 percent of the Black vote.
Political pundits have debated nationally on whether the conservative movement needs to begin changing its approach when it comes to social topics such as gay marriage, abortion and race.
