American political conservatism can no longer be viewed as the exclusive preserve of wealthy white, heterosexual men. In recent decades, a readily identifiable conservative discourse has arisen within African-American, Latino/a and gay communities, and among women, both feminist-and anti-feminist alike. While they diverge on certain issues, as a nascent political force they have forever altered the complexion of contemporary conservatism. In Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Now? Multicultural Conservatism in America, Angela Dillard offers the first comparative analysis of a conservatism which today cuts across the boundaries of race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality.
To be an African American and a conservative, or a Latino who is also a conservative and a homosexual, is to occupy an awkward and contested political position. Dillard explores the philosophies, politics, and motivation of minority conservatives such as Ward Connerly, Glenn Loury, Linda Chavez, Clarence Thomas, and Bruce Bawer, as well as their tepid reception by both the Left and Right. Welcomed cautiously by the conservative movement, they have also been excoriated by those African-Americans, Latinos, women, and homosexuals who view their conservatism as betrayal. Central to this issue of their marginalization -- or double marginalization -- is the manner in which multicultural conservatives have conceptualized and presented their public, political selves. This, in turn, raises provocative questions about the connections between identity and politics, and the claims of cultural authenticity.
Dillard's comprehensive study, among the first to take the history and political implications of multicultural conservatismseriously, will be a vital source for understanding contemporary American conservatism in all its forms.