The 50 Year Legacy of Ronald Reagan: a Discussion on the Long-Term Impact of Reagan's Conservative Agenda on the Political and Economic Interests of Black Americans

Abstract

In the years following his death, conservatives and journalists have reshaped Ronald Reagan’s image as a moderate and conciliatory conservative. When conservatives discuss Reagan in the context of the rhetoric, policies, and political tactics of today’s Republican Party, they assert that he was too moderate to be elected in the current era. This discussion of Reagan’s legacy is more likely than not to be devoid of the input from scholars with alternative views on how his role as a right wing conservative and the leader of Movement Conservatism starting in 1964 and as President continues to impact the economic, social, legal interests of African Americans. What is often missing from the current discussions of Reagan is that his rise to power and election to the White House came from the increasing influence of White resentment to the Civil Rights movement and the expansion of economic and political power of Blacks in the 1960s and 70s. To his detractors, Reagan’s policies were considered punitive and have had negatively impacted African Americans, the working class and the poor in the subsequent decades. His policies on the social safety net, civil rights enforcement, and judiciary have shaped the views and political agendas of both Republicans and Democrats in the White House and in Congress. And as a result, Reagan’s legacy continues to impose political limitations to African Americans in their efforts to eliminate the barriers caused by institutional racism that remain as impediments to reaching equality within the broader American society.