This article analyzes the contribution of Ronald Walters to the development of white nationalism as a theory of white subjugation and domination of African Americans in the post–civil rights era. It also discusses why his work has been ignored by political science scholarship on the subject, and the relationship between white nationalism and white racism.

In general, the founders of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists were “movement people.” Powerful agents of socialization such as the uprisings of the 1960s molded them into scholars with tremendous resolve to tackle systemic inequalities in the political science discipline. In forming NCOBPS as an independent organization, many sought to develop a Black perspective in political science to push the boundaries of knowledge and to use that scholarship to ameliorate the adverse conditions confronting Black people in the United States and around the globe. This paper utilizes historical documents, speeches, interviews, and other scholarly works to detail the lasting contributions of the founders and Black political scientists to the discipline, paying particular attention to their scholarship, teaching, mentoring, and civic engagement. It finds that while political science is much improved as a result of their efforts, there is still work to do if their goals are to be achieved.

This paper examines the relationship between race, socialism, and democracy in America. It is organized into five sections and a conclusion. The first section explores how socialism has been viewed by many black leaders and intellectuals as necessary, imperative perhaps, in the black struggle for material equality, and further investigates the relationship of this black perspective on socialism to white opposition. The second section uses the most recent historical work to identify the factors that have the stalled the development of socialism in America. I also assess how these factors have changed or not in terms of making the socialist project more likely. In the third section, I analyze available poll data on American opinion about socialism from the 1930s to the present. While the data show unambiguously increased support for socialism since the 1930s, socialism does not today command the support of a majority of the American people. In the fourth section I examine the paradigmatic Franklin Roosevelt presidency on how liberal Democratic presidents have avoided the socialist label while embracing socialist programs. The fifth section is a brief examination of what socialism—really existing socialism—means in the early twenty-first century, and the idea of “socialist smuggling” as manifested in the presidencies of FDR and Lyndon Johnson. The speculative conclusion asks what are the prospects for the socialist project, and whether the white liberal cosmopolitan bourgeoisie rather than the white working class might become a mass base for the socialist project.

This paper is a culmination of research by the task force established to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS). It presents a capsule history of the founding of NCOBPS and then profiles of the founders of the organization. The profiles focus on the founders’ educational backgrounds, careers, and contributions to NCOBPS leadership, to the profession in terms of scholarship and service, and to the Black community and the nation with respect to their work in civil rights and community organizations, the bureaucracy, and as elected and appointed officials. The purpose is to provide not only a distilled and concise record, but also a framework from which to develop future research.