What Color is a Conservative?

The paperback edition of the inspirational story of the first black to hold a Republican leadership position—J.C. Watts, Jr.

J.C. Watts, Jr., is a dynamic preacher, congressman, and father of six. Currently serving his fourth and final congressional term, he is the Republican Conference chairman.

What Color Is A Conservative? The fifth of six children, J. C. Watts, Jr. was raised by parents who taught him the value of faith, family, hard work, and personal responsibility. As both Eufaula, Oklahoma, and the nation struggled to integrate, Watts saw his father and uncle take on the local establishment to end segregation in his hometown, and he made history on his own as one of the first two black children to integrate the town's all-white elementary school. It was J.C.'s outstanding football talent that made him the quarterback who led Coach Barry Switzer's legendary Oklahoma Sooners to back-to-back conference championships. After a successful career in the Canadian Football League, Watts decided to go into politics. He stunned everyone by taking a different path: While every black he knew was a Democrat, he would run on the Republican ticket. J.C. became the first black Republican elected to Congress from a southern state since Reconstruction. During his eight years in Washington, Watts was not a typical politician. And in What Color Is a Conservative? he shows why, battling partisanship and challenging the nation's traditional black leaders to reject race baiting, black orthodoxy, and victimhood. They have "driven a wedge between my politics and my people," J.C. argues, noting that there is nothing contradictory about being a "black Republican." Inspiring, provocative, and with an inside look at the inner workings of Washington, J. C. Watts may ruffle a few feathers, but that's exactly what he thinks is good for America.

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