about
(B.A., Roanoke College, 1983; M.A., Virginia Polytechnic & State Univ., 1984; Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1989; M.S.L, Yale, 2000; member of Phi Beta Kappa).
Professional Background
Born into abject poverty in rural southwest Virginia, Dr. Carol Swain, a high school dropout, went on to earn five degrees. Holding a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.S.L. from Yale, she also earned early tenure at Princeton and full professorship at Vanderbilt where she was professor of political science and a professor of law. Today she is a sought-after cable news contributor, a best-selling author, a prominent national speaker, and an entrepreneur.
In addition to having three Presidential appointments, Dr. Swain is a former Distinguished Senior Fellow for Constitutional Studies with the Texas Public Policy Foundation who has also served on the Tennessee Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the 1776 Commission. In 2025, she received the Frederick Douglass Lifetime Achievement Award for a lifetime of conservative service to the nation. Currently, she is a senior fellow at the Institute for Faith and Culture.
An award-winning political scientist cited three times by the U.S. Supreme Court, Dr. Swain has authored or edited thirteen published books including the bestseller, Black Eye for America: How Critical Race Theory is Burning Down the House. Other books include The Gay Affair: Harvard, Plagiarism, and the Death of Academic Integrity; Countercultural Living: What Jesus Has to Say About Life, Marriage, Race, Gender, and Materialism; The Adversity of Diversity: How the Supreme Court’s Decision to Remove Race from College Admissions Criteria will Doom Diversity Programs.
She is an expert on American politics, immigration reform, affirmative action and DEI policies, and evangelical politics. Her television appearances include BBC News, ABC’s Headline News, CBS, CNN, Fox News, Newsmax and more. In addition, she has published opinion pieces in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Epoch Times, the Financial Times, and USA Today.
Dr. Swain is the founder and CEO of Carol Swain Enterprises, REAL Unity Training Solutions, Your Life Story for Descendants, and her non-profit, Be the People. She is a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother who resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
Strong Christian Beliefs
I am a follower of Jesus Christ who believes that faith in Him should be evidenced by a lifestyle that reveals his influence on our lives. I honor and respect the wisdom of God’s Word as revealed through the Scriptures found in the Old and New Testaments of the Judeo-Christian Bible.
I believe our nation has been exceptional throughout the centuries, because of the wisdom and faith of the Founding Fathers who sought to establish an everlasting covenant with the God of Israel. Their wisdom is found in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. If America is to survive as a nation, we must rediscover our roots and unite as one people. We must recognize that multiculturalism and identity politics fuels division and divisiveness. As Matthew 12: 25-27 suggests, a house divided against itself cannot stand.
Award-Winning Author
Dr. Swain is the author or editor of eight books. Her first book, Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African Americans in Congress (Harvard University Press, 1993, 1995), won the Woodrow Wilson prize for the best book published in the U. S. on government, politics or international affairs in 1994, and was cited twice by U.S. Supreme Court.
What I Can Teach You About Racism
Carol Swain: Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington
Black Lives Matter Is a Marxist Movement