Black Capitalism
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Black Capitalism is a name for a movement among African Americans to build wealth through the ownership and development of businesses. It has not been acknowledged as a legitimate "movement" among African Americans, such as Black Nationalism or the civil rights movement as it has no organized body to promote its intent and goals. However, much in these movements were financed by the wealth of African Americans.
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[edit] Historical roots
Roots of Black Capitalism can be found in the lives of "Free Negroes" during times of the American Enslavement. Many records exist reporting the development of economic wealth by these "Free Negroes".
The earliest recorded words touting the economic upliftment of African Americans by an African American was written by Lewis Woodson under the pen name "Augustine" in the Coloured American newspaper. Woodson helped found Wilberforce University and the first AME Theological seminary, Payne Theological Seminary and was an early teacher and mentor of Martin Delaney.
A prominent southern affluent Black was A. G. Gaston who was, at times, instrumental in the civil rights movement. Galston was influenced by Booker T. Washington, who was an early leader at the Tuskegee Institute. Another wealthy African American was Robert Reed Church, who founded the nation's first Black-owned bank, Solvent Savings, in 1906.
There are many historical and current examples of neighborhoods of prominent and affluent Blacks in American history. Some include the historical Highland Beach, Maryland and more recently Mount Airy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Prince George County, Maryland and DeKalb County, Georgia. Mainstream media identifies this with some interest.[1]
A more focused movement of Black Capitalism can be found in the popular magazine Black Enterprise.
[edit] Strands of Black Capitalism
[edit] Group success
One strain of Black Capitalism is immersed in the ethic of African-Americans building wealth together, as exemplified in the Kwanzaa value of "ujamaa" meaning 'cooperative economics'. A prominent proponent and example of this cooperative economics is Russell Simmons who can be seen advocating the building of not only individual black businesses but communities of black businesses. Simmons has made the comment that Black MBA students and graduates have the notion that they want to own their own businesses, not to simply be employed in someone else's business.
The mentality of group success is highlighted and examined in the book Black Power Inc. by Cora Daniels. In her writings, Ms. Daniels says that the ethic of individual success is exemplified by African-Americans born before and during the civil-rights movement, while proponents of group success are born after the civil rights movement.
A recent effort to standardize black capitalism as a movement was introduced in two books: Black Labor: White Wealth and the more recent book Powernomics by Dr. Claud Anderson. In these two books Dr. Anderson outlines a schema on which black wealth can be coordinated and developed through a nine-issue plan.
Some see this group success strain of Black Capitalism as a form of Social entrepreneurship which aims to build businesses that are oriented around providing services and goods that benefit the community in which they were built. Others see this as an outgrowth of the communal and tribal ethic attributed to traditional African cultures.
[edit] Individual success
A parallel, but seemingly opposing, strain of Black Capitalism stems from the American ideal of building individual wealth. Prominent examples of this can be popular figures such as Oprah Winfrey, Robert L. Johnson and so forth. The complaint leveled against the adherents to individual succes from advocates of group success is that individually wealth African Americans have made millions of dollars and that in and of itself has made very little contribution to the plight of African Americans in general.
In general, African Americans and the media sometimes point to this phenomenon as "black flight" or "selling out" where affluent blacks move out of predominately black neighborhoods into affluent white neighborhoods. A history of some of this was documented in the book Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class by Otis Graham.
[edit] Issues facing Black Capitalism
[edit] As distinct from racial integration
The notion of racial integration is such that African Americans should be able to move and operate in a predominately white society safely. This effort at racial integration concerns mostly public spaces and private hiring practices. It is thought that attempts and movements supporting racial integration are efforts to enable blacks to assimilate into white institutions.
Black Capitalism is an effort to position Blacks as the owners of land, the means of production, and businesses that own either or both. The aim of Black Capitalism is to bolster self-reliance, both individually and communally.
[edit] Black Anti-Capitalism
There are also two strands of thinking in African America, and specifically Black Nationalism, that is against Capitalism as an economic system in all of its forms. One strand is against capitalism on the basis of the historical treatment of Africans and the African Diaspora, i.e. slavery, subjugation and colonization. Another strand is against capitalism through strict political critiques, i.e. socialist. Many critics of capitalism from within the Black community blend the two positions, however the reasoning behind them are distinct. A prominent Black political critic was C. L. R. James. Two of the most popular black anti-capitalist books are How Capitalism Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney and How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America by Manning Marable. These books give analysis on how capitalism as an economic system has not raised the quality of living for the African Diaspora.
[edit] Violence against Black Capitalism
Examples of the explicit and public opposition to African American economic success has diminished since the Civil Rights movement. However, before this period of American transition, there are a few notable violent attacks against prosperous African American communities including the Tulsa Race Riot and the Rosewood massacre.
[edit] Economic disparity
Blacks on average have a lower net worth than Whites in America. This is especially pertinent in the creation of new businesses. One of the most common forms of collateral for loans to open businesses is home equity. With the historical and current differences in lending patterns toward blacks and whites, the option of using home equity to borrow against in order to open a business is diminished.
[edit] Related magazines and books
- Black Enterprise Magazine
- Black Power Inc.: The New Voice of Success by Cora Daniels
- BlackProsperity:An African American Guide To Building Generational Wealth
[edit] References
- ^ Article in USA Today from 07/08/2001. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
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