Entrepreneurship and Self-Help Among Black Americans: A Reconsideration of Race and Economics (S U N Y Series in Ethnicity and Race in American Life)

417 Pages·2005·0.96 MB·English

by  John Sibley Butler

Entrepreneurship
and Self-Help
among Black Americans:
A Reconsideration
of Race and Economics,
Revised Edition
John Sibley Butler
State University of New York Press
Entrepreneurship
and Self-Help
among
Black Americans
ToThojest Jefferson and Johnnie Mae Sibley Butler,
my mother and father,who are lights ofencouragement;
and to Rosemary Griffey Butler,my wife,
who has given me additional encouragement
Entrepreneurship
and Self-Help
among
Black Americans
A Reconsideration
of Race and Economics,
Revised Edition
John Sibley Butler
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS
Published by
State University of New York Press,Albany
© 2005 State University of New York
All rights reserved
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Butler,John S.
Entrepreneurship and self-help among Black Americans :a
reconsideration of race and economics / John Sibley Butler.— Rev.ed.
p.cm.— (SUNY series in ethnicity and race in American life)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-5893-8 (harcover :alk.paper) — ISBN 0-7914-5894-6 (pbk.:
alk.paper)
1. African Americans—Economic conditions.2. African American
businesspeople.3. Entrepreneurship—United States. I.Title. II.Series.
E185.8.B83 2005
338'.04'08996073—dc22
2004029877
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Tables vii
Preface to the Revised Edition xi
1. The Sociology of Entrepreneurship 1
2. Race and Entrepreneurship:A Respecification 41
3. “To Seek for Ourselves”:Benevolent,Insurance,and Banking
Institutions 85
4. Entrepreneurship under an Economic Detour 151
5. Durham,North Carolina:An Economic Enclave 175
6. Tulsa,Oklahoma:Business Success and Tragedy 207
7. The Reconstruction of Race,Ethnicity,and Economics:
Toward a Theory of the Afro-American Middleman 239
8. The Present Status of Afro-American Business:
The Resurrection of Past Solutions 295
9. Conclusion and Policy Implications 327
Notes 345
Bibliography 381
Index 399

List of Tables
1.1 Japanese Immigration to Mainland United States,1861–1940 10
2.1 Proportion of Free Blacks and Slaves in the U.S.,1860 43
2.2 Geographical Distribution of Free Afro-Americans and
Afro-American Slaves in the United States,1860 44
2.3 Geographical Distribution of Slaves and Free Negroes in the
United States by Section of the Country,1860 44
2.4 Afro-American Inventors,1860–1900 56
2.5 Heuristic Model of the Theory of Economic Detour 81
3.1 Selected Statistics of the African Methodist Episcopal Church 88
3.2 Receipts,Extension,Loans,and Donations of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church 89
3.3 Expenditures for Education,African Methodist Episcopal
Church by Years 90
3.4 Schools Supported by The African Methodist Episcopal Church 91
3.5 Schools of The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church,1901 92
3.6 Schools Supported by The Afro-American Baptist Church,1909 93
3.7 Private Schools Supported by Afro-Americans,1898-99 to
1906-07 96
3.8 Beneficial Societies of Petersburg,Virginia,and Atlanta,
Georgia,1898 104
3.9 Financial Status of Masonic Lodges,Income,and Expenditures 109
3.10 Financial Reports of Masonic Lodges of Arkansas,Florida,and
Louisiana 110
viii List of Tables
3.11 Reports of Grand and Subordinate Lodges of the Odd Fellows 111
3.12 Financial Sheet of the Odd Fellows 114
3.13 Fraternal Buildings Lost to Afro-Americans,by States 116
3.14 Operating Territories of Negro Life Insurance Companies,
1931–32 119
3.15 Afro-American Insurance in Force:Compared with Selected
Nations of the World 123
3.16 Number of Employees of Afro-American Insurance Industry
and Compensations 124
3.17 Comparative Statement of Conditions of All Negro Owned
Insurance Companies,Associations and Societies 126
3.18 Recapitulation of Data on Negro-Owned Insurance
Companies,31 December 1947 127
3.19 Dividends Paid to Stockholders of Negro Life Insurance
Companies,1945 128
3.20 Percentage Distribution of Physical Assets of 44 Member
Companies of the National Negro Insurance Association
and of The Member Companies of the Life Insurance
Association of America,31 December 1945 129
3.21 Branches of the Freedmen’s Bank 136
3.22 Growth of Deposits in Freedmen’s Bank 137
3.23 Directory of Negro Banks 141
3.24 Resources and Liabilities of Negro Banks in the
United States 146
3.25 Ratio of Capital Investment to Total Deposits for
Afro-American Banks,1903-1930 148
4.1 Business Enterprises in which 200 or More Negroes
Are Engaged,1918-1919 156
4.2 Retail Stores Operated by Negro Proprietors in the
United States,1929–32 158
4.3 Number of Negro Business Leagues,1918-1919 160
4.4 Distribution of Total Number of Businesses and Businesses
in Pierce’s Sample by Cities,1944 163
List of Tables ix
4.5 Classification by Line of Business for Twelve Cities,1944 164
4.6 Employees of Retail Stores in Twelve Cities,1944 167
4.7 Employees of Service Establishments in Twelve Cities,1944 168
4.8 Number of Employees in 352 Miscellaneous Businesses by
Line of Business,Twelve Cities,1944 170
4.9 Percentage of Negro Consumers Who Purchased Goods at
Black- and at White-Owned Stores 172
5.1 Selected Stores Operated by Negroes in North Carolina,1929 178
5.2 Occupational Classification of Gainfully Employed Negroes
Ten Years of Age or Older,1930 183
6.1 Black Business Establishments and Business Persons in Tulsa
as Listed in the City Directories,1907,1909-1914,and
1916–1923 217
6.2 Enterprises (Service and Professional) of the Rebuilt
Greenwood District as of 1942 235
7.1 Occupations of the Fathers of Selected Groups of
Afro-Americans in the Professions,Business,Who’s Who in
Colored America,and Those Who Graduated from a
Black College (1931) 250
7.2 Occupations of Afro-Americans Whose Fathers Were in the
Entrepreneurial Sector,as Compared with Other Occupations,
1931 252
8.1 Percentage of Black-Owned Firms (Retail Only) by Civil
War Affiliation,1929 and 1992 313
8.2a States Where Blacks Made Up the Largest Percentage of Total
Enrollment in Higher Education in 1992 315
8.2b States Where Blacks Made Up the Largest Percentage of Total
Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded in 1991 315