The Economic Civil Rights Movement : African Americans and the Struggle for Economic Power

Some books have linked economic developments to the civil rights movement, but none has taken the position that the movement was primarily an economic one. The Economic Civil Rights Movement responds to the lack of treatment that economic factors have received within civil rights scholarship. By highlighting the economic actions taken by civil rights leaders and organizations, this book helps to set the stage for narratives that recast the movement’s cultural and political significance. This collection posits that financial considerations were an important driving force behind the movement’s strategic initiatives. It argues that the movement’s economic aspects belong alongside its political and cultural impact at the narrative center of civil rights scholarship.

Economic inequalities have been perhaps the most enduring problem facing African Americans since the civil rights movement, despite the attention they have received from activists. Although the civil rights movement dealt successfully with injustices like disenfranchisement and segregated public accommodations, economic disparities between blacks and whites remain sharp, and the wealth gap between the two groups has widened in the twenty-first century.

The Economic Civil Rights Movement is a collection of thirteen original essays that analyze the significance of economic power to the black freedom struggle by exploring how African Americans fought for increased economic autonomy in an attempt to improve the quality of their lives. It covers a wide range of campaigns ranging from the World War II era through the civil rights and black power movements and beyond. The unfinished business of the civil rights movement primarily is economic. This book turns backward toward history to examine the ways African Americans have engaged this continuing challenge.