In the 1900s blacks were not allowed to vote, business owners were threatened with violence and black students were forced to go to inferior schools. Lynchings and race riots occurred frequently against blacks.
In 1907, Madame C.J. Walker forms a successful cosmetic company and became the first black millionaire. In 1910, there were 40,000 black owned businesses and blacks owned 13 million acres of land in America. In 1910, the number of black farm owners in the South owned 24.5% of the farms. In 1913, federal segregation was implemented.
During the Progressive Era from 1895 to 1920 racism played a pivotal role in the failure of some successful black businesses and communities such as Black Wall Street. Black Wall Street was a wealthy all black community with a population of 15,000 in Tulsa Oklahoma that was bombed from the air and burned to the ground by white Americans on June 1, 1921. Black Wall Street consisted of 36 black businesses. The event killed 3,000 blacks and destroyed over 600 businesses including 21 churches, 30 grocery stores, 21 restaurants, 2 movie theaters, jewelry stores, medical schools, a hospital, a bank, a post office, libraries, schools, law offices, a bus system, two airports and private planes. Will Black Wall Street be repeated or has it already been repeated?
A study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2005 found that hate crimes were 15 times higher than reported by the FBI. According to the 2008 FBI Hate Crimes report of the hate crime offenses reported, 72.6% were motivated by anti-Black bias. Eric Ward stated, “Because democracy is contingent on participation, hate crimes are also a blow against democracy which is a reason why all incidents are not reported. If individuals are afraid to participate in society, all of society suffers. “With the election of President Obama the FBI and other government agencies reported a dramatic increase in hate crimes and violence against blacks.
In 2010 there are over 1 million black owned businesses which is about 1/10 of the total number of businesses in America. However, each dollar earned in the black community today leaves the community every 15 minutes. During Black Wall Street it could take up to a year for a dollar to leave the community. In 2010, there are at least: 7 black owned winemakers, 10 black owned hair care businesses, at least 3 black owned radio broadcasting companies, 30 black owned banks, 12 black owned hospitals, 22 black owned churches in America. There are 3 black billionaires and over 100,000 black millionaires in America. The number of black politicians in 2010 has dwindled to 42. All we can do is hope that future generations will never experience these events and will know that America is the land of freedom and not the land of hate. “It demands great spiritual resilience not to hate the hater whose foot is on your neck, and an even greater miracle of perception and charity not to teach your child to hate. – James Arthur Baldwin”.
3 comments:
Thanks for the wonderful history lesson. And thanks for including Madam C. J. Walker as an example of a successful black entrepreneur. As her great-great-granddaughter and biographer, I hope you'll allow me to share some additional information. By the time Walker died in May 1919, she had become a millionaire through the sale of hair care products and real estate investments. Just as important as being a pioneer of the modern hair care and cosmetics industries--along with a number of other visionary women--she had become a philanthropist, arts patron, anti-lynching activist and employer of hundreds of women. A couple of corrections: she did not develop a relaxer or invent the hot comb. She did, however, develop a line of hair care products for black women that healed scalp disease and stressed grooming. In 1907 her business was only a year old, so she had several years of development before she was turning a profit. If you'd like to learn more, I hope you'll visit our website at www.madamcjwalker.com and read my book, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker.
A'Lelia Bundles
Hi A'Lelia, I updated the facts about your great-great grandmother. I appreciate you reading my blog and providing the update. Take care.
I just wanted to inform you and your readers of this very important fact – Madame C.J. Walker’s historic company still exists today and has never stopped manufacturing all of the original hair oils! Please visit our website at http://www.madamewalker.net to view and purchase the full product line. The website also contains valuable information about Raymond Randolph’s purchase of the original Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company in 1985 from the Walker Trustees in indianapolis, Indiana and how his family continues to keep Madame Walker’s "true" legacy alive. Due to our ownership of Madame’s historic company and the historical documents and memorabilia of the company, the Randolph Family can provide the most detailed and historically sound information about Madame C.J. Walker and her company by calling toll free, 866-552-2838 or going to the contact us page of our website.
Angela Randolph
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