AFRC537 - Blacks in Corporate America

This course is designed to be an exploration of the rise of the new Black elite and their contributions to business in America, their lifestyles, and the intraracial diversity of their socioeconomic origins. Little social science research has considered the unique location of Black American professionals within America's racialized class structure. Despite marked gains since the Civil Rights Movement, American Blacks still comprise just 2% of executives and senior manager-level employees, and just a handful (<1%) of Fortune 500 companies are led by Black CEOs. Notably, Black women currently account for only 1.6% of vice presidents and 1.4% of C-suite executives compared to white men who hold 57% and 68% of those positions, respectively. Together, we will examine the origins and worldviews of the old Black elite compared to the new Black professional class and how their variegated racial, ethnic, and class experiences in corporate America remain tethered to the "peculiar" history of Black slavery and our enduring racial stratification system. Whatever their socioeconomic origins, Black professionals are well-credentialed to assume leadership roles both inside and outside the Black community in the U.S. The use of the delimiter 'Black' nonetheless recognizes how race interacts with social class to prevent Black Americans from attaining social and economic parity with whites even at the top of the class hierarchy; for Blacks, social class is racialized concept intrinsically linked to the legacy of structural racism in all its economic, political, cultural, and social manifestations Bearing all this in mind: Who is the new Black professional class? What are their origins and how do they reflect the ideals and attitudes of 21st Century Black America? What are their contributions to corporate America? In what ways does structural racism differentially impact their career trajectories and structural integration into the corporate mainstream? How do they cope with white racism and lack of representation beyond middle management? And, what lessons can we learn from their professional and personal experiences to shed light on the enduring legacy of Black inequality and the structural impediments all Blacks in the U.S. face as they strive to acquire intergenerational mobility? We will study the historical presence of Blacks in certain industries since 1865, how racial, ethnic, gender, and class diversity within Black America have affected access and opportunities for advancement, as well as the legacy of deliberate federal programs and policies that have stymied Black professional advancement. Particularly salient to our discussion here is the steering of Blacks into