So, we are frequently asked what books I should read to understand Black economics in the US. Here are the best accessible and academic books on Back Economics. Some define the problems and offer solutions, while others conduct deeper research. All focus on Black economic progress in the United States.
Note: African American authors have an “AA” by their name. We do not support Amazon. So, where possible, we provide the original publisher reference.
Anyway, here is our list
The case for reparation: Reckoning with America’s history of racial plunder, Ta-Nehisi Coates, AA, 2014, (The Atlantic)
From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century, William A. Darity Jr. and Andrea Kirsten Mullen, AA, 2022 (UNC Press) – Makes the case for reparations. And then outlines a plan.
The hidden cost of being African American, Thomas Shapiro, 2005 (Oxford University Press) – Early analysis to find the costs.
PowerNomics : The National Plan to Empower Black America, Claude Anderson, AA, 2001 (Powernomics)
Black Economics: Solutions for Economic and Community Empowerment, Jawanza Kunjufu, AA, 1991 (no publisher reference) – first to popularize the term: Black Economics
Color of Law and Just Action, Richard Rothstein (The Color of Law) and Leah Rothstein wrote, (Just Action)
The color of money: Black banks and the racial wealth gap, Mersha Baradaran, (Harvard University Press)
How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America: Problems in Race, Political Economy, and Society, Manning Marable, AA, 1999 (Haymarket Books)
Our Black Year, Maggie Anderson, AA, 2015 (Maggie Anderson) – two years of trying to buy Black only and why it’s so hard. Great introduction to Black economics.
The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy, William Julius Wilson, AA, 2012 (Chicago University Press)
Capitalism and Slavery, Eric Williams, AA, 2021 (UNC Press)—the seminal work on the economics of slavery and colonialism.
Brotherhoods of Color: Black Railroad Workers and the Struggle for Equality, Eric Arnesen, 2002, (Harvard University Press)
The warmth of other suns, Isabel Wilkerson, AA, 2011 (Isabel Wilkerson)
All labor has dignity: MLK Martin Luther King’s speeches on Labor, 2011 (MLK Bookstore)
The pursuit of Fairness: a history of affirmative action, Terry Anderson, 2004
Workers on Arrival: Black Labor in the Making of America, Joe William Trotter, Jr., AA, 2018
Reproducing Racism: How Everyday Choices Lock In White Advantage, Daria Roithmayr, 2014
The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans–and How We Can Fix It, Dorothy A. Brown, AA, 2021 (Dorothy A Brown)
We are a little disappointed that many of the best books in Black economics were written by non-African Americans. But that is another story.