So, we are frequently asked what books someone should read to understand Black economics in the US.
Here are the best accessible and academic books and articles 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.
Here is our List of Key Books and Articles
The Case for Reparations: Reckoning with America’s history of racial plunder, Ta-Nehisi Coates, AA, 2014, (The Atlantic) — the article that started in all in modern times. If you read one thing, this is it.
The California Reparations Report (State of California Department of Justice), AA. (624 pages)– Monumental. Through. Completely sourced. All of the best scholars in Black economics are referenced. Everything you want to know about Black economics in one place.
How to read the study if you are interested in Black Economics: Read the introduction, the conclusion and the calculation of reparations. Next read the chapter called “Chapter 10: Stolen Labor and Hindered Opportunity”, and Chapter 27: Policy Recommendations. Both chapters are key to understand Black Economics.
Another important chapter to read is “Chapter 26: Control Over Creative, Cultural, & Intellectual Life”
Finally, read Chapter 18: Policy recommendations
For extra credit, click on the footnote for your favorite passage and read the papers referenced in the footnotes. Tons of surprising insights.
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 of being African American. Research heavy, but true.
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) — Great
All Labor has Dignity: MLK Martin Luther King’s speeches on Labor, AA, 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)
All, the books and articles are outstanding. We are a little disappointed that many of the best books in Black economics were written by non-African Americans. Eleven our top 17 are black authors. But that is another story.