Business
Chicago’s black population developed a class structure, composed of a large number of domestic workers and other manual laborers, along with a small, but growing, contingent of middle-and-upper-class business and professional elites. In 1929, black Chicagoans gained access to city jobs, and expanded their professional class. Fighting job discrimination was a constant battle for African Americans in Chicago, as foremen in various companies restricted the advancement of black workers, which often kept them from earning higher wages. Then in the mid-twentieth century, blacks began slowly moving up to better positions in the work force.
The migration expanded the market for African American business. "The most notable breakthrough in black business came in the insurance field." There were four major insurance companies founded in Chicago. Then, in the early twentieth century, service establishments took over. The African-American market on State Street during this time consisted of barber shops, restaurants, pool rooms, saloons, and beauty salons. African Americans used these trades to build their own communities. These shops gave the blacks a chance to establish their families, earn money, and become an active part of the community.
Read more about this topic: History Of African Americans In Chicago
Famous quotes containing the word business:
“What if all the forces of society were bent upon developing [poor] children? What if society’s business were making people instead of profits? How much of their creative beauty of spirit would remain unquenched through the years? How much of this responsiveness would follow them through life?”
—Mary Heaton Vorse (1874–1966)
“My business was great, and in such a case as mine a man may strain courtesy.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Our business in this world is not to succeed, but to continue to fail, in good spirits.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)