Abstract: This chapter discusses the position of African Americans in management in American corporations since the Civil Rights era. Examining the careers of prominent black executives and the history of anti-discrimination suits filed against major firms, it is argued that African Americans have confronted a glass ceiling in their rise to top corporate leadership position that has changed little in the past thirty years despite a few prominent counterexamples. Meanwhile, black entrepreneurship has increased substantially, with notable success stories in the media and entertainment such as Oprah Winfrey. A broader survey of black capitalism, however, shows that black-owned firms remain smaller and less profitable than white- or other minority-owned businesses. The end of segregation, moreover, decimated some sectors of black enterprise that had served a racially divided marketplace. The chapter concludes on a note of cautious optimism, juxtaposing the important but limited number of high profile success stories with the overall lack of change in the position of black business.

Keywords: black capitalism, equal opportunity, entrepreneurship, discrimination, African American business, black entertainment business, corporate racism, black-owned business,