The Economics of Desegregation

The Economics of Integration

            In Charlotte where I am from, the desire for economic gain by Charlotte’s white business class contributed to a peaceful social revolution in the early 1960s.  The city was a divided place after World War II.  Some reports have the city as being among the most racially segregated cites in the nation (Griffin 82).  “It was not a liberal city with a passion to integrate; on the contrary, there was a simple civic pride that was fundamentally…conservative in its concern for social order.  But there were leaders who understood that order was threatened by absence of progress, and they were determined to see that Charlotte did not come apart” (Gaillard 23).  Blacks began boycotting major businesses in the city.  As a developing city, creating a stable industry was important.  Black activist Charles Jones said that “Charlotte, wanting to be the banking center of the South, finally gave in to losing money.  The Committee on Community Relations decided to make things happen in order to get the city back in the [black]” (Lessons).  In that aspect they were very successful as Charlotte now is considered by most the banking capital of the South.  The same held true for hotels, department stores, and restaurants.  The social order and profit were a higher priority than one’s racial presumptions. 

            I wonder if the same was true in Memphis.  Green reports that one of the many grassroots movements in Memphis was the “Stay Away from Downtown Days” campaign, in which “supporters would boycott downtown stores and theatres on Mondays and Thursdays” (Green 235).  The intent here seems to be to encourage integration on economic grounds.  If these businesses entered the red on Mondays or Thursdays, they may have been quick to desegregate.  Green reports that it only took one year of sit-ins and protesting before “downtown businesses began to desegregate” (Green 237).   In a city like Memphis it is hard to believe that century’s worth of hostility and discrimination would abruptly shift overnight.  Thus, I think that many of Memphis’ businesses made the decision to desegregate to both maintain a peaceful social order and to ensure their own economic well-being.  Do you think there were any other factors outside of economic or moral considerations?

Gaillard, Frye.  The Dream Long Deferred:  The Landmark Struggle for Desegregation in Charlotte, North Carolina.  2 Ed.  Columbia:  University of South Carolina Press, 1988.

Green, Laurie B.  Battling the Plantation Mentality.  Chapel Hill:  University of North Carolina Press, 2007.

Griffin, Willie J.  An Indigenous Civil Rights Movement:  Charlotte, North Carolina, 1940-1963.  Thesis Paper.  Morgan State University.  1996

Lessons from the Lunch Counter.  Dir. Crump, Steve.  WTVI Charlotte, 2004.