Equal in Every Way: African Americans, Consumption and Materialism from Reconstruction to the Civil Rights Movement

Abstract

This article surveys African Americans encounter with material goods from the end of the Civil War through the end of World War II. Additionally it uses Ebony magazine as a case study to illuminate blacks’ understanding and use of material possessions in the developing fight for equality in the burgeoning civil rights movement. Central to the argument is that blacks have long understood the difference between materialism and a materially-intensive life and have used goods as a way to demonstrate their desire to be equal in every way with their fellow citizens. Hence, consumption becomes a means of political and social activism on par with other better-known efforts such as the battle for voting rights or an end to racial discrimination.

Racial Respect and Racial Socialization as Protective Factors for African American Male Youth

“…For White youth, the goal is often achievable; for African Americans although they are exposed to media images and bombarded with messages that unequivocally state that “you are what you have,” they often do not have access to the same privileges and resources that White youth appreciate. The perceived need to amass material things is complicated by issues of relative deprivation based in layers of institutional and systemic forms of racial discrimination (Chambers, 2006; Washington, 2005).…”

Conspicuous Consumption and Race*

“…3 Outside of economics, there is also limited work on the consumption patterns of Blacks. Examples include Mullins (1999), Lamont and Molnar (2001), and Chambers (2006).…”

Marketplace Activism

“…Countering the conspicuous consumption argument, Chambers (2006), Cohen (2003), and Hale (1998) assert that overt consumerism among affluent blacks was not motivated by mere materialism but was a form of social protest-a means of seeking respect and demonstrating equality. Despite their economic prosperity, elite blacks were subject to a number of inequities.…”

“…A key debate pertaining to affluent African Americans concerns underlying motivations for their consumption behavior. Although emulation of upper-class whites has been suggested as a motivator, this idea has been rejected by several scholars (Drake and Cayton 1945;Chambers 2006). Sociologists Drake and Cayton (1945, 557) argue:…”

“…Despite the popularity of the conspicuous consumption perspective, other scholarship provides an alternative explanation of consumption motivations among affluent African Americans. Hale (1998), Cohen (2003), and Chambers (2006) provide compelling arguments that suggest that consumption behaviors among elite blacks have been prompted by a desire for respectful and equal treatment in society, rather than mere materialistic values. An examination of the consumption behaviors exhibited by affluent blacks over time suggests that marketplace activism is a suitable theory for understanding the motivations of elite African Americans.…”