A Short History of Reconstruction [Updated Edition]

by Eric Foner

Only in life-style and aspirations did this elite constitute a “black bourgeoisie,” for it lacked capital and economic autonomy and did not own the banks, stores, and mills that could provide employment for other blacks. Black business was small business: grocery stores, restaurants, funeral parlors, and boardinghouses. Black proprietors formed no part of the national or regional bourgeoisie,