First, cooperative economics was rooted in the long-standing tradition of black self-help, mutual aid, and uplift, so it had wide appeal to both small entrepreneurs and socialists. Cooperatives could be viewed as a way of navigating the racist stumbling blocks within American capitalism; alternatively, they could be seen as a direct challenge to its legitimacy. Second, in a time of systemic economic crisis, many small business people were eager to try any methods they could, however unorthodox, to keep their businesses afloat. For blacks in particular, the repertoire of survival strategies
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