The forty-three chapters in African Americans in the U.S. Economy focus on various aspects of the economic status of African Americans, past and present. Taken together, these essays present two related themes: first, when it comes to economics, race matters; second, racial economic discrimination and inequality persist despite the optimistic predictions of standard economic analysis that racial discrimination cannot thrive in a free-market economy.

Chapter 1 Black Political Economy: An Introduction Part 2 Part I: Slavery and the Early Formation of Black Labor Chapter 3 The Critical Role of African Americans in the Development of the Pre-Civil War U.S. Economy Chapter 3 The International Slave Trade Chapter 4 Africa, Europe, and the Origins of Uneven Development: The Role of Slavery Chapter 6 The Black Sharecropping System and Its Decline Chapter 7 The Rise of the Black Industrial Working Class 1915-1918 Part 8 Part II: Organized Labor and African Americans Chapter 8 Civil Rights and Organized Labor: The Case of the United Steelworkers of America, 1948-1970 Chapter 9 Racial Economic Inequality and Discrimination: Conservative and Liberal Paradigms Revisited Chapter 9 An Uncertain Tradition: Blacks and Unions 1865-1925 Chapter 10 The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Part 12 Part III: Theories of Racial Discrimination, Inequality, and Economic Progress Chapter 13 The Black Political Economy Paradigm and the Dynamics of Racial Economic Inequality Chapter 14 Marxist Theory of Racism and Racial Inequality Chapter 14 Race and Gender Differences in the U.S. Labor Market: The Impact of Educational Attainment Chapter 15 The Crowding Hypothesis Chapter 16 Racial Inequality and African Americans' Disadvantage in the Credit and Capital Markets Chapter 16 "Keeping People in Their Place:" The Economics of Racial Violence Chapter 20 Persistent Racial Discrimination in the Labor Market Chapter 20 Globalization, the Transformation of Capital, and the Erosion of Black and Latino Living Standards Chapter 22 Changes in the Labor Market Status of Black Women, 1960-2000 Chapter 23 Single-Mother Families in the Black Community: Economic Context and Policies Chapter 24 The Racial Wealth Gap Chapter 27 Globalization and African Americans: A Focus on Public Employment Chapter 28 Immigration and African Americans Chapter 29 African American Intragroup Inequality and Corporate Globalization Chapter 30 Globalization, Racism, and the Expansion of the American Penal System Part 31 Part VI: Black Capitalism: Entrepreneurs and Consumers Chapter 32 History of Black Capitalism Chapter 33 Black-Owned Businesses: Trends and Prospects Chapter 34 Black-Owned Banks: Past and Present Chapter 35 "Bling-Bling" and Other Recent Trends in African American Consumerism Chapter 36 A Critical Examination of the Political Economy of the Hip-Hop Industry Chapter 37 Black Capitalism: Self-Help or Self-Delusion? Chapter 39 Inner-City Economic Development and Revitalization: A Community-Building Approach Chapter 39 Black Power: The Struggle for Parental Choice in Education Chapter 40 School Choice: A Desperate Gamble Chapter 41 The Black Youth Employment Problem Revisited Chapter 42 Employment and Training Solutions for the Economically Disadvantaged Chapter 43 Racism in the U.S. Welfare Policy: A Human Rights Issue Chapter 43 African American Athletes and Urban Revitalization: African American Athletes as a Funding Source for Inner-City Investments Part 44 Part VIII: Understanding Black Reparations Chapter 45 Past Due: The African American Quest fort Reparations Chapter 46 The Theory of Restitution Chapter 47 The Economics of Reparations Part 48 Part IV: Current Economic Status of African Americans: Hard Evidence of Economic Discrimination and Inequality Part 49 Part V: Globalization and Its Impact on the Economic Well-Being of African Americans and Latinos Chapter 50 Combating Gentrification through Equitable Development Part 51 Part VII: Education, Employment, Training, and Social Welfare: Alternative Public Policy Approaches in the Struggle to Achieve Racial Equality Chapter 51 The Black Church and Community Economic Development Chapter 52 Black Patronage of Black-Owned Businesses and Black Employment Part 53 Part IX: African American Economic Development and Urban Revitalization Strategies