Franchise

The Golden Arches in Black America

By: Marcia Chatelain

Narrated by: Machelle Williams

From civil rights to Ferguson, Franchise reveals the untold history of how fast food became one of the greatest generators of black wealth in America.

Often blamed for the rising rates of obesity and diabetes among black Americans, fast food restaurants like McDonald's have long symbolized capitalism's villainous effects on our nation's most vulnerable communities. But how did fast food restaurants so thoroughly saturate black neighborhoods in the first place? In Franchise, acclaimed historian Marcia Chatelain uncovers a surprising history of cooperation among fast food companies, black capitalists, and civil rights leaders, who - in the troubled years after King's assassination - believed they found an economic answer to the problem of racial inequality. With the discourse of social welfare all but evaporated, federal programs under presidents Johnson and Nixon promoted a new vision for racial justice: that the franchising of fast food restaurants, by black citizens in their own neighborhoods, could finally improve the quality of black life. Synthesizing years of research, Franchise tells a troubling success story of an industry that blossomed the very moment a freedom movement began to whither.

©2020 Marcia Chatelain (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Microcosms are interesting

I loved the use of franchises to examine how Capitalism has (and hasn't because it can't) helped Black Americans. I wish the performer of Warmth of Other Suns had done this book though, it can feel lectureish despite the colorful anecdotes.

Outstanding and innovative approach to understanding race, capitalism, and politics

I’m blown away by this book. I will assign this in a college course I plan to offer on 20C African American history!

compelling listening a

learned a ton about fast food's relationship to the Black community in the US. So good. Helps give context to a lot of snippers of BIPOC history that I didn't know enough about.

Remarkable

Outstanding research and the story was laid out very well. A must read for anyone trying to understand America’s current food landscape.

Civil rights relation to economic development

This book mostly tells the broad story of civil rights movement (from reconstruction to present day). It threads in stories and assumptions about how these events impacted policies within McDonald's franchises. the narrator voice is extremely soothing. They are pretty good about noting when they share non factual or unverifiable elements.