The Promises and Perils of Black Capitalism

Abstract

McDonald’s is a rite of passage, It is the little-girl me darting through an ocean of moldy paneling and washed-out burgundies to the Playland out back, who imagined taking flight sitting atop a plastic hamburger-faced spring rider. It is the teen-aged me hanging out with that one special guy, who spent hours stretching a large drink and fries. It is the young-mother me, too, who took my three kids to fill up on burgers and fries as a treat while saving me and my husband a night in the kitchen and stealing some all-too-rare us time. Marcia Chatelain’s Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America peers deeply into that nostalgia like a mirror, both gilt edged and carnival. McDonald’s reflects our values back to us but also stretches them, revealing both the possibilities that undergird US capitalism and society as well as the limits. Franchise holds up to the light...