  | Book Details Title: Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America |
Book DescriptionReview “[A] smart and capacious history. . . . Throughout this impressively judicious book, [Chatelain] is attuned to the circumstances that encouraged increasingly intricate ties between McDonald’s and black communities across the country. This isn’t just a story of exploitation or, conversely, empowerment; it’s a cautionary tale about relying on the private sector to provide what the public needs, and how promises of real economic development invariably come up short. . . . Franchise is a serious work of history. . . . [Chatelain’s] sense of perspective gives this important book an empathetic core as well as analytical breadth, as she draws a crucial distinction between individuals actors, who often get subjected to so much scrutiny and second-guessing, and larger systems, which rarely get subjected to enough.” – Jennifer Szalai, New York Times“An impeccably researched examination of McDonald’s and how the franchise was once intended as a path to economic freedom in Black communities. A fascinating, overlooked perspective on a US institution.” – Karla Strand, Ms. Magazine“Well-written… Emphasizes how today’s conversations around fast food in America were shaped by government policies, and examines how the fast-food industry is connected to Black Lives Matter and other social change movements…. Invaluable for those studying the intersections of race, economics, and business in the United States.” – Sarah Schroeder, Library Journal“Chatelain makes a convincing case that racial tension, the civil rights movement, and fast food all combined to change the dynamic of mostly black communities ignored by white power structures. Chatelain’s impressive research and her insertion of editorial commentary will prove educational and enlightening for readers of all backgrounds. An eye-opening and unique history lesson.” – Kirkus Reviews“Franchise is a stunning story of post-1960s urban black America, a tale of triumph and good intentions, but also of tragic consequences for race relations, poverty, and dietary health. Marcia Chatelain has done superb research and writes as a great storyteller. This is an important book, showing that civil rights successes led to burgers under black ownership as much as ballots for social change. Chatelain makes us see black capitalism in all its mixed blessings.” – David W. Blight, Yale University, and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom“Thanks to Marcia Chatelain, I’ll never look at fast food the same way. She pairs burgers and fries with civil rights and black wealth, showing readers exactly what ‘opportunity’ in America really looks like.” – Alexis Coe, author of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington“Marcia Chatelain uses the complex interrelationship of black communities with McDonald’s to explore the history of American racism and the struggle for civil rights. Franchise is an eye-opener for anyone who cares about why diet-related chronic disease is more prevalent in these communities and what it is really like to be black in America.” – Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University, emerita, and author of Food Politics Read more About the Author Marcia Chatelain is a Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professor of History and African American Studies at Georgetown University. She is a leading public voice on the history of race, education, and food culture. The author of South Side Girls: Growing up in the Great Migration, Chatelain lives in Washington, DC. Read more Customers Review: I enjoyed reading this. The author admits in the Acknowledgements that she essentially grew up at McDonalds. If you want the story of how fast food, and McDonalds in particular, came of age inside the black neighborhoods of America, look no further, you’ve picked up the right book, written by the right author.Or have you?On the plus side, you get the history of all boycotts, profiles of several franchisees, the role played by all prominent leaders of the civil rights movement, the victories and the price of the victories.The author takes you from what she calls “Genesis” in St. Bernardino, CA, all the way to the present time, via the speech Martin Luther King gave days before his assassination regarding how “civil rights” should give their place to “silver rights” the very same year as Herman Petty opened the first black-owned McDonalds’ franchise.You get chapter and verse on• the Hough Uprising as a preamble to Operation Black Unity’s McDonald’s boycott in mayor Carl Stokes’ Cleveland,• the Black Panthers’ alleged blackmailing of white franchisee Al Laviske’s to contribute to their Free Breakfast for Schoolchildren in the Albina neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, which ended up with riots and bombing• the Ogontz Neighbor Association’s resistance to the establishment of a white-owned McDonalds’ restaurant in 1970 North Philadelphiabut also on the extension of Hamburger University to the South Side of Chicago, the successful efforts of the National Black McDonald’s Operators Association to bring ownership of franchises to black businessmen, the ingenuity of Tom Burrell in promoting McDonalds to a black audience and the irony in (racist) Nixon’s “bridges to human dignity” speech, which hardly differed in message from the tropes emanating from Jessie Jackson and Louis Farrakhan, if not from the admonishments issued by George Schuyler (p. 150)Ultimately, however, the book lacks a clear message. The history is there, and this is a great place to read it, but should somebody ask me “what was the main idea of this book?” or “what do you think prompted the author to write this history?” I would be at a loss.Most importantly, I did not get a sense of whether the author believes the Golden Arches were a force for good or not.I thought the concluding chapter, the one where Marcia Chatelain gets a chance to reflect, would at the very least mention that from 2012 to 2015 McDonalds would have in Don Thompson its first black CEO. Not that this would erase a history of racism, not that everything is best in this best of possible worlds, but that hard work and determination is still helping black America reach milestone after milestone on a voyage that started with slavery and will eventually lead to full equality. Instead, I got some Naomi Klein mumbo jumbo.That was very disappointing. | |
7 reviews