Black Business, Group Resources, and the Economic Detour

This article examines the experiences and attitudes of contemporary Black manufacturers in the ethnic beauty aids industry. This industry produces specialized haircare products and cosmetics for Black consumers. Although this article focuses on owners of manufacturing businesses in a single industry, it is important because Black manufacturers have historically been active in the ethnic beauty aids industry. The historical embeddedness of Black manufacturers in this industry makes it an important focal point for the examination of factors contributing to continuity and change in Black entrepreneurship, particularly where medium and large, Black-owned business establishments are concerned. As a result, this article provides a framework for the examination of Black entrepreneurship in other sectors of the economy. The central argument of this article is that contemporary Black manufacturers in the ethnic beauty aids industry focus on developing markets for their products in the Black community because they believe capital constraints and racial discrimination close opportunities to them in the mainstream economy. Several dimensions of this argument are discussed in this article. Specifically, the relationship between capital constraints, growing competition from White-owned conglomerates, and the development of a group