When Capitalism and Diversity Collide: African American Employment in the Clothing and Accessories Retail Trade in Washington State

Abstract

Discussions of African American’s current industrial and business endeavors in the clothing and accessories retail trade in Washington State must be grounded in historical context. The social, political, and economic experiment that has come to be known as the United States of America would not exist without the labor of enslaved Africans, whose work laid the very foundation for the development of this country. Moreover, the economic pursuits of present-day African Americans are inextricably linked to the brutal subjugation of their ancestors, as well as the inequitable conditions they continued to experience after slavery was abolished, many of which still exist today. While the concept of race is a relatively new phenomenon in world history, atonement for the descendants of enslaved Africans may be necessary to achieve a post-racial future.