Black Corporate Executives: The Making amd Breaking of a Black Middle Class. - book reviews

Black Enterprise, Oct, 1997 by April Robins

For a revealing history of how African Americans broke into a professional and managerial corporate jobs during the 19960s, one need go no further than the book Black Corporate Executives: The Making and Breaking of a Black Middle Class by Sharon M. Collins (Temple University Press, $9).

A largely academic work, Collins' book explores the foundation of affirmative action and equal opportunity programs, which provided avenues through which blacks could succeed. But, points out Collins, most of those opportunities existed on the fingers of the corporate hierarchy. As African Americans were mostly relegated to the staff positions such as community relations and EEOC officers, whites continues to get line in profit generating posts that put them in the fast track to the top.

Collins also examines how public policy and opinions of the 60's that opens these doors to African Americans have done a 180-degree turn today, and are assaulting the very programs they created.