The Successful American Negro

On this episode of Maincurrents, Lee Graham interviews four African American men about their success in business.

James E. Allan, Author of "The Negro in New York"
Richard Clark President of the Hallmark Employment Agency
Charles Williams, Vice President of Schenley Distillers
Harvey Russell, Vice President of the Pepsi-Cola Corporation

She asks them to discuss how informed they think the public is; whether there are trends suggesting an improvement in employment equity; and whether they consider themselves unusual in the black community. They dispute the argument that there are not enough qualified Negros to fill positions with upward mobility.

Russell points out that:

"The fact that there are now 8 or 10 Negros who are vice presidents of major American corporations...is still hardly even beyond the almost tokenism stage. The fact that companies that are not appealing to Negro consumers are much slower to upgrade Negros points to our barely beginning to scratch this total area. In terms of being unusual or being successful Negros, we are unusual in the fact that we have been permitted to compete, not that we have unusual attributes or capabilities necessarily."

Williams discusses instances where his tokenism allowed him to get a foot in the door at some companies who were looking appeal to black markets.

Each man speaks to his company's efforts to close the gap in hiring inequality as well as the practice of affirmative action, which they call "preferential treatment" or "preferential consideration." They discuss civil rights icons and those who took a stand in the face of backlashes, such as Lena Horne and Jackie Robinson.

Graham concludes the program by asking the men share their, "advice to other Negros who would like to be equally successful."

Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection

WNYC archives id: 150596
Municipal archives id: T1659