Campus Life

Georgetown professor to give talk on 'The Golden Arches in Black America' Feb. 6

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Marcia Chatelain, Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professor of History and African American Studies at Georgetown University, will present a talk, “Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America,” at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6, in the Foster Auditorium of Paterno Library.

According to Chatelain's website, in "Franchise," Chatelain "uncovers a surprising history of cooperation among fast food companies, black capitalists, and civil rights leaders, who — in the troubled years after [Martin Luther] King’s assassination — believed they found an economic answer to the problem of racial inequality.

"With the discourse of social welfare all but evaporated, federal programs under presidents Johnson and Nixon promoted a new vision for racial justice: that the franchising of fast food restaurants, by black citizens in their own neighborhoods, could finally improve the quality of black life. Synthesizing years of research, 'Franchise' tells a troubling success story of an industry that blossomed the very moment a freedom movement began to wither.”

A book signing will follow the lecture. The lecture is sponsored by the Africana Research Center at Penn State.

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Last Updated April 15, 2021