Singletary: Myths about black wealth dispelled

But there is a backstory to black wealth that isn’t well known. So, it’s fitting that in the month we celebrate black history, that I select for the Color of Money Book Club “Black Fortunes: The Story of the First Six African-Americans Who Escaped Slavery and Became Millionaires,” by journalist Shomari Wills (Amistad, $26.99).

“African-Americans who achieved wealth were often attacked, demonized, or swindled out of their wealth,” Wills writes. “The black elite in their first decades of existence survived assassination attempts, lynchings, frivolous lawsuits, and criminal cases all meant to destroy or delegitimize their wealth.”

Wills’ ancestors had money. They owned land, stocks and businesses.

“The creation of black wealth is an important but overlooked subject in the economic and social history of the United States,” he says. “I believe black millionaires are important in part because they disrupt stereotypes of black economic impotence.”

Some of the black entrepreneurs profiled in the book include Robert Reed Church, who escaped slavery during the Civil War to become one of the largest landowners in Memphis; Annie Turnbo Malone, who developed the first national brand of hair-care products; and O.W. Gurley, a teacher, who built an all-black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that became known as the “Black Wall Street.”

The stories of the entrepreneurs who achieved great wealth facing incredible obstacles are inspiring. And, as an added bonus, “Black Fortunes” shatters some myths.

Myth No. 1: Blacks are inherently bad with money.

No, we cannot get over that slavery thing. Racial discrimination has contributed — and still does — to the wealth gap. And as Wills points out, racism both then and now has impacted African-Americans’ ability to achieve economic stability.

“In the modern history of America, spanning the Jim Crow era to present day, blacks are often smeared as financially inept and incapable of providing for themselves,” Wills writes. “Disparities in wealth and income are stubborn problems in the United States, but the higher rates of poverty among blacks are often distorted to create the perception that poverty is ubiquitous among African-Americans.”

Myth No. 2: Madam C. J. Walker was the first black millionaire.

Walker was an amazing businesswoman and is often touted as the first black millionaire. But she wasn’t the first, according to Wills.

“She was one of the first African-Americans to flaunt and claim her wealth openly and fearlessly,” he writes.

But it was William Alexander Leidesdorff, the offspring of a Danish sailor and a Caribbean woman, who first earned the title. He built an import-export business, and at his death in 1848, his estate was worth more than $1.4 million. That would be $38 million in today’s dollars, Wills estimates.

Myth No. 3: Money equalizes everything.

A consistent thread in Will’s research is how often 19th and early 20th century black entrepreneurs had to use white people to conduct business. Despite their financial acumen, they needed proxies to execute certain transactions.

Wills said his great-great uncle John Drew had to hire a white broker to perform stock trades.

Myth No. 4: Blacks don’t invest.

Blacks may not have as much money in the stock market as whites, but they have had a rich history of investing. Their investment of choice has been real estate.

Real estate played a huge role in minting the fortunes of the black businesswomen and men featured in the book.

“Since Reconstruction, black people have, on average, invested a larger percentage of their net worth in real estate than any other group,” Wills points out.

There’s a good reason real estate was preferred.

For African-Americans, owning land — after toiling tirelessly over it as slaves and then as sharecroppers — was, and still is, a symbol of their liberation, he writes.

This book about black economic empowerment is a fascinating read of fortunes gained and lost.

I’m hosting an online discussion about “Black Fortunes” at noon Eastern time Thursday at washingtonpost.com/discussions. Wills plans to join me to answer your questions. Please join us.

Michelle Singletary welcomes comments and column ideas. Reach her in care of The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20071; or singletarym@washpost.com.