"A Nation of Thieves": Securing Black People's Right to Shop and to Sell in White America

In my previous work, I have dealt with black lawbreakers as if they were the exception rather than the rule, and then argued that some of them are more deserving of sympathetic consideration than others. The notion that black lawbreakers are atypical, however, flies in the face of the fact that, in so very many areas of public life, blacks in general are treated like'an outlaw people. Blacks are condemned and negatively stereotyped for engaging in activities that white people undertake without a second thought. Among the most significant of these activities is buying and selling goods and services.

Despite the passage of state and federal antidiscrimination and public accommodations laws, blacks are still fighting for the right to shop and the right, if not the reason, to sell. Because blacks have not yet secured these rights, those who have the temerity to shop and to sell are very often treated like economic miscreants.