Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America

📚 Why We Recommend It

This book is far more than a story about fast food—it’s a profound exploration of race, economy, and justice in America. Written by Marcia Chatelain, a distinguished professor of History and African American Studies at Georgetown University, Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America has earned prestigious honors, including the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in History and the 2022 James Beard Foundation Book Award for Writing—proof of its exceptional depth and relevance.

Chatelain takes readers on a journey from McDonald’s first drive-in in San Bernardino to its franchise in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, uncovering the complex bond between Black communities and the iconic fast-food chain. She reveals how fast food became both a lifeline (a generator of Black wealth and political influence) and a source of despair, framing it as a critical battlefield in the fight for racial equity. Just as The Color of Law illuminated redlining and segregation, this book offers an eye-opening perspective on how everyday industries shape systemic racial dynamics. For anyone seeking to understand the intersection of business, race, and American history, this 336-page work is an essential, thought-provoking read.