Race and Affluence An Archaeology of African America and Consumer Culture [Paperback]

An archaeological analysis of the centrality of race and racism in American culture. Using a broad range of material, historical, and ethnographic resources from Annapolis, Maryland, during the period 1850 to 1930, the author probes distinctive African-American consumption patterns and examines how those patterns resisted the racist assumptions of the dominant culture while also attempting to demonstrate African-Americans' suitability to full citizenship privileges.An archaeological analysis of the centrality of race and racism in American culture. Using a broad range of material, historical, and ethnographic resources from Annapolis, Maryland, during the period 1850 to 1930, the author probes distinctive African-American consumption patterns and examines how those patterns resisted the racist assumptions of the dominant culture while also attempting to demonstrate African-Americans' suitability to full citizenship privileges.1. Racializing Consumer Culture. Racism and Consumption in Annapolis, Maryland. Archaeology and African-American Annapolis. `If We Were Black': The Politics of Naming. Race and Consumption. 2. The Politicization and Politics of African-American Consumption. Partisan Politics and African-American Material Politicization. Politicizing Consumer Culture: The Politics of Consumption, or the Consumption of Politics? Material Symbolism, Social Subjectivity, and Consumer Agency. Complicating Social Position: Conscious Experience and Dominant Structure. Racialization and Subjectivity in Consumer Culture. 3. Material and Symbolic Racism in Consumer Space. Black Simulacra: Advertising Racial Difference. Patent Medicines and African-American Body Discipline. `I Left There an Innocent Man': Racism and White Public Space. Race and Racism as Constraining and Enabling. 4. `Producers as Well as Consumers': Market Space in African-American Annapolis. `What Can Be Done by the Negro': African-American Entrepreneurship. African-Americalƒ¸