Abram Lincoln Harris

Abram Lincoln Harris Jr. (January 17, 1899 – November 6, 1963) was an American economist, academic, anthropologist and a social critic of the condition of black people in the United States. He was considered by many as the first African American to achieve prominence in the field of economics. He was also known for his heavy influence on black radical and neo-conservative thought in the United States. As an economist, Harris is most famous for his 1931 collaboration with political scientist Sterling Spero to produce a study on African-American labor history titled The Black Worker and his 1936 work The Negro as Capitalist, in which he criticized black businessmen for not promoting interracial trade. As a social critic, Harris took an active radical stance on racial relations by examining historical black involvement in the workplace, and suggested that African Americans needed to take more action in race relations.

Early life Harris was born into a middle-class African-American family on January 17, 1899, in Richmond, Virginia. His father was a butcher at a German American-owned meat shop, and his mother was a schoolteacher.

Career He later published two articles in the National Urban League's journal, Opportunity, that discussed the difficulties faced by African-American mineworkers. His work in this field also addressed his concern about blacks and their white counterparts. Harris examined race prejudice of blacks by white workers. Using census data and statistical surveys, Harris tried to show that there was a strong social rift at the workplace between blacks and whites. Harris concluded that the black middle class was using their racial pride and unity to support businesses controlled by the American middle class. He felt that blacks were not reaching out to whites, and black business would not grow if there was no interracial trade. In reference to black complaints against Jewish businessmen, Harris said:

Despite the heavy criticism against fellow black businesspeople, Harris's book achieved notability and recognition in the field of economics during the Great Depression. In 1937, Harris founded the liberal Social Science Division of Howard University, and served as the group's leader through the late 1930s and early 1940s. Harris was one of the leaders of black economics through the early and mid-20th century. His early works such as The Negro as Capitalist set the precedent for contemporary African-American radical thought. Harris's great number of works on race relations, such as The Black Worker, served as a model for future African-American studies. His essays in The Journal of Political Economy have played a significant role for institutionalist economists and for economists studying the history of economic doctrines.

Texts online 1942 "Sombart and German (National) Socialism", Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 50, No. 6 (Dec. 1942), pp. 805–835