Sadie T.M. Alexander: Black women and a “taste of freedom in the economic world”

Nina Banks

Chapter 14 in The Elgar Companion to Women and Heterodox Economics, 2025, pp 217-229 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The employment history of African American women is notable because of their higher labor force participation rates compared to other women in the US. This essay discusses Sadie T. M. Alexander's analysis of Black women and work based on her 1930s speeches and writings. Alexander assessed Black women workers’ contribution to Black American living standards and national output. A proponent of women's gainful employment and economic independence, Alexander's views on the benefits of industrial employment for women and family life stood in stark contrast to White social welfare reformers who discouraged maternal employment in favour of households with male breadwinners. Alexander criticized the unequal treatment of Black and White women under protective labor law, particularly with respect to domestic servants’ exclusion from New Deal minimum wage and maximum hour protections. The legacy of discriminatory policies continues to affect the economic status of African American women today through racial disparities in social welfare provisions and worker benefits.

Keywords: Black Women Workers; Discrimination; Sadie T.M. Alexander (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035329304
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