Doing Business in Minority Markets: Black and Korean Entrepreneurs in Chicago’s Ethnic Beauty Aids Industry

First Published in 2000. The invisible hand of the market cannot conceal color. This study contends that the economy is an extension of society’s system of racial and ethnic stratification. The central argument of this study is that the internal colonial paradigm should be used as a guiding principle in the analysis of minority business development in minority markets. Through the use of this paradigm, the institutional constraints of doing business in a minority market can be identified. The ethnic beauty aids industry was selected as the subject of this case study because it is embedded in the context of minority markets, which entail high concentrations of minority entrepreneurs and consumers. Minority entrepreneurs enter minority markets to avoid racial barriers they perceive in the mainstream economy, and minority consumers find minority markets more accessible and responsive to their consumption needs.