Among the major professions, certified public accountancy has the
most severe underrepresentation of African Americans: less than 1
percent of CPAs are black. Theresa Hammond explores the history
behind this statistic and chronicles the courage and determination
of African Americans who sought to enter the field. In the process,
she expands our understanding of the links between race, education,
and economics.
Drawing on interviews with pioneering black CPAs, among other
sources, Hammond sets the stories of black CPAs against the
backdrop of the rise of accountancy as a profession, the particular
challenges that African Americans trying to enter the field faced,
and the strategies that enabled some blacks to become CPAs. Prior
to the 1960s, few white-owned accounting firms employed African
Americans. Only through nationwide networks established by the
first black CPAs did more African Americans gain the requisite
professional experience. The civil rights era saw some progress in
integrating the field, and black colleges responded by expanding
their programs in business and accounting. In the 1980s, however,
the backlash against affirmative action heralded the decline of
African American participation in accountancy and paved the way for
the astonishing lack of diversity that characterizes the field
today.