McDonald's and Black America

McDonald's and Black America

Top of Mind with Julie Rose

Pandemic Update, McDonald's & Black America, Exercised

Episode: Pandemic Update, McDonald's & Black America, Exercised

  • Feb 17, 2021 9:00 pm
  • 16:47 mins

McDonald's restaurants are pervasive in America, but if you’re in a poor, majority-black urban neighborhood, you’re especially likely to have access to Big Macs and McFlurries. For decades, McDonald’s intentionally targeted Black neighborhoods-and did it with backing from the federal government and the support of prominent Civil Rights leaders. Georgetown University historian Marcia Chatelain says the hope was to bring wealth to Black neighborhoods, but it backfired. Chatelain is the author of the book "Franchise: Golden Arches in Black America." (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, file)