Entrepreneurship among Black Americans: A Theoretical Perspective on Modes of Adjustment and Entrepreneurial Education

In this paper Butler argues that despite a stronger, group-wide emphasis on new venture creation among black Americans in the past, entrepreneurship continues to be a means of economic security and wealth creation for this group. To frame his argument, Butler examines Modes of Adjustment theory and the decline of venture development among African Americans. His emphasis is on understanding the theory\u27s implication for black entrepreneurship and for the entrepreneurial education of future generations. Using data from both the Survey of Minority-owned Business Enterprises and Characteristics of Business Owners, Butler highlights the present status of black entrepreneurship to explain patterns of business and educational participation of successive generations of black Americans, from slavery onward. Butler concludes that entrepreneurship as a mode of adjustment will continue to serve as a building block for economic security, value structures, and job creation within African-American communities