Philip Payton: The Father of Black Harlem

Review\nKevin McGruder renders a poignant and revealing portrait of one of Black America’s pioneering entrepreneurs, the Harlem real estate impresario Philip Payton. This timely and important biography brings to life the limits of trying to achieve racial justice by playing by the capitalist rules of a segregated economy. -- Khalil Gibran Muhammad, author of The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America\nThis meticulously researched must-read biography of Harlem’s pioneering Black businessman Philip Payton masterfully shows the promises and pitfalls of Black capitalism on the eve of the New Negro Renaissance. -- Shannon King, author of Whose Harlem Is This, Anyway? Community Politics and Grassroots Activism during the New Negro Era\nHow do you promote racial equity but still maximize profits? That was the balance that Philip Payton had to strike as a Black real estate broker in Harlem in the early 1900s. His Afro-American Realty Company said “Race prejudice is a luxury.” But this fascinating biography shows what a formidable obstacle it was. -- Laurence Pearl, former attorney at the Department of Housing and Urban Development\nDespite his extraordinarily significant role in American urban history, Philip Payton’s story has remained obscure and elusive. McGruder weaves together an engaging biography of a complex figure whose ups and downs in Harlem reveal the halting progress and profound tradeoffs that attended efforts to find decent housing for Black Americans. -- Brian Goldstein, author of The Roots of Urban Renaissance: Gentrification and the Struggle over Harlem\nKevin McGruder reveals the central role Philip Payton played in increasing the Black population in housing by maximizing profits and promoting racial equality. This is an expert addition to the growing list of biographies on major lesser-known African Americans. -- David Canton, author of Raymond Pace Alexander: A New Negro Lawyer Fights for Civil Rights in Philadelphia\nMcGruder's meticulous concern for the facts and the community's history are compelling. ― New York Amsterdam News\nAt the turn of the early twentieth century, Harlem―the iconic Black neighborhood―was predominantly white. The Black real estate entrepreneur Philip Payton played a central role in Harlem’s transformation. He founded the Afro-American Realty Company in 1903, vowing to vanquish housing discrimination. Yet this ambitious mission faltered as Payton faced the constraints of white capitalist power structures.\nIn this biography, Kevin McGruder explores Payton’s career and its implications for the history of residential segregation. Payton stood up for the right of Black people to live in Harlem in the face of vocal white resistance. Through skillful use of print media, he branded Harlem as a Black community and attracted interest from those interested in racial uplift. Yet while Payton “opened” Harlem streets, his business model depended on continued racial segregation. Like white real estate investors, he benefited from the lack of housing options available to desperate Black tenants by charging higher rents. Payton developed a specialty in renting all-Black buildings, rather than the integrated buildings he had once envisioned, and his personal successes ultimately entrenched Manhattan’s racial boundaries. McGruder highlights what Payton’s story shows about the limits of seeking advancement through enterprise in a capitalist system deeply implicated in racial inequality.\nAt a time when understanding the roots of residential segregation has become increasingly urgent, this biography sheds new light on the man and the forces that shaped Harlem.