Aftermarket: How African Americans Capitalized On The Funeral Business

If you’ve ever picked up a fan in a Baptist church, chances are you’ve seen an appropriately misplaced ad for So-and-so’s Funeral Home inked across the back. There’s a logic to marketing death at church; in the African-American tradition afterlife services for even the least spiritual are held at the family church. But there’s something beyond that religious affiliated advertising that’s made the funeral business so prominent in the Black community. This rich history of interment should lay your curiosities to rest.

The basis of the African-American funeral is rooted in the slave trade. Prior to the Civil War, communities of Blacks gathered privately to celebrate the lives of their fellow men in quiet renditions of tribal African rituals. But as the 19th century progressed those homegoings bloomed more often into commercial ceremonies such as the Second Lines of jazz funeral parades and receptions that are almost parties to honor the dead.

As the funeral evolved, so did the role of the mortician. The job became more than embalming and warm preparation of the bodies as funeral directors took on the duty of ushering grieving families through everything from collecting the deceased to wakes to grave closings. It was also a business of necessity. In the early 1920s, with Jim Crow still a reality, Black run funeral parlors were the only options for the community. Beyond burial services, they were hubs of the Civil Rights movement that gave owners prominence among African Americans. And though some found funeral direction a calling, most are drawn into mortuary sciences through a lasting tradition. The family business.

As the 20th century opened funeral directors realized that apart from serving their congregations, to survive they would have to find loyalty in their customer base. Yet in the early ’70s dozens of homes began to close while others thrived. In cities such as New York and Detroit, those continuing to serve the community have done so for generations. Daughters and sons take control of the chapels opened by great-great grandfathers, not only because it’s a familiar setting, but also to protect the legacy their predecessors strived to build.

Although many undertakers, directors and in-house ministers are seduced by the esteem inherent in the title, there is a significant monetary appeal. The funeral business is one of the more stable options for African Americans (annual revenue for the funeral services industry approached $12 million in 2007*), leading some to an interest in mortuary science for its financial incentives. And if there was ever a prime moment to invest in the morbid franchise, it’s now. As Baby Boomers age past retirement and into hospice they’ll begin to grimly stimulate the economy. Analysts expect death rates — and therefore related sales — will rise as the remainder of 76 million Americans born in the era cap their life expectancy.

From humble memorials to extravagant acknowledgments of life, African Americans have found a fruitful tradition in the inevitability of the hereafter. That is nothing to mourn.

*Preliminary results of the 2012 economic census won’t be released until March 2014.