However, protests could not win out over concerns for profitability and Black World was lost. Emerge seems to have suffered the same fate, and it is highly unlikely that any amount of protest will influence the outcome. All of this raises interesting questions about the ethics of Black Capitalism. During my independent campaign for President in 1992, the commitment to a socially responsible economy was a key component of my platform. The concept of a socially responsible economy was intended to convey the idea that in a just and humane society businesses, large and small, have a moral and ethical obligation to contribute to the well being of the community as a whole, that profitability and social concern must go hand and hand.
Capitalism is an amoral economic philosophy, which admits no obligation to social responsibility.
Its motive force is profit, property and the acquisition of material wealth by any means possible. The goal was not to embrace capitalist values and behavior but to adopt humanistic alternatives based on the traditional way of life of African people. It occurs to me that righteous social and political activists must once again articulate and advocate for an African centered economic and business ethic with the values of humanism and social responsibility as its fundamental pillar and priority. In that regard, one would think that the profitable business empire Robert Johnson has built is such that he could well afford to maintain a publication like Emerge even if it is not highly profitable. Such a commitment could and should be made to meet a real need in Black America.