Dr. King, Al Johnson and the Civil Rights Movement: The Beginning of Black Dealers

Al Johnson, who died earlier this month, was GM's first black dealer. He had dreams of becoming a new-car dealer, after living through the Civil Rights Movement of the sixties and seeing his community win the right to vote, after fighting for it for years.

Prior to the movement, the closest Johnson got to achieving his dream was to sell cars literally out of a briefcase, since many white car dealers in the fifties didn't allow a black man on their premise to buy -- or sell a car. In a 2008 interview with Automotive News, Johnson said he bought new cars from Noting Oldsmobile, a white-owned dealership in suburban St. Louis for $300 to $400 more than their wholesale price and resold them.

While Johnson was a full-time hospital administrator, he made $25,000 his first year selling new vehicles just working twenty hours a week. And by the early sixties, Johnson was earning $40,000 a year all while working part-time, selling vehicles. Just imagine a black man making that type of loot in the late fifties and early sixties. Today, many folks would jump through hoops to earn that type of money in this recession.

Johnson became antsy and decided to pursue owning a dealership. He sent a letter to GM requesting that they award a dealership to a black man. Furthermore, according to Chicago's Sun Times, he appealed to Dr. Martin Luther King, who took the entrepreneur's case to President John F. Kennedy.

After cities started to burn during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, GM decided it was time to step up to the plate and award a dealer or two to someone within the black community. Of course Al Johnson was on the top of the automotive giant's list. GM offered Johnson an ailing Oldsmobile dealership in 1967 on the South side of Chicago. Johnson replaced Ray Oldsmobile, a white dealer, which was located at 74th & Halstead in Chicago.

Johnson realized he was paying too much for the dealership at the time, but this was the only way he could get his foot in the door. (It wasn't uncommon for automakers to award failing franchises that whites couldn't make a profit from in the seventies, eighties and nineties to blacks). However, when Johnson became the first black man to acquire a Cadillac dealership in the early seventies, he knew better than to pay too much for the franchise this time around.

Before acquiring the Cadillac store, Johnson sold his Oldsmobile store to one of this top black salespeople. Owning a Cadillac store in the seventies would be comparable to a black man owning a Lexus, BMW or Mercedes store today. Not only are these prestigious brands to own -- they're also extremely profitable.

Over the years Johnson became an influential figure in the automotive industry and in the Chicago community. In the automotive industry he help to blaze a trail for other minority dealers, while in the political arena, he was one of many social entrepreneurs responsible for launching Mayor Harold Washington political career, becoming Chicago's first and only black mayor, and President Barrack Obama's career.

In fact, Johnson worked in Mayor Harold Washington's administration as a business consultant for a meager $1 annual salary. Johnson was also one of Barrack Obama's largest donors -- when the the Harvard-educated, trained lawyer decided to run as a state senator in Illinois. It was reported Johnson coughed up $50,000. As you can tell, throughout his 89 years, Johnson made a number of major contributions to society.

To get the latest information on the changing face of minority dealers, click here.