woodsI would have a look at Thomas Sowell’s book Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality? Some interesting statistics in there about black employment before and after the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sowell is implicitly saying that government winds up getting all the credit for things blacks themselves did. I can’t remember if there’s anything useful in Sowell’s book Markets and Minorities. I’d also recommend looking into S.B. Fuller, the entrepreneur I talk about in 33 Questions About American History You’re Not Supposed to Ask.
Walter Williams’ book The State Against Blacks, while a bit dated now, shows the other side of the story: all the not-so-obvious ways blacks have been hurt by the state. We hear all about the wonderful things the state has done, but not about these things.