Working Paper: NBER ID: w13279
Authors: Elizabeth Cascio; Nora Gordon; Ethan Lewis; Sarah Reber
Abstract: An extensive literature debates the causes and consequences of the desegregation of American schools in the twentieth century. Despite the social importance of desegregation and the magnitude of the literature, we have lacked a comprehensive accounting of the basic facts of school desegregation. This paper uses newly assembled data to document when and how Southern school districts desegregated as well as the extent of court involvement in the desegregation process over the two full decades after Brown. We also examine heterogeneity in the path to desegregation by district characteristics. The results suggest that the existing quantitative literature, which generally either begins in 1968 and focuses on the role of federal courts in larger urban districts or relies on highly aggregated data, often tells an incomplete story of desegregation.
Keywords: desegregation; education policy; civil rights
JEL Codes: H00; I20; I28; J15
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Civil Rights Act (CRA) (J15) | desegregation outcomes (I24) |
| Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) (I28) | desegregation outcomes (I24) |
| CRA and ESEA (I28) | financial incentives for poorer districts to desegregate (I24) |
| desegregation outcomes (I24) | desegregation largely complete by 1970 (Y40) |
| larger districts (H73) | more likely to be under court supervision (K40) |
| higher black enrollment (I24) | resistance to extensive desegregation (L49) |