Working Paper: NBER ID: w8957
Authors: Howard Bodenhorn
Abstract: Historians of U.S. race relations typically portray southern whites as reluctant to recognize or act favorably upon complexion-based differences within the African American community. Historians contend that mixed-race African Americans (mulattoes) received few advantages as a result of their partly white heritage. This paper shows that a there was a distinct complexion gap in late antebellum America. Mulatto men were more likely than black men to own farms or operate them as tenants, whereas black men were more likely to find employment as farm laborers throughout their lives. Quantile regressions also reveal a complexion gap in wealth accumulation. Mulattoes acquired more property than blacks, particularly at the upper end of the wealth distribution. Thus, an analysis of data included in the 1860 census implies a complex social hierarchy based on subtle gradations in skin color. At the upper end of the wealth distribution, light-complected mulattoes demonstrated a greater propensity to socioeconomic advancement than dark-complected blacks.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: N3; J7; Q1
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| skin color (J79) | land ownership (Q15) |
| skin color (J79) | socioeconomic advancement (I24) |
| initial economic status of mulattoes (J15) | transition from labor to ownership (J54) |
| skin color (J79) | wealth accumulation (E21) |