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The Complexion Gap: The Economic Consequences of Color among Free African Americans in the Rural Antebellum South

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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.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 8957.

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Date of creation: May 2002
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:8957

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N3 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Income, and Wealth
J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz, 1999. "The Returns to Skill in the United States across the Twentieth Century," NBER Working Papers 7126, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Koenker, Roger W & Bassett, Gilbert, Jr, 1978. "Regression Quantiles," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(1), pages 33-50, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Reid, Joseph Jr., 1976. "Antebellum southern rental contracts," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 69-83, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Ignazio Visco, 1998. "Commentary : the distribution of income in industrialized countries," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 49-57. [Downloadable!]
  5. Lawrence F. Katz, 1998. "Commentary : the distribution of income in industrialized countries," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 33-48. [Downloadable!]
  6. Roger Koenker & Kevin F. Hallock, 2001. "Quantile Regression," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 143-156, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Howard Bodenhorn & Christopher S. Ruebeck & Christopher S. Ruebeck, 2003. "The Economics of Identity and the Endogeneity of Race," NBER Working Papers 9962, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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