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Obama, Katrina, and the Persistence of Racial Inequality

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  • Margo, Robert A.

Abstract

New benchmark estimates of Black-White income ratios for 1870, 1900, and 1940 are combined with standard post-World War census data. The resulting time series reveals that the pace of racial income convergence has generally been steady but slow, quickening only during the 1940s and the modern Civil Rights era. I explore the interpretation of the time series with a model of intergenerational transmission of inequality in which racial differences in causal factors that determine income are very large just after the Civil War and which erode slowly across subsequent generations. “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” —W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk

Suggested Citation

  • Margo, Robert A., 2016. "Obama, Katrina, and the Persistence of Racial Inequality," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 76(2), pages 301-341, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:76:y:2016:i:02:p:301-341_00
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    3. Fath, Sean & Ma, Anyi & Shelby Rosette, Ashleigh, 2022. "Self-views of disadvantage and success impact perceptions of privilege among White men," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    4. Jung, Yeonha, 2023. "Formation of the legacy of slavery: Evidence from the US South," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    5. Ian P. McManus, 2024. "Workforce automation risks across race and gender in the United States," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 83(2), pages 463-492, March.
    6. Jeremiah Richey & Nikolas Tromp, 2021. "The Black–White wage gap among young men in 1990 versus 2011: With sample selection adjustments," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(4), pages 780-805, October.
    7. Johannes C. Buggle & Steven Nafziger, 2021. "The Slow Road from Serfdom: Labor Coercion and Long-Run Development in the Former Russian Empire," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(1), pages 1-17, March.
    8. Shariq Mohammed, A.R., 2019. "Does a good father now have to be rich? Intergenerational income mobility in rural India," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 99-114.
    9. Lleras-Muney, Adriana & Morgan, Tommy & Price, Joseph & Wygal, William, 2025. "The effect of World War II spending and army service on the lifespan of the Black population," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    10. Basker, Emek & Vickers, Chris & Ziebarth, Nicolas L., 2018. "Competition, productivity, and survival of grocery stores in the Great Depression," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 282-315.
    11. Saavedra, Martin & Twinam, Tate, 2020. "A machine learning approach to improving occupational income scores," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    12. Celeste K. Carruthers & Marianne H. Wanamaker, 2017. "Separate and Unequal in the Labor Market: Human Capital and the Jim Crow Wage Gap," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(3), pages 655-696.
    13. Gagnon, Julien & Geloso, Vincent & Isabelle, Maripier, 2023. "The incubated revolution: Education, cohort effects, and the linguistic wage gap in Quebec during the 20th century," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 327-349.
    14. Patrick Bayer & Kerwin Kofi Charles, 2016. "Divergent Paths: Structural Change, Economic Rank, and the Evolution of Black-White Earnings Differences, 1940-2014," NBER Working Papers 22797, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Marianne H Wanamaker, 2017. "150 Years of Economic Progress for African American Men: Measuring Outcomes and Sizing Up Roadblocks," Economic History of Developing Regions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(3), pages 211-220, September.
    16. Jung, Yeonha, 2018. "The Legacy of King Cotton: Agricultural Patterns and the Quality of Structural Change," SocArXiv trjfz, Center for Open Science.
    17. Jung, Yeonha, 2020. "The long reach of cotton in the US South: Tenant farming, mechanization, and low-skill manufacturing," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    18. Oguzhan Dincer & Gary Hoover, 2025. "Does corruption discriminate? Racial opportunity gap in the United States," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 91(3), pages 768-779, January.
    19. Jung, Yeonha, 2025. "Slavery and collectivism in the postbellum American South," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 534-558.
    20. Martha J. Bailey & Connor Cole & Morgan Henderson & Catherine Massey, 2020. "How Well Do Automated Linking Methods Perform? Lessons from US Historical Data," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(4), pages 997-1044, December.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • N31 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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