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A Critique of " The Birth of a Nation : Media and Racial Hate"

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  • Robert Kaestner

Abstract

In in the American Economic Review, Desmond Ang (2023) conducted an empirical analysis to evaluate whether screenings of the film The Birth of a Nation in a county between 1915 and 1919 was associated with an increase in the probability that a county had a lynching or race riot in months after the screening; whether a county ever had a second Ku Klux Klan chapter by 1930; and whether a county was home to a number of hate groups and was the site of hate crimes in the first two decades of the 21st century. In this article I evaluate the validity of Ang’s claims regarding these three dependent variables, by reviewing the historical scholarship documenting the causes of the rise and fall of second Ku Klux Klan and by evaluating the validity of Ang’s empirical evidence. Based on my investigation, I conclude that the extant historical analysis had already provided strong evidence of the causes of the rapid rise (1919–1924) and rapid fall (1925–1927) of the second Ku Klux Klan. I also conclude that Ang’s (2023) empirical analysis is ill-conceived and poorly executed, and leads to misleading claims.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Kaestner, 2023. "A Critique of " The Birth of a Nation : Media and Racial Hate"," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 20(2), pages 214–233-2, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:ejw:journl:v:20:y:2023:i:2:p:214-233
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stefano Della Vigna & Ruben Enikolopov & Vera Mironova & Maria Petrova & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2014. "Cross-Border Media and Nationalism: Evidence from Serbian Radio in Croatia," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 103-132, July.
    2. Desmond Ang, 2023. "The Birth of a Nation: Media and Racial Hate," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(6), pages 1424-1460, June.
    3. Douglas L. Miller, 2023. "An Introductory Guide to Event Study Models," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 37(2), pages 203-230, Spring.
    4. R. H. Coase, 2013. "The Problem of Social Cost," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 837-877.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    KKK; organization economics; media; social norms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B15 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary
    • B16 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Quantitative and Mathematical

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