2018/03/01 by Robert L. Reece · 1 citation
Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Employment and Welfare Studies #Social and Cultural Dynamics #Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies
paper · doi:10.1177/0034644618770761
crossref issued 2018/03/01 · crossref published 2018/03/01 · crossref published-print 2018/03/01 · openalex publication_date 2018/03/01 · crossref published-online 2018/05/21 · crossref created 2018/05/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/05/01 · crossref indexed 2026/07/31 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Studies show lighter skinned Black people are advantaged on a number of social indicators—a phenomenon called “colorism.” These studies generally contend preferences for light-skinned and/or Mulatto slaves endured the postbellum period to shape social outcomes into today. Following this idea, other studies examine differences in social outcomes between Mulattos and Blacks in the 19th century, but few empirically connect antebellum life to postbellum Mulatto–Black stratification. With that in mind, I examine whether the socio-economic differences between Mulattos and Blacks varied across geographic space in proportion to places’ reliance on slave labor and the characteristics of its free African American population. This allows me to examine whether differences in economic status between Mulattos and Blacks are a result of Mulatto advantage in the form of privileged positions during slavery. My results reveal that Mulattos have higher occupational statuses relative to Blacks in places where slavery was more prominent and where free Mulattos were literate. This suggests the intraracial hierarchy established during slavery was more likely to be replicated in places where slavery was more important, and Mulattos were able to capitalize on freedom by leveraging their literacy into better economic statuses after emancipation. These results support the idea that skin color stratification was initiated at least in part by practices during chattel slavery and offers some plausible mechanisms for its transmission.