Between Black and White: Attitudes Toward Southern Mulattoes, 1830-1861

Toplin, Robert Brent

doi:10.2307/2208151

Cited by 13 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…For a time our racial structure was more similar to that of Latin America with a sizable mulatto—mixed Black and White—group sitting as a subset of Black but in many ways between Black and White people. Not only did mulattos sometimes go to great lengths to separate themselves from Black people, White people also recognized their utility as a buffer class, a shield from Black people, particularly during the antebellum years (Gullickson, 2010; Toplin, 1979). A legislative report investigating a planned slave revolt in the early 1820s confirms this sentiment.…”

Section: The History Of Colorism: Racial Reorganization and The Maintmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Critical race theorists argue that racialized inequality remains robust to changes in the racial structure and the trajectory of color inequality in the United States has certainly followed that trend. Lighter skinned Black Americans have, at various points, been viewed as an independent and superior racial group, mongrel and deficient racial group, and collapsed into a collective Black based on the country’s circumstances (Frazier, 1933; Gross, 1998; Hochschild & Powell, 2008; Toplin, 1979). Yet, at each point, despite shifting external perceptions, census categories, and self-identifications, they maintained their advantage, demonstrating the malleability of race and its ability to recalibrate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Color Crit: Critical Race Theory and the History and Future of Colorism in the United States

Reece

2018

Journal of Black Studies

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Critical race theory teaches that racism and racial inequality are constants in American society that stand outside of the prejudices of individuals. It argues that structures and institutions are primarily responsible for the maintenance of racial inequality. However, critical race theorists have neglected to formally examine and theorize colorism, a primary offshoot of racial domination. Although studies of colorism have become increasingly common, they lack a unifying theoretical framework, opting to lean on ideas about prejudice and preference to explain the advantages lighter skinned, Black Americans are afforded relative to darker skinned Black Americans. In this study, I deploy a critical race framework to push back against preference as the only, or primary, mechanism facilitating skin tone stratification. Instead, I use historical Census data and regression analysis to explore the historical role of color-based marriage selection on concentrating economic advantage among lighter skinned Black Americans. I then discuss the policy and legal implications of developing a structural view of colorism and skin tone stratification in the United States and the broader implications for how we conceptualize race in this country.

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Section: The History Of Colorism: Racial Reorganization and The Maintmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Color Crit: Critical Race Theory and the History and Future of Colorism in the United States

Reece

2018

Journal of Black Studies

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“…Additionally, historians and social scientists credit chattel slavery with creating a system of light skin preference through slave owners’ fondness for mixed Mulatto slaves (Frazier, 1930; Reuter, 1917; Toplin, 1979). They generally argue that system of light skin preference persisted through the eventual codification and institutionalization of the one-drop rule into the modern system of colorism or skin tone stratification among Black Americans (Keith & Herring, 1991; Washington, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From 1850 to 1930, the Census did not record “Black” as a single discrete racial category. Instead, Census enumerators were instructed to record whether a Black identified person was also Mulatto, that is Black–White multiracial, but generally, enumerators neglected to delve too deeply into family histories and relied on phenotypic markers and local customs to decide how to code people (Gross, 1998; Hochschild & Powell, 2008; Toplin, 1979). This meant the distinction between “Mulatto” and “Black” often correlated strongly with differences in skin tone, with Mulattos, who were presumed to be multiracial, functioning as a light-skinned group of Black Americans, and “regular” Blacks, presumed to be racially pure, functioning as a dark-skinned group of Black Americans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genesis of U.S. Colorism and Skin Tone Stratification: Slavery, Freedom, and Mulatto-Black Occupational Inequality in the Late 19th Century

Reece

2018

The Review of Black Political Economy

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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.

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“…Post-Civil War, advantages associated with skin tone persisted in the form of preferential hiring practices, business ownership, homeownership, human capital attainment and political leadership [28-30]. There is evidence that the mulatto elite acted decisively to retain their higher social standing 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond black and white: Color and mortality in post-reconstruction era North Carolina

Green

Hamilton

2013

Explorations in Economic History

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A growing empirical literature in economics and sociology documents the existence of differences in social and economic outcomes between mixed-race blacks and other blacks . However, few researchers have considered whether the advantages associated with mixed-race status may have also translated into differences in mortality outcomes between subgroups of blacks and how both groups compared to whites. We employ previously untapped 1880 North Carolina Mortality census records in conjunction with data from the 1880 North Carolina Population Census to examine whether mulatto, or mixed-race blacks may have experienced mortality advantages over to their colored, or non-mixed race counterparts. For men between the ages of 20-44, estimates demonstrate that all black males are more likely than whites to die. Although our results indicate that there are no statistically significant differences in mortality between mulatto and colored blacks, there are some indications that mulatto males may have enjoyed a slight mortality advantage compared to their colored counterparts. However, we find a substantial mortality advantage associated with mixed-race status among women. These findings indicate that mixed-race women, rather than men, may have accrued any mortality advantages associated with color and white ancestry.

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Between Black and White: Attitudes Toward Southern Mulattoes, 1830-1861

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

Color Crit: Critical Race Theory and the History and Future of Colorism in the United States

Color Crit: Critical Race Theory and the History and Future of Colorism in the United States

Genesis of U.S. Colorism and Skin Tone Stratification: Slavery, Freedom, and Mulatto-Black Occupational Inequality in the Late 19th Century

Beyond black and white: Color and mortality in post-reconstruction era North Carolina

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