From Immigrants to Americans: Race and Assimilation during the Great Migration

Abstract

How does the arrival of a new minority group affect the social acceptance and outcomes of existing minorities? We study this question in the context of the First Great Migration. Between 1915 and 1930, 1.5 million African Americans moved from the US South to Northern urban centers, which were home to millions of European immigrants arrived in previous decades. We formalize and empirically test the hypothesis that the inflows of Black Americans changed perceptions of outgroup distance among native-born whites, reducing the barriers to the social integration of European immigrants. Predicting Black in-migration with a version of the shift-share instrument, we find that immigrants living in areas that received more Black migrants experienced higher assimilation along a range of outcomes, such as naturalization rates and intermarriages with native-born spouses. Evidence from the historical press and patterns of heterogeneity across immigrant nationalities provide additional support to the role of shifting perceptions of the white majority.

Scared Straight? Threat and Assimilation of Refugees in Germany

“…One interpretation for our results is that threat induces refugees to exert more e↵ort to learn and adopt local culture; yet, locals living in areas characterized by higher threat may discriminate more against minorities, hindering the successful (social and economic) assimilation of the latter. This is consistent with assimilation being a twosided process (Fouka et al, 2021). Out-group members can choose if and how much e↵ort to exert in order to learn local norms and culture.…”

Changing In-Group Boundaries: The Effect of Immigration on Race Relations in the United States

“…On the one hand, Rasul and McConnell (2021) find that September 11, and the associated Islamophobic reaction among Americans, worsened attitudes toward Hispanics. On the other, Fouka, Mazumder, and Tabellini (2021) find that 1915-1930 Black in-migration to the US North, and the associated increase in racism among northern whites, improved the relative standing of (white European) immigrants. Our framework can explain these seemingly contradictory findings.…”

Race and Redistribution in the United States: An Experimental Analysis

“…Our findings are also reminiscent of those obtained by studies on the impact of immigration on preferences for redistribution. A number of studies find that an influx of immigrants can dampen support for redistribution in a variety of contexts (Alesina and Ferrara, 2005;Dahlberg et al, 2012;Kraus et al, 2019;Dustmann et al, 2019;Tabellini, 2020;Bonomi et al, 2021;Fouka et al, 2022). In addition, Alesina et al (2018) find that just priming individuals to think about immigration reduces their support for redistribution.…”