Historical Lynchings and the Contemporary Voting Behavior of Blacks

Jhacova Williams

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 224-53

Abstract: This paper analyzes the extent to which the political participation of Blacks can be traced to historical lynchings that took place from 1882 to 1930. Using county-level voter registration data, I show that Blacks who reside in southern counties that experienced a relatively higher number of historical lynchings have lower voter registration rates today. This relationship holds after accounting for a variety of historical and contemporary characteristics of counties. There exists evidence of the persistence of cultural voting norms among Blacks, yet this relationship does not exist for Whites.

JEL-codes: D72 J15 N31 N32 N41 N42 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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DOI: 10.1257/app.20190549

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