Heather OConnell

1
The Legacy of Slavery and Racial Inequality in
Poverty in the US South
Heather OConnell University of Wisconsin
Center for Demography and Ecology Institute
for Research on Poverty
Introduction. Researchers acknowledge the
uniqueness of the South by including regional
dummy variables in analyses. However such an
approach does not help explain the processes
behind this uniqueness. In addition, such
studies have addressed overall poverty rates, but
have not focused on racial inequality in poverty.
The racial inequality nuance seems important
given the historical significance of the South in
shaping US race relations.
Black Land Ownership in Southern Counties
Five States OLS Models
Legend
Total Land Operated by Blacks
?What is it that makes the South different from
the rest of the US? ?One possible answer is the
legacy of slavery.
? How should it be operationalized?
? The response in the poverty literature is the
proportion black (Swanson et al, 1994). I suggest
employing a historical measure and two separate
operationalizations suggested by the racial state
literature (James, 1988).
(AL, GA, LA, NC and SC)
Measures.
Census South OLS Models
3) The proportion of total farm acres for black
operators relative to the proportion for white
operators reported in the 2002 Agricultural
Census.
2000 Black Concentration in Southern Counties
Black Advantage in Voter Registration in 5 States
? The control variables found in the poverty
literature are inconsistently related to racial
inequality in poverty. ? Contemporary
concentrations of blacks is only related to
racial inequality in poverty when the whole South
is considered. ? The historical concentration
of slaves in a place explains the relationship
of the contemporary concentration of blacks with
inequality in poverty. ? Neither
operationalization of the racial state is related
to racial inequality in poverty, nor do they have
the expected mediating relationship with slave
concentration.
1) The number of African Americans relative to
the total population reported in the 2000 Census
SF3.
1860 Slave Concentration in Southern Counties
4) The proportion of the voting age black
population registered to vote relative to the
proportion of the white population registered to
vote (The registration counts are taken from
states websites for the time closest to 2000
only 5 states report them by race. This
subsample is used to better understand how black
land ownership, which is available for all
states, is related to the racial state
literature).
Conclusions. The legacy of slavery is not simply
blacks disadvantage in accumulating wealth, as
suggested by the contemporary concentration
operationalization. I argue the legacy of
slavery is the normative structure of a place
that has continued to affect racialized outcomes,
including poverty, to this day. However, my
results suggest this legacy cannot be explained
by a formalized contemporary racial state.
Further investigation into the mechanisms behind
the legacy are needed. In addition, the model
fit suggests more work is needed to identify
explanatory variables related to racial
inequality in poverty rates, because the
traditional covariates of poverty explain only a
fraction of the variation.
Results. A bivairiate correlation confirms the
association suggested in maps 3 and 4 black land
ownership is not highly related to voter
registration (r .23). However, regressions
were conducted for the five state sample to
compare patterns with those from the overall
South. Results vary between the two samples, for
both the main explanatory variables and control
variables.
Contact hoconnel_at_ssc.wisc.edu
2) The number of slaves relative to the total
population reported in the 1860 Census.