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The Gendered Impacts of Perceived Skin Tone: Evidence from African American Siblings in 1870-1940

Ran Abramitzky, Jacob Conway, Roy Mill, Luke C.D. Stein · 2026 · arXiv (Cornell University)

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2610.10606 · cited by 0 works (OpenAlex) · open-access PDF

French

Nous avons étudié les différences dans les résultats économiques par le tonus de peau perçu parmi les Américains africains en utilisant les données du recensement décennal des États-Unis de la fin du 19e et du début du 20e siècle. En comparant les enfants codés comme "Noir" ou "Mulatto" par les numérateurs de recensement contemporains et en liant ces enfants parmi les recensements de la population, nous documentons d'abord de grandes lacunes dans la réalisation éducative et le revenu parmi les Américains africains avec des tons de peau perçus plus sombres et plus légers. Pour dissocier les conducteurs de ces lacunes, nous avons identifié toutes les 35,992 familles dans lesquelles les numérateurs ont attribué des frères et sœurs du

Machine translation (Meta M2M100); the English original follows.

Abstract

We study differences in economic outcomes by perceived skin tone among African Americans using full-count U.S. decennial census data from the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Comparing children coded as "Black" or "Mulatto" by census enumerators and linking these children across population censuses, we first document large gaps in educational attainment and income among African Americans with darker and lighter perceived skin tones. To disentangle the drivers of these gaps, we identify all 35,992 families in which enumerators assigned same-gender siblings different Black/Mulatto classifications. Relative to sisters coded as Mulatto, sisters coded as Black had lower educational attainment, were less likely to marry, and had less-educated, likely lower-earning husbands. These patterns are consistent with more severe contemporaneous discrimination against African American women with darker perceived skin tones. In contrast, we find similar educational attainment, marital outcomes, and incomes among differently-classified brothers. Men perceived as African Americans of any skin tone faced similar contemporaneous discrimination, consistent with the "one-drop" racial classification rule that grouped together individuals with any known Black ancestry. Lower incomes for African American men perceived as having darker skin tone in the general population were driven by differences in opportunities and resources that varied across families, likely reflecting the impacts of historical or family-level discrimination.

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Topics: Educational attainment, African american, Census, Demography, Population, Psychology

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